Success

Today my mind is full and so are all the dirty laundry baskets, so it's time to spend a few minutes writing...

I've thought a lot lately about...

~the importance of womanhood and the amazing things women have to offer.
~success and what it takes to find it.
~family and just how important it is.
~possibility and how we find our own.

Today I want to talk about success.

Goals are important. Our family starts every year with a family night about goals. We make little posters to hang on our bedroom walls with 4 areas of focus. Educational, Spiritual. Physical, and Temporal.

There have been times when the poster itself never makes it onto the wall or bulletin board. Buried on a desk, the goals get forgotten and discarded.

That has taught me something about goals. They need to be in your face! They need to have a schedule and a purpose. They need to be s p e l l e d out.

Then as you begin to work toward the final outcome, you need to enjoy the journey and allow the journey itself to be filled with small successes.

I read somewhere recently how important it is to go to sleep feeling good about yourself. Too often as I lay in bed going over the day in my head I think about my failures; berating myself for mistakes made. Instead I'm learning to think of positive experiences of the day. No matter how small.

For instance, yesterday when I wanted a snack I ate an orange instead of a handful of potato chips. The point of this exercise is to focus on one success and review it over and over in your mind. Not only are you thinking about something good you did, the monotony will help you fall asleep.

Another important message you need to give yourself is in the way you plan. You need to be able to picture yourself having success. You say, "I am going to eat an orange," instead of saying, "I'm not going to eat those chips." Your mind can't hear the not. How do you picture not?

"I am going to ride my stationary bike for an hour"
"I am going to complete that race."
"I will have a pleasant conversation with my teenager"
"I will sit still and listen to my child when they come home from school"
"I will laugh when my kid ..."
"That one end table will be dust free."

Raise the bar on your personal expectations but be realistic. Sometimes when you have a house full of little children it's okay to let your positive successes be a shower, a meal, a happy child.

I heard a story once about a woman whose husband was asking about her day. She said, "I didn't accomplish a single thing today." Her young daughter said, "Yes you did! You helped me find my lost toy and you played with me."

Plan for success, recognize your success no matter how small, and expect joy along the way. There is plenty of failure, fix it fast, forgive yourself fast and focus on the good.

On that note: "When I go to bed tonight, everyone will have something clean to wear tomorrow!"