New Year's Resolutions Check In
Jan. 21st, 2022 09:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithWe've passed the third week of January. This includes more of the dropoff days: January 17, January 19, and the third Friday.
Terramagne-America encourages people to make their own plans, with help if wanted or needed. Variations of "How is that working for you?" are used to gauge progress. Here's an example from Brief Action Planning with a flow chart. This concept applies to most problem-solving situations, and it's something that anyone can learn to use.
The above approach is a shorthand version of the engineer problem-solving method. It requires following several steps such as defining a problem, brainstorming solutions, testing a solution, evaluating results, and making changes if necessary.
Your Resolutions
Have you missed some of your New Year's resolutions? Are you struggling to maintain ongoing goals? That happens to most people. Consider what you can do about it. Basically, you have several options:
* Keep going as you are, hoping to level-grind through the slump.
* Attempt to adjust your current New Year's resolution(s) for better results.
* Abandon the ineffective New Year's resolution(s) and set a new goal instead.
* Abandon your New Year's resolution(s) and focus on something else altogether.
Don’t ditch your resolutions – make them work for you
How to Refresh Your Failed New Year’s Resolutions
Know When To Abandon Goals
What to Do If You've Already Failed at Your New Year's Resolution
What to do when resolutions start to collapse
What to Do When You’ve Totally Failed Your New Year’s Resolutions
Failing New Year's resolutions -- or any goal -- tends to make people feel bad about themselves. All emotions are valid, but sometimes your emotions lie to you. Practice self-compassion and self-care. Know emotional first aid for friends who are having a hard time with this.
Impact of failed New Year’s Resolution on mental health and how to set realistic goals
New Year’s Resolutions are bad for Your Mental Health: Why You Shouldn’t Beat Yourself up About This Year
Everything Is Awful and I'm Not Okay: questions to ask before giving up
If you're not making any mistakes, you're not learning, you're coasting. Screw up with enthusiasm! Find exciting new mistakes to make! Because that's how we learn.
This year we had that kind of learning experience with the Apple Pie Cake. :/ We learned some interesting things from it, though, and reaffirmed that adding things to egg whites before attempting to whip them is a Bad Idea.
How to Embrace Failure
5 Reasons Why You Need To Start Learning From Mistakes
40 Invaluable Lessons You Can Learn From Your Mistakes
How to Learn From Mistakes: 8 Steps to Follow
How to Learn From Your Mistakes
How to Bounce Back from Your Mistakes
How to Learn to Laugh at Your Mistakes
It's okay to let go of goals that aren't working out for you.
When It's OK to Quit Your New Year's Resolutions
Why I Don't Feel Bad About Already Breaking My New Year's Resolution
Consider trying a different goal. Shorter goals may work better. Screw January, set a new goal for February! It's shorter and easier anyway.
Fun New Year's Resolutions
Monthly Goal Ideas
One-Week Resolutions
One-Day Resolutions
My Resolutions
Here are my goals for 2022. See last week's post for my earlier accomplishments.
Completed total (6)
Completed in the past week (2):
* Clean the window prisms. [MET 1/5/22]
* Rehang misplaced window prisms. [MET 1/10/22]
* Make a post about my previous writings on death. [MET 1/2/22]
* When posting for Moment of Silence, include "carry on the work" suggestions based on each person's activities. [MET 1/9/22, 1/14/22]
* Finish at least two catalog orders for spring plants by the end of February. Orders sent in March or later do not count. [MET 1/17/22 ordered Monarch Butterfly Wildflower Seed Mix from American Meadows and Bee Lawn Mix from Open Seeds.]
* Organize at least one area that is currently a mess. [MET 1/19/22 removed some of the junk in front of the washer and dryer]
- Shrink book stack in front of printer?
Begun (16) (most of these cannot be finished quickly)
* Actually look at this list of goals, at least twice a month, before the end of the year in hopes of meeting more of them and not trying to cram in December. [1/3/22, 1/5/22, 1/7/22, 1/10/22, 1/16/22, 1/17/22, 1/21/22 ]
* Fill in desk calendar with repeating posts and other memoranda by the end of January. [Begun 1/19/21]
* Continue holding one Poetry Fishbowl per month. [Short Forms 1/4/22]
* Participate in at least six bingo fests. [Begun 12/23/21 with Story Sparks Fest for January]
* Participate in the![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
snowflake_challenge. [Begun 1/1/22]
* Run the Rose & Bay Awards for 2022. [Begun 1/1/22]
* Finish spending holiday money by the end of January. [Mine done 1/9/22]
* Put some bee plants in the prairie garden for the honeybees in the bee tree. [Begun 1/17/22 ordered Monarch Butterfly Wildflower Seed Mix (also bee-friendly) from American Meadows and Bee Lawn Mix from Open Seeds.]
* Keep track of my crowdfunding activity as the year goes on. [Begun 1/9/22]
* Keep track of things I would like to receive as gifts. [Begun 1/9/22]
* Read at least four cookbooks, marking recipes of interest. [Taste of Home 5 Ingredient Comfort Food 1/8/22]
* Make at least one new recipe per month. [ * mango coconut smoothie 1/7/22, ]
* Quite good, ** Made 2+ times
* Try at least one new cooking ingredient. [Ordered Itty Bitters and Blood Orange Syrup 1/9/22]
* Bullet journal family activities, aiming for at least one a week. [Begun 1/1/22]
* Bullet journal vegetable days. [Begun 1/1/22]
* Bullet journal watering plants weekly. [Begun 1/1/22]
Terramagne-America encourages people to make their own plans, with help if wanted or needed. Variations of "How is that working for you?" are used to gauge progress. Here's an example from Brief Action Planning with a flow chart. This concept applies to most problem-solving situations, and it's something that anyone can learn to use.
The above approach is a shorthand version of the engineer problem-solving method. It requires following several steps such as defining a problem, brainstorming solutions, testing a solution, evaluating results, and making changes if necessary.
Your Resolutions
Have you missed some of your New Year's resolutions? Are you struggling to maintain ongoing goals? That happens to most people. Consider what you can do about it. Basically, you have several options:
* Keep going as you are, hoping to level-grind through the slump.
* Attempt to adjust your current New Year's resolution(s) for better results.
* Abandon the ineffective New Year's resolution(s) and set a new goal instead.
* Abandon your New Year's resolution(s) and focus on something else altogether.
Don’t ditch your resolutions – make them work for you
How to Refresh Your Failed New Year’s Resolutions
Know When To Abandon Goals
What to Do If You've Already Failed at Your New Year's Resolution
What to do when resolutions start to collapse
What to Do When You’ve Totally Failed Your New Year’s Resolutions
Failing New Year's resolutions -- or any goal -- tends to make people feel bad about themselves. All emotions are valid, but sometimes your emotions lie to you. Practice self-compassion and self-care. Know emotional first aid for friends who are having a hard time with this.
Impact of failed New Year’s Resolution on mental health and how to set realistic goals
New Year’s Resolutions are bad for Your Mental Health: Why You Shouldn’t Beat Yourself up About This Year
Everything Is Awful and I'm Not Okay: questions to ask before giving up
If you're not making any mistakes, you're not learning, you're coasting. Screw up with enthusiasm! Find exciting new mistakes to make! Because that's how we learn.
This year we had that kind of learning experience with the Apple Pie Cake. :/ We learned some interesting things from it, though, and reaffirmed that adding things to egg whites before attempting to whip them is a Bad Idea.
How to Embrace Failure
5 Reasons Why You Need To Start Learning From Mistakes
40 Invaluable Lessons You Can Learn From Your Mistakes
How to Learn From Mistakes: 8 Steps to Follow
How to Learn From Your Mistakes
How to Bounce Back from Your Mistakes
How to Learn to Laugh at Your Mistakes
It's okay to let go of goals that aren't working out for you.
When It's OK to Quit Your New Year's Resolutions
Why I Don't Feel Bad About Already Breaking My New Year's Resolution
Consider trying a different goal. Shorter goals may work better. Screw January, set a new goal for February! It's shorter and easier anyway.
Fun New Year's Resolutions
Monthly Goal Ideas
One-Week Resolutions
One-Day Resolutions
My Resolutions
Here are my goals for 2022. See last week's post for my earlier accomplishments.
Completed total (6)
Completed in the past week (2):
* Clean the window prisms. [MET 1/5/22]
* Rehang misplaced window prisms. [MET 1/10/22]
* Make a post about my previous writings on death. [MET 1/2/22]
* When posting for Moment of Silence, include "carry on the work" suggestions based on each person's activities. [MET 1/9/22, 1/14/22]
* Finish at least two catalog orders for spring plants by the end of February. Orders sent in March or later do not count. [MET 1/17/22 ordered Monarch Butterfly Wildflower Seed Mix from American Meadows and Bee Lawn Mix from Open Seeds.]
* Organize at least one area that is currently a mess. [MET 1/19/22 removed some of the junk in front of the washer and dryer]
- Shrink book stack in front of printer?
Begun (16) (most of these cannot be finished quickly)
* Actually look at this list of goals, at least twice a month, before the end of the year in hopes of meeting more of them and not trying to cram in December. [1/3/22, 1/5/22, 1/7/22, 1/10/22, 1/16/22, 1/17/22, 1/21/22 ]
* Fill in desk calendar with repeating posts and other memoranda by the end of January. [Begun 1/19/21]
* Continue holding one Poetry Fishbowl per month. [Short Forms 1/4/22]
* Participate in at least six bingo fests. [Begun 12/23/21 with Story Sparks Fest for January]
* Participate in the
snowflake_challenge. [Begun 1/1/22]* Run the Rose & Bay Awards for 2022. [Begun 1/1/22]
* Finish spending holiday money by the end of January. [Mine done 1/9/22]
* Put some bee plants in the prairie garden for the honeybees in the bee tree. [Begun 1/17/22 ordered Monarch Butterfly Wildflower Seed Mix (also bee-friendly) from American Meadows and Bee Lawn Mix from Open Seeds.]
* Keep track of my crowdfunding activity as the year goes on. [Begun 1/9/22]
* Keep track of things I would like to receive as gifts. [Begun 1/9/22]
* Read at least four cookbooks, marking recipes of interest. [Taste of Home 5 Ingredient Comfort Food 1/8/22]
* Make at least one new recipe per month. [ * mango coconut smoothie 1/7/22, ]
* Quite good, ** Made 2+ times
* Try at least one new cooking ingredient. [Ordered Itty Bitters and Blood Orange Syrup 1/9/22]
* Bullet journal family activities, aiming for at least one a week. [Begun 1/1/22]
* Bullet journal vegetable days. [Begun 1/1/22]
* Bullet journal watering plants weekly. [Begun 1/1/22]
(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-22 07:40 am (UTC)Well ...
Date: 2022-01-22 08:14 am (UTC)I've tried various things with resolutions. I find that having a list of opportunities gives me many chances to succeed. Some other folks like to have a short list, or only one thing, or something abstract like a virtue. Do what works for you.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2022-01-23 09:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-01-22 03:53 pm (UTC)I am ahead of target on the read one book a month goal; I'm currently on my third book of the year (which I find extra impressive because I've read at least one fanfic over 100,000 words already, and a bunch of smaller ones that probably add up to between 50,000 and 100,000 words).
I have 8 repeating goals that are in progress and where no days have been missed or delayed. I have 4 repeating goals that missed a few days while I wasn't feeling well; some of these I made up on a different day and some I didn't.
I have made plans for how to tackle my goals that don't come with a time frame, some of which I have started working on. There is one goal (getting French to level 4 on Duolingo) that I might need to change. I sat down and looked at how much work I'd need to do to accomplish this, and it falls in the realm of "theoretically possible but highly unlikely," especially since I have other language goals as well. I don't want to officially change it yet, but I am aware that this is one goal I probably won't make.
And the one goal I'm really struggling with: writing up Polychrome entries for posting on the sample page. I do still want to do this, because I like the page being up to date and I like helping, but I'm finding it really hard to actually sit down and do. My current attempt is to write up 2 entries a day, to chip away at things a little at a time and make it more likely for me to do it than if it was "10 entries on Saturdays" (because that takes more time and brain power). So far I haven't had much luck, but I think I'm still at the point where I'm going to try to level grind through it, but I may need to revise this goal at a later date.
Go you!
Date: 2022-01-22 07:02 pm (UTC)Woohoo! Puzzles are cool.
I just got my new cooking ingredients yesterday, so now I'm able to do the "cook with a new ingredient" goal.
>>I am ahead of target on the read one book a month goal; I'm currently on my third book of the year (which I find extra impressive because I've read at least one fanfic over 100,000 words already, and a bunch of smaller ones that probably add up to between 50,000 and 100,000 words).<<
I'm into the fourth of the Rachel Snow fanbooks.
>>I have 8 repeating goals that are in progress and where no days have been missed or delayed. I have 4 repeating goals that missed a few days while I wasn't feeling well; some of these I made up on a different day and some I didn't.<<
Yay, progress!
>>I have made plans for how to tackle my goals that don't come with a time frame, some of which I have started working on. There is one goal (getting French to level 4 on Duolingo) that I might need to change. I sat down and looked at how much work I'd need to do to accomplish this, and it falls in the realm of "theoretically possible but highly unlikely," especially since I have other language goals as well. I don't want to officially change it yet, but I am aware that this is one goal I probably won't make.<<
Well, break it down. Is L4 based on grammar, vocabulary, conversation, or what? You could make a subgoal to work on, say, a given tense or learning more verbs; or you could make a vocabulary list for a specific topic (e.g. art terms) and then converse on that topic (e.g. visit an art museum or look at online art with a French-speaking friend). Another possibility would be to read short stories or articles in French, just for fluency practice. This is especially helpful if you have multiple language goals because you can alternate subgoals in different languages. And even if you don't reach L4 when you wanted, you'll still pick up more French along the way.
>>And the one goal I'm really struggling with: writing up Polychrome entries for posting on the sample page.<<
My sympathies. The workload got away from me too.
>> I do still want to do this, because I like the page being up to date and I like helping, <<
That's good.
>>but I'm finding it really hard to actually sit down and do. <<
Bummer. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help with energy or motivation.
>>My current attempt is to write up 2 entries a day, to chip away at things a little at a time and make it more likely for me to do it than if it was "10 entries on Saturdays" (because that takes more time and brain power). So far I haven't had much luck, but I think I'm still at the point where I'm going to try to level grind through it, but I may need to revise this goal at a later date.<<
Fair enough, just keep me posted when I need to review things on the sample page.
Re: Go you!
Date: 2022-01-24 01:58 am (UTC)Yay! Cooking with new things is fun. :D
>>Well, break it down. Is L4 based on grammar, vocabulary, conversation, or what?<<
I like all of your suggestions for learning more French (or any language) and I'll definitely keep those in mind. The way Duolingo is set up, each language is broken into skills; frex "animals," "family," "future tense," etc, and each lesson has 5 levels. My hope was to get all the skills up to level 4 (and I indeed have many of them there already), but seeing as how a lot of the skills are at level 1, that is quite a bit of work. Especially since each skill has about 5 lessons per level.
>> Let me know if there's anything I can do to help with energy or motivation.<<
Thank you :) I haven't figured out *what* helps yet, but if I do, I will be sure to let you know.
>>Fair enough, just keep me posted when I need to review things on the sample page.<<
Can do.
Re: Go you!
Date: 2022-01-24 02:11 am (UTC)Yesterday I tried out the Blood Orange Cordial, which I really like. I made shortbread cookies with it. I think we've already devoured about half the batch.
>> I like all of your suggestions for learning more French (or any language) and I'll definitely keep those in mind. <<
I'm happy I could help.
>> The way Duolingo is set up, each language is broken into skills; frex "animals," "family," "future tense," etc, and each lesson has 5 levels.<<
That's logical.
>> My hope was to get all the skills up to level 4 (and I indeed have many of them there already), but seeing as how a lot of the skills are at level 1, that is quite a bit of work. Especially since each skill has about 5 lessons per level.<<
It sounds like Duolingo is aiming to make things stick, not just rush through like school often does. You'd probably do better with subgoals than with one really big goal, when it's already broken down into convenient pieces like that. Either work on things one at a time to your target level, or work on getting all of it to level 2, then 3, then 4. Aiming for everything at level 4 when there's a lot of it jumbled across different levels may be overwhelming rather than inspiring.
Re: Go you!
Date: 2022-01-24 02:20 am (UTC)I read the recipe you posted. It sounded delicious, and like you really enjoyed it.
>>It sounds like Duolingo is aiming to make things stick, not just rush through like school often does.<<
Ya, the app does it's best to give you enough time to learn things and actually have them stick around in your brain. The major courses especially (French, Spanish, etc) are very in depth and designed with fluency according to the International Standard (I forget it's actual name) in mind. While I still would like to reach level 4 across the board, I have decided that I'm going to work from the beinning of the course to the end and bring everything up to Level 2 first, then 3, then 4, if I get that far.
Re: Go you!
Date: 2022-01-24 02:30 am (UTC)It is and we are. I think I've convinced at least a couple other folks to try it too.
>>I have decided that I'm going to work from the beinning of the course to the end and bring everything up to Level 2 first, then 3, then 4, if I get that far.<<
Good plan.
By the way, check your DVD collection. Almost everything should have a French track. Watching a show you already know in a new language is good for comprehension.
Re: Go you!
Date: 2022-01-24 02:41 am (UTC)Another good idea. I've done this a few times with NICS. Not all the DVDs have french, but some do, and I'm familiar enough with the show that I understand more than expected.