“I focus easily and naturally on what is important and rewarding to me, and let go gently and comfortably of what is not. I am accomplishing my goals and fulfilling my dreams.”

Whether you would call that an affirmation, a mantra, positive thinking, or wishful thinking, it’s something I’ve been saying to myself several times a day for a few months now. And the reason I’m telling you about it is that it relates so strongly to what I wrote last week.

My column last week was about my New Year’s Resolution to complete a new project during each week of 2014. The first project was to come up with a comprehensive list of relevant and appropriate projects. As I worked on the list and thought about different things I wanted to accomplish, it occurred to me what a powerful planning and prioritizing tool this is. And I realized not only how many different projects there are that I want to work on, but how many different types of projects there are. And reasons for doing them.

Some of the projects will help me promote and grow my business. Others will improve my environment – meaning my home and office – or simply make my surroundings more pleasant or functional. There are projects I’ve thought about doing but have never started, and others that I’ve started but never finished. Some of the projects have to do with my writing, speaking, or coaching, and some touch on all three at the same time. Some involve learning, and a few involve teaching.

The list has become more than a compilation of what I want to accomplish in the coming year. It’s given me an x-ray view of areas of my life in which I’ve done a lot of work, and those in which I still have a lot of work to do. It’s shown me how quickly things – even important ones – can fall through the cracks from our daily lives and busy schedules, and how difficult and time-consuming it can be to pick them back up again after they’ve slipped off our radar. It’s also shown me very clearly that what is most important to me is not always what I spend the most – or the most productive – time on. Some of the projects on my list address these issues, and I’m hoping they’ll help me become better and stronger, both personally and professionally. And to focus on what really is most important in my life.

Coming up with a list of projects I want to complete in 2014 has forced me to look at the bigger picture – to really think about what’s important to me, what my short-term and long-range dreams and goals are, and what I need to do to reach them. The statements that I repeat every day are getting my unconscious mind and my subconscious mind to work with me on this and to support my efforts by directing my thoughts and actions toward what I want to accomplish, and away from whatever slows me down or gets in my way.

I hope you’ve given some thought to projects you’d like to complete this year. And that throughout 2014, you focus easily and naturally on what is important and rewarding to you, and let go gently and comfortably of what is not. And I hope that at this time next year, you – and I – will be looking back at a year of goals accomplished and dreams fulfilled.

The column “Find Your Buried Treasure” appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on January 2, 2014.
©Betty Liedtke, 2014

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