Revised Resolutions

by Jewel Leann Williams

I keep swearing off resolutions, and then after all of the talk and reading about them during January, I feel guilty and plant myself a little crop of resolutions, feel better, and then ignore them for the rest of the year and feel guilty all over again.

This year threatened to be more of the same, but I read a few things that rescued me.

First, this:

This advice from President Thomas S. Monson is very simple, and yet, as most advice from the Prophet is, profound. For me, it speaks to my overachieving, way-too-high-expectations-of-myself soul, whispering to just chill out. (I'm sure that's what President Monson would say. "Just chill out, little sister." Ok maybe not. But still...)

I keep seeing goals with these "Write XXX words a day," "Do XXX pushups" "Save XXX dollars" and I always, ALWAYS fall short.  Apparently, those numbers are MORE than my current best self.

So my goals are: "Write MORE. Even if it's a little. Doesn't matter how much."  "Exercise MORE. Even if it's just going up the stupid stairs at work even when your bum knee aches." "Look for ways to save money. Even if it's a little, even if it's a jar with nickels and dimes in it."

This brings to mind advice from my favorite President forever, President Gordon B. Hinckley. He said this quite often in his talks, and I remember how encouraging it was to hear:

I used the meme I found with the cane because this is my favorite way to remember President Hinckley. Wise and loving but oh so spunky and with just the right touch of silliness.

He usually followed it up with things like:  a little kinder, a little more generous, a little stronger.... those are worthy--and attainable--goals.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf told a story in the January 2017 Ensign about watching archers and the way they took aim; if they missed, they didn't throw down the bow, never to pick it up again. They refocused their aim and tried again. Mastering the bow takes practice--years of intentional practice, of listening to experts, of learning new ways to do things, and yes, making mistakes and learning from them.

So my goal is to find ways to re-aim. To be a little better. No more guilt trips because I didn't hit some arbitrarily imposed number of pages, of dollars, of pounds. Just, a little better.

Yup, I know all the stuff out there about defining your goals or you won't reach them, yada yada yada. I'm sure I'm going against all the conventional wisdom, but I'm a rebel. I rebel. :) (Couldn't help it)

I'm going to try a little harder to be a little better. My method of "resolving" is also my way of trying to be a little kinder to myself.

Choices

by Kasey Tross

Yesterday morning before the Sunday Morning Session of the semi-annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began, I took a few moments to write down some questions I hoped to find the answers to during conference that day. 

One of my questions was this: "How can I stay motivated to continue writing and finish my novel?" 

Imagine my surprise and humble gratitude when my question was answered during the first thirty seconds of the first talk by the first speaker- who happened to be the prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, no less. 

He said, 

"It has been said that the door of history turns on small hinges, and so do people’s lives. The choices we make determine our destiny." 

For some reason, the thought of a big, heavy door, and those small hinges, and the choices I make each day suddenly opened my eyes. I make a thousand tiny decisions each day, and how many of them impact my writing? How many times do I choose to hop on Facebook rather than work on my writing? Or watch TV at night instead of write? Or do ANYTHING to put off writing? 

Choices are small. They are simple. And as we know, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass." Entire books are written. Or, in my case, not written.

At the end of the day I got even more added encouragement from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who told me, 

"Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever."

He told me I don't have to be perfect, I just have to keep trying. Even if I don't succeed, trying still counts.

But if I'm not trying- well, to paraphrase a movie I watched the other day, you'll always miss the shots you never even take, right?

So today I'm going to commit to oiling my hinges and making sure that door of my destiny is pushed wide open by the choices I make every day. 

Care to join me? Let's meet back up here tonight for a writing sprint. I need all the motivation I can get. 9pm EST- that's 7pm for you Utahns. ;-)

Let's go! Heaven is cheering us on!

Resolutions V. Goals

I’ve completely given up on setting New Year’s resolutions.  Forget it!  I’m not going to participate in this annual tradition ever again.  Why not?  Because I’m an awful resolution-keeper.  Seriously, I’m the worst.  In fact, I’m so bad at keeping New Year’s resolutions that the end result is often the exact opposite of the resolution. 

2010:  Lose 20 lbs.  <Result: Gained 25 lbs. after eating leftover Christmas treats while filling out my resolution list.>

2011:  Plant a garden.  <Result:  Planter box accidently built over a fire ant nest.  All of my seedlings were used as ant food sources and underground birthing stations.  That, and my inability to water my young plants more than once per month, probably led to my green thumb shriveling and turning black.>

2012:  Learn to play the trombone.  <Result:  There is wisdom in learning an instrument when we’re young.  My over-reliance on the ‘Idiot’s Guide to Playing Brass Instruments’ as my personal tutor probably didn’t help my efforts.>

2013:  Cook dinner once per week.  <Started well (baked chicken, string bean casserole, dinner rolls, cake).  Lasted one week.  Now, my kids are back to ramen, cheese crisps, and pbj’s until mom gets home and starts a more balanced and nutritious dinner.>

2014:  Post to MMW Every-other Friday:  <Uhm…..>

So, I’ve decided to abandon the practice of making resolutions and to set goals instead.  What’s the difference, you ask? 

A resolution is something you intend to start or stop.  It’s myopic in nature; an issue is solved and one move’s on to the next issue; whereas, a goal, by definition, is expansive. 

A goal rewards a person for pointing one’s self towards achievement, then moving in the direction of success, and hopefully, finishing one’s expectations if possible.  The main difference is that there are micro-successes along the way, as if the journey were more important than the final accomplishment.

 

Thomas S. Monson, a latter-day Prophet of God, once gave some sage advice regarding three goals that can serve as a reliable framework for all other personal goals (Ensign, Oct. 2007):

1.      Study diligently.

2.      Pray earnestly.

3.      Serve willingly.

While these might seem a little abstract and endless in nature, I noticed that these three goals fit nicely over my previously mentioned resolutions.  Take, for example, my resolution in 2011 to have a garden. 

I did not take the time to do any real degree of study and research on preparing, building, planting, and caring for a proper garden.  I simply built a box, filled it with mulch and fertilizer, dropped a few seeds in, hoped for rain, and sat back and awaited my vegetable bounty to grow.  I should have been researching soil preparation for my region, consulted a planting/harvesting matrix for my area, and learned the glories of soaker hoses and proper weeding techniques. 

Next, I should make my garden a part of my personal and family prayer, that the Lord will bless our efforts, inspire us to correct errors, and to show gratitude for our bounties in whatever size and shape we might harvest them. 

Lastly, I did not serve my resolution to garden.  That might sound odd, but like serving a person or a righteous cause, there is a time allotment required.  In the case of my garden, I failed to give the appropriate amount of time to watering, weeding, and worrying over my tender starts.

 

Wow!  Those life-structure goals from President Monson can really work. 

So, for 2015, I’m setting goals instead of resolutions.  I’ll study more diligently what it will take to make the life improvements I hope for; I’ll pray hard for help in making those life improvements; and, I’ll serve more earnestly the people and causes that I should in order to show the Lord that my care for someone or something other than myself is worthy of His care for my hopes and dreams. 

Oh, and a fourth ‘goal’ while I’m at it:  Do a better job of listening to advice from prophets.

He is Risen!

Click here for President Monson's address.

He died so that we might live.

Happy Easter!




One for the ROAD:

My book, Darkspell a YA paranormal Romance has been picked
up by TreasureLine Publishers!

SO exciting! Here's me signing my contract:

(pardon the background sound, that's my hubby watching tv.)

S. B. Niccum spotted at LDSFiction!