Back to Resolutions...

So what, if anything, does being a Renaissance Woman have to do with creating resolutions?

Remember, a couple of weeks ago, when we discussed that creating a resolution was nothing more than a fancy term for setting a goal? No? Then, you might want to make one of your resolutions to start taking ginkgo biloba. Every year, actually seasonally, when I go through the process of goal setting, I choose goals based on the triangle principle - healthy soul, healthy mind, healthy body.

First, look at the three sides of the triangle and think of each part. What are some general things you would like to improve in each category? This is also a great exercise to work on with your kids. Let me tell you what the kids came up with when I worked with them on this exercise.

Soul
prayer
service
fellowship


Mind
school
studying
reading
games/play

Body
exercise
food/water
sleep
hygiene
chores

After you have come up with general categories for each side of your triangle, then start thinking about specific actions you could set for each of the goals you chose. For example, the child who chose "fellowship" under Soul, said that he felt like he needed to participate more in Youth Group activities. The child who chose "service", indicated that he wanted to participate more in homeless missions work. Both children chose "chores" under Body, because they felt like either their room (Tutone) or their bathroom (Super) could be full of germs that could affect their health. (Ahh...it makes a Coach Mom proud.)

Finally, after you have assigned at least one, but no more than three, specific actions in which you could improve yourself under these goal categories for each triangle side, choose one from each side of the triangle to do this month. What?!? Are you as bad at Math as I am? So if you have 5 general goals under the Body side of your triangle and you assigned 3 actions to each, you would have 15 actions from which to choose. Either way, you should only have 3 actions that you are attempting this month, and they should not be from the same side of the triangle! Remember these are new things, not things you are already doing! No cheating!

Let's play pretend for a minute...

Abigail would like to start going to prayer meetings on Wednesday nights (Soul - prayer); she would like to participate in a Bible study (Soul - scripture knowledge); and she wants to start volunteering at the pregnancy center (Soul - service). She wants to read a book on the Revolutionary War (Mind - historical knowledge); she wants to compile her family history on the computer (Mind - historical knowledge); and she would like to volunteer at the local historical society(Mind - historical knowledge). She needs to get into a regular workout routine (Body - exercise); she needs to drink less coffee and drink more water (Body - food/water); and she needs to start counting her Weight Watcher points again (Body - food/water).

Oh wait! Shoot! I am Abigail. You know what's funny? I didn't even realize that this was my list until half way through making it up. :) Sharpest knife in the drawer that Coach Mom is! Anyway, I digress as usual, but you know that already. So, what would happen if Abigail made all these changes at once? That's right! We would have to call the ambulance or Bellevue (blatant Barney Miller reference for those under age 35 or who didn't grow up in NYC). So we only choose one from each side of the triangle at a time. We do this for one month straight.

You know, they say it takes 21 days to make a habit. I don't know about you, but I am more stubborn than most people. So let's make it a month. Then come back to your list, and add something else. If you keep going for three months, and then reevaluate next season, you will keep up this improvement process. You may not become a Renaissance woman. You may find yourself more of a generalist, someone who knows a little about many different things. But I still say you will find that it is well worth it! If nothing else, it will make you the talk of the town! You could tell them...Coach Mom said!