Im a big-picture person always have been. For better or worse Im the kind of person who, upon spotting a loose thread, just cant help but unravel the whole sweater and then knit a new one from scratch. And itll be a bigger, better, more ornate one made with organic yarn spun from wool Ive shorn from the free-range sheep I keep on my apartment patio.
OK, so I dont actually keep sheep. Hyperbole aside, my relentless ambition has been both a gift and a curse throughout my life. Why settle for achieving a given goal getting into my preferred post-secondary school, say, or landing that dream job when suddenly success means the pathway is now open for reaching bigger goals, setting higher standards doing more, more, MORE.
Naturally when New Years, that time of institutionally sanctioned self-reflection and self-improvement, rolls around, my Type A side swings into gear and I take this resolution business rather seriously.
Its not enough to set an intention to read more. Ill resolve to barrel through Encyclopedia Britannica by March and then cruise through Anna Karenina in the warm up to beach season which will be devoted to Ulysses. The fact that Ive yet to read any of those titles in their entirety shows you how successful Ive been in keeping such lofty resolutions set along with all the other normal ones like losing 10 pounds, hitting the gym regularly, scaling Everest and starting a charity for orphaned apartment sheep, etc.
Last year Id had enough of setting myself up for failure with my grandiose schemes. I needed something simple, achievable, something that would make a concrete difference in the quality of my day-to-day life. I needed breakfast. Every day.
Dont get me wrong, I know all too well the value of the Most Important Meal Of The Day and would rarely skip. But I would skip the healthy homemade version in favour of waffles from the bakery across from the office (damn those Belgians!) or the ubiquitous coffee chain breakfast sandwich. Not good for my waistline or my wallet. So with 2011 looming I set the goal: Make myself breakfast every day.
And you know what? I did it well mostly. Because I live in the real world with curveballs aplenty, I did hit the waffle place every now and then, but most days found me greeting the sun with a bowl of Greek yogurt and some good-quality granola.
The results were astounding. Im much more settled in the mornings with the routine, Im more focused at work and in the grocery store where, if nothing else, I know what I need to collect for my a.m. meal. As a bonus, I also managed to lose 10 pounds without even trying or wanting to (dont hate!) while my bank account managed to expand. Most importantly, I, for the first time ever, managed to slay the dragon of goal-setting: Sticking to a New Years Resolution. Who knew lowering the bar would feel so good?
