Yoda: Do. Or do not. There is no try.

Do you have any dreams that you hope to fulfill this year?

(Speaking of dreams, here’s a link to the text of Martin Luther King’s  “I Have A Dream.”  And speaking of MLK who has a birthday coming up and a holiday in his honor on Monday, here’s a blog post in recognition of his service from last year.)

Did you make any New Year’s resolutions or set some goals for 2015? And did you put any of these dreams, goals or resolutions into writing?

There’s lots of research that shows that people who articulate their dreams, set goals, and make resolutions accomplish more than those people who don’t.

Recently, a friend told me that if you put a goal into writing,  you are 42% more likely to carry out that goal – even if you never look at what your wrote again! She heard this in a podcast by Jeff Goins with Michael Hyatt on setting goals you might want to check out: “The Secret to Setting Goals That Actually Get Done: Michael Hyatt Interview [Podcast]”. Learn more about Jeff Goins here in this post “Why Blog“.

In the podcast, he says that 25% of New Year’s Resolutions are abandoned after one week and 60% within 6 months; the difference between a resolution and a goal is to write the goal down, and this leads to greater success.

One resolution or goal for me is to follow Yoda’s advice: “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

Just blogging about it right now will make me 42% more likely to carry out this goal!

Another is to eat healthy daily and exercise for at least an hour every day but at least five days a week. I was on my ninth day straight when I fell and now I can’t climb stairs and can’t walk for too long! Finally Tuesday, I felt okay enough to walk to Pilates and was able to take the class with some accommodations.  That means I’m still on track but barely. I also joined an online healthy eating group with some friends, and I will be doing Dr Hyman’s 10 Day Detox with some of them starting next week.

I’ve also resolved to get back to blogging more regularly; I have definitely slacked off. So far in 2015 I’ve published 10 posts (not counting at least one reblog) which is pretty good considering that I had no internet access except by phone over the New Year’s holiday. And I’ve started a weekly blogging poetry project too.

A final goal is to maintain our efforts to live as considerately, consciously, and as lightly on the planet as possible. The hardest one is cutting back on plastics consumption. We no longer use plastic water bottles, and we rarely buy or drink from plastic bottles of any kind (instead we rely on reusable, glass or aluminum), but plastic is still ubiquitous, and recycling really is practically meaningless. (More on the problems with plastic bottles here and with plastics in general here and here).

I have some dreams too for this year that I’ve talked about with some friends but I’m not ready to write them down here yet!

So what are your dreams, goals, and resolutions for 2015? As a student? As a person? For the planet?

Why do you want to carry out these goals?

Now it’s time to really think about what you want your year to look like… and consider why, too, because when you start to falter, coming back to why will help you maintain your commitment in the long run. What is a goal that really matters to you? For example, if you are in school, you might think earning an A is it when really, what is it you want to learn? To accomplish and to achieve?

Be sure to write your goals down!

Or leave a comment!

PS Need more support? Check out the 30 minute podcast mentioned above on setting goals. Lots of juicy stuff to inspire you! Or if you’d rather read, here’s Jeff Goin’s BRIEF blog post on “failed” resolutions.