Friday, December 30, 2005

Preparing for a new year

I'm trying to think about the New Year. You know, the same kind of thing many of you are doing: considering resolutions, wishes, dreams, goals, personal improvement. Have read Gabrielle's post, which led to Melody's post. The secret does seem to be self-discipline (and how MANY hours have I wasted today?)

What I have accomplished today: thought and made notes about journal quilts for JQC2006, washed a load of clothes (may be today's only household chore), finished quilting latest piece and considered making hanging sleeve, debated over embellishments for said quilt, and decided to begin organizing my life to a more efficient, disciplined version.

Have made a tentative schedule that includes returning to Tai Chi after the New Year (soon, Yes!); devoting limited time to some activities that I've neglected lately; devoting large, regular blocks of time to creative activities that I love - both quilting and non-quilting; parceling out some of that creative time to learning new techniques...

Two important points from Melody's list are 1) figuring out the steps needed to arrive at certain goals (I'm usually so vague about what I want to do and how to go about it) and 2) finding a starting time that I can stick to every day. My overall goals are different from Melody's, and I have no false hopes of earning money with my skills, so my working day doesn't need to be as long and can be more flexible. Nevertheless, working at what you enjoy is necessary for improvement, and I really do want to improve.

3 comments:

  1. I used to take a Tai Chi class - loved it as long as I was learning slow set, but when he made me move to fast set, I didn't enjoy it as much. Then my office moved from Phoenix to Scottsdale and it was no longer feasible to get there right after work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy New Year, Jen. I think there is a big difference between routine and self-discipline. Routine is rote and thoughtless; discipline is making a commitment to do the work. Making money isn't my focus for my work; teaching is my income generator....which gives me the freedom to do whatever I want in the studio. Does this make sense?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Welcome to 2006, Jen! I hope it will be a good year for you in many ways.

    ReplyDelete

Good to hear from you!