New Year, New Goals

Happy new year, everyone! I hope you all got a chance to relax and engage with loved ones over the holidays.  I read as much as possible over the break.  One of the cool highlights was checking in on my annual reading goal.  There are many out there, and a classic is the GoodReads.com Challenge. I encourage you to get on there and set a lofty goal.  The great thing about a reading goal is whether you meet your goal or not, in the end, you’ve generally read at least one enjoyable new book. 

It is also the time of year many of us set new year resolutions.  All too often, we say we will set these goals but never actually do, or we set a goal without considering how to achieve that goal.  Unfortunately, this can result in a sense of defeat or disappointment.  Some quick research on how best to achieve your new year’s goals was found at MindTools.com. 

You set your goals on a number of levels:
  • First, you create your “big picture” of what you want to do with your life (or over, say, the next 10 years), and identify the large-scale goals that you want to achieve.
  • Then, you break these down into smaller and smaller targets that you must hit to reach your lifetime goals.
  • Finally, once you have your plan, you start working on it to achieve these goals.
One thing is for sure if you never set a goal, you will never achieve the goal.  This year people are talking about improving themselves. Many of us learned some valuable lessons from being restricted by COVID and have ideas for improving our lives. Try not to let the moment pass.  Think about what a good goal is, be brave, and go for it!
 
As an incentive, stop by the Main Library.  We ordered some new books that are on display that we are really excited about for the coming year.  Stop by, share with us what you read and grab a new book.  Or just grab that first book for your challenge!
“MindTools | Home.” Mindtools.com, 2023, www.mindtools.com/a5ykiuq/personal-goal-setting.

10 Steps to Achieve your New Year’s Resolutions

1.  BE REALISTIC

2.  PLAN AHEAD

3.  OUTLINE YOUR PLAN

4.  MAKE A “PROS” AND “CONS” LIST

5.  TALK ABOUT IT

6.  REWARD YOURSELF

7.  TRACK YOUR PROGRESS

8.  DON’T BEAT YOURSELF UP

9.  STICK TO IT

10. KEEP TRYING

 

Gaiam. “10 Tips to Help You Keep Your New Year’s Resolution.” Gaiam, 2023, www.gaiam.com/blogs/discover/10-tips-to-help-you-keep-your-new-year-s-resolution.

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Bell’s Recommendation

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

I love getting as well as giving book recommendations.  One of the English Teachers, Mr. Mees, talked to me about a book before the break that students will be reading in class this term. The title, Man’s Search for Meaning, is by no means a new book.  It is a powerful literary work.  It falls into the Memoir genre in that Viktor was a practicing psychologist prior to WWII when he, as a Jew, was forced into a concentration camp.  Coupled with his training and the situation forced upon him, he saw the opportunity to think deeply about life.  This book is one of the results.  It is well-written and gives very powerful ideas about existential thinking.  It was the perfect book to trigger thinking about where I am in my life and what I want to do in the coming year.  In thinking about my new year’s resolutions, this book gave me great perspective. It was good to read something that is older yet still so powerful.  Enjoy!

Tech Tools

Let’s start the new year with something a little techie and hopefully fun. If you’ve never pulled another calendar into your Google Calendar, then this is the one! You may have heard of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope images. If not, you should; they are truly unique images. You can add this calendar via the New York Times, which published this great article with this link to subscribe.

Digital Citizenship Corner

The big news in the world of tech was around ChatGPT.  A new Artificial Intelligence that some would say borders on the actual conversation.  However, it is much more than that and is going to be something you will indefinitely hear more about in the coming year.  For a short explanation of what it is and what it can do Citizen.Digital published a brief article that will help you get started understanding this fascinating new technology.