With the recent advent of Daylight Savings Time, it seems that Spring has already sprung. Daylight savings Time arrived in all U.S. states except Arizona and Hawaii on Sunday, March 10^th.  Although all of us do not appreciate that it is dark later in the morning, many do enjoy the daylight longer in the evenings.  Although Spring does not officially arrive until Tuesday, March 19^th. Since our days of daylight are now longer, we are already ready for the new season. An important question is, “What will we do with this new season?”

As one who knows that planning is critical to accomplishing what we want, it is time for us to plan this second quarter of the year. The days and weeks will pass whether we plan them or not. We can accomplish more of what we want if we plan. The plan is more likely to be accomplished if it is in writing. Yes, I know it is easy to resist taking the time to put our plans into writing. But trust me on this. We have too much in our heads already to add anything more to it and expect to accomplish what is important to us. So, let’s write it down!

Let’s make this simple. Thinking of the next three months, April, May, and June; what do you want to accomplish in these three months? A simple way to think about this is to identify a goal or more for each month. It is most effective to focus on the last month first and determine what your goal is for the end of the quarter. I will give an example of this.

I have regained fifteen of the fifty-seven pounds I lost a couple of years ago. I know this is a dangerous trend, and that if I don’t change this progression, I could be back to where I started before losing my weight. It is time to change this trend. So, my goal for this quarter is to lose fifteen pounds by June 30^th, which is 13 weeks beginning April 1. So, to do that, I decided to set a goal of losing one pound a week. Since I have two weeks left in March and I am getting started now, I can lose 2 pounds before April 1, and the total is amazingly so, fifteen pounds!  I am committing this to writing so you can be my accountability partners!

Breaking our goals down in this manner makes them seem more achievable. Any of us who are serious about losing weight can lose one pound a week. It will be easier at the beginning of the three months than it will be closer to the end, but if I stay committed, I will accomplish my goal.

Enough about me. What goal(s) do you want to accomplish in the next three months? Will you commit the goal(s) to writing, and create a plan to accomplish what is important to you to change? I would love to hear about it and be an accountability partner for you.

I wish you great success on your journey to being your best, not just in the next three months, but going forward from there!