Good Intentions

I wrote this post about six months ago, but it is relevant today as I am at the end of summer break and heading back to school tomorrow.
I think I am not alone in having many good intentions that I do not follow through with. I am coming to the end of my time on medical leave. Today is my last school day off and I am actually going into school at dismissal time to re-acclimate myself. At the beginning of my time off, I had some goals in mind that I wanted to accomplish while I was off. Nothing big or physical was on the list. One of the items on the list was to write several blogs. Well, this is the first blog I am writing since I have been off. A slow, but good recovery and a recent sinus infection has kept me from feeling very creative or motivated to do anything! So what is it with good intentions? Do they account for anything? Unless we act on them, they accomplish nothing. Is it better to have no intentions and accomplish them all? I feel with that attitude, we would never accomplish anything! So, do we shoot high, set several goals and just hope to meet some of them? That would be like setting up 50 obscure targets in a field, firing a machine gun in the general direction of them, and hoping to hit a couple bull's eyes. That seems kind of dangerous to me. I have learned to do a few things when I find myself conjuring up good intentions that I know I will never realize.
1. Prioritize.
2. Be realistic.
3. Make a plan.
4. Get started right away.

Prioritize.
Write a list of all the items, goals, dreams, actions, etc. you want to accomplish. Choose the ones that are most important to you and list them in order of importance or timing.
Be Realistic.
Take a closer look at the items on the bottom of your list. Are there one or more items on there that you know you just do not have the time, energy, or resources to accomplish in the near future? If so, scratch them off now. If you cannot bear to scratch them off, make two lists. Make a 'Right Now' list and a 'For Later' list. Set the latter one aside for now and focus on the 'Right Now.' Read over them again. Is it realistic to think you can accomplish these goals within a realistic period of time? Do some of these need to be moved over to the 'For Later' list?
Make a Plan.
Once you have your Right Now, realistic list prioritized in order of importance or timing, it is time to make a plan! Is there a goal on your list you can accomplish quickly? If so, just do it. Do it now. Is there an item with multiple steps, something that will take a little longer to realize? You may need to get started on this. Go through your list and make a specific plan for each goal and when you will complete each step of the plan.
Get started!
The sooner you can start crossing off things on the list or on the plan, the more motivated you will be to finish the rest of the list.
I pray that this post helps you in some small way as you turn those good intentions into solid accomplishments.