Ahhhh it’s that time of year again. January is approaching and we will all be thinking about resolutions.

  • What do we want to achieve?
  • Where do we want to go?
  • What will we give up?

The most important question of course is:

  • How will we achieve it?

Its easy to set goals, however, I’ve always maintained the key to achieving them is around your motivation for doing it and sometimes that’s lacking because we tackle some goals only because we feel we should.

The quickest win to get motivation is to make yourself accountable to someone else and it is as easy as telling them what you’re intending to achieve. Quite simply we are human and being kind to ourselves we do not necessarily put the pressure on when needed. Letting someone else down can be another matter and also the fear of losing face in front of others.

2022 has been a blinding year for me. I set out to do a few wild swims, found a swimming group and have been every week between the end of May and Christmas. I told them I would swim until the clocks went back, October would be cold, November colder. Yet here I am raising money for cancer research and swimming on near frozen water in December and I’m still going – because I told the whole of my social media following that I would do it – making myself accountable.

words & Pictures Copyright of Carolyn Trafford 2022

My second golden rule is when the goal seems too huge, just take it one step at a time. And that’s what I’m doing, one swim at a time. So I have plans to swim this week – once, as for next week – I’ll decide at the end of the week.

Carolyn Trafford is a Creative Life Coach, supporting others in reaching their own goals in a creative way sine 2010. Author of “Don’t Just Dream It – Achieve It!” (A great way to kickstart those goals). This interactive book is available from her online shop:  https://carolyntraffordart.ecwid.com/Dont-Just-Dream-It-Achieve-It-Book-p196854491) . She was diagnosed with Breast Cancer on the 20th September 2021 following her first routine screening with the NHS at 51.

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