Dorothy: [00:00:00] Let’s talk about your breast, a different kind of podcast presented to you by The Rose, Breast Center of Excellence and a Texas treasure. You’re going to hear frank discussions about tough topics and you’re going to learn why knowing about your breast could save your life.
Who do you want to be at the end of this year? Do you want to be a healthier you, a happier you, a better you all the way around? You know, those are the questions I ask myself every January when I sit down to write my goals. Now, a lot of people know this about me, but it’s dead serious. I write 106 goals every year.
Now they’re not always these big, audacious goals, not all of them, but it’s 106 goals. And let me tell you why it’s so important. For [00:01:00] me, this is what sets my intentions for the year. This is how I hold my own self accountable. And besides, it’s fun. I love to sit there and daydream. What would life be like a year from now if I did certain things?
And that’s how I fashion all my goals. Now, you know, there’s a lot of studies out there that talk about goals and how many people write them. A big chunk of Americans. Every year, put down their resolutions or their goals. And I mean, it’s, it’s a huge amount. Something like 60%. However, what most articles focus on is the, well, you know, all of those people didn’t do anything after the second week.
No. What about the people who did? What about the people who kept looking at their goals? What about those who actually made some of them come true?[00:02:00]
For me, I write work goals. I write personal goals. My husband and I write together goals. And then he writes his personal goals. And regardless of what you might think, men and women write about the same number of goals. They just have different kinds of goals. We also do. Home goals. Things that we want to get done around the house.
So it’s pretty easy to come up with 106 goals when you have that many. I think one of the most important goals that I, I always try to get down are what I call maintenance goals. And those are the ones that I keep doing things that I know keep me healthy, keep me more positive. For instance, I continue to walk every day, five days a week, is one of my goals.
Have I always done that? Pretty much. Do I want to keep doing it? Absolutely. But I just always note those goals. The other part [00:03:00] of it is like, I, I want to stay in touch with friends. I want to make that extra effort to stay in touch with them and family. So, let me tell you some other things I’ve learned about goals.
Everything has to do with how you write them. Did you hear that? Write them. You have to write them down. Yes, you can do it on your computer, but do you know your brain is more engaged when you actually write it down? When you’re actually using pen and pencil and paper and writing it down? So, when you’re writing your goals, you want to be very aware of the words you use.
For instance, if you use words like, I want, I need, or I will, those words will guarantee that you’re gonna keep wanting, you’re gonna keep needing, or you’re gonna someday maybe get it done. The better words to use, keep it in the present tense, keep it positive or words like I have. [00:04:00] I am. I explore. That’s my favorite.
If I have something new I really want to try out, then I just put, I explore, X, Y, Z. Doesn’t mean I have to get it done, but just getting the idea in my head that I could explore it is a whole, whole way of approaching new ideas and new projects. Another one is I enjoy. And those are the words I use when I really want to be sure that I’m putting a lot of play into my life.
Too many times we have too much work and not enough play. So as you’re writing these goals, I want you to also think about how you state them. Almost everybody I know, or at least most of my female friends, are saying, I want to lose weight. I want to drop 10 pounds. I want to weigh what I did in my 20s.
Well, here’s a wanna, wanna, wanna. You know, instead of saying, I [00:05:00] want to lose 10 pounds, say, I am the perfect weight. Or, my clothes fit me perfectly. Now your body will adjust and start to make those adjustments inside you that really keep you at a certain weight. Guarantee this, I have not changed my weight in the last 15 years.
Yes, it may be a little more than I want, but you know it’s not changing. That’s a good thing.
I think the other thing that we have to remember about goals is they do work. There’s lots of studies out there that show that the people that write their goals down, the people that make goals every year, the people that stretch themselves beyond, are most likely the ones that will succeed in reaching those goals.
There’s a great study by Harvard that’s been around for a long, long time, and it talked about how the people, the 3 percent of their students, who wrote down their [00:06:00] goals and had a plan of how to reach them, made 10 times more than their other classmates, 10 times. I think another part, when you think about making money or you want more money, put that again in that positive way.
I am wealthy. I am wealthy in health. I am wealthy financially. I am wealthy in friends. You know, wealth has many, many meanings. And I think we need to go ahead and stretch and write down what you feel wealthy in. I’m wealthy in my spiritual life. I love that one, and I have a strong spiritual life. Another one that I keep on my list every year is I read four to five books every month.
Yes, every month. I use Audible. I always have it on. I’m always learning something new. And I just think those kind of goals are important for us. Again, they’re not all work. They have a lot to do with our well being. [00:07:00] And that’s one of the focuses that I hope, Let’s Talk About Your Breasts stays on this year.
Well-being is so important. When you have that sense of well-being, a sense of all is well, and we all know in our world, a lot is not well, but we know that within ourselves, in our own world, we can do a lot of different things to keep us well, and to keep our well-being intact.
Here’s another thing I do, and I’ve been amazed at how many of my employees will write these goals. I send out a challenge to them every January and I say, go ahead, write your goals. Doesn’t matter if you do 10 or 106, doesn’t matter, just write them down, put them in an envelope, seal it up, put your name on the outside, and give them to me and I’ll put them in my [00:08:00] special place.
And I’ll save them until the next January. There is nothing like what happens when my employees are opening up their last year’s goals. And they go, Oh, well, I got 8 out of 10. Wow, I didn’t even know I had that on my list. That’s a big one. And, and it’s just wonderful to see that, and they keep doing it year after year.
I finally broke down and challenged some of my professional colleagues with this. And I cannot tell you how poo pooed it was in the beginning. And now they’re calling me and saying, Oh, guess what? I got this many goals done this year. And I’m going, good for you. It won’t happen if you don’t write them down.
So for 2024, make this one of your goals. To get your goals written down, and to put them away, and look at them whenever you want to, but be sure that you look at them the following year. [00:09:00] That better you is waiting.
Post-Credits: Thank you for joining us today on Let’s Talk About Your Breasts. This podcast is produced by Speke Podcasting and brought to you by The Rose, visit the rose.org to learn more about our organization, subscribe to our podcast, share episodes with friends and join the conversation on social media, using hashtag #Let’sTalkAboutYourBreasts. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Consider supporting The Rose. Your gift can make the difference to a person in need .
Remember, self care is not selfish. It’s essential.
