It is that time year again: new years! You know what that means, resolutions!!!

Last year I didn’t set any new years resolutions. Okay well maybe there was one: don’t get arrested. I mean that is a pretty good NY resolution right? I stuck with it anyways. **pats self on back**

Enough with the sarcasm, I did, however, set some goals for myself. I believe there is so much pressure on creating these resolutions and starting over. Blech! I have tried to start over so many times. I always told myself, “Okay, next monday…next week…next month.” Then I finally woke up. I didn’t want to keep doing the same things and having the same experiences. I wasn’t really learning anything.

Sometimes some people ask me how do I do everything? That’s work part-time, go to school full-time, and volunteer outside of school in the greater community and with school activities. First, good time management skills. Second, I believe that anyone is capable of achieving anything they want to achieve. Last but not least, I set goals!

Time management is a good skill to have. Not just for yourself but for life in general. I mean, I got so many things accomplished within the last year just because I utilized these skills to their greatest possible advantage. Here are some things I accomplished last year (not just resume accomplishment but also personal accomplishments):

– Won 3 scholarships, 1 essay writing award
– Volunteered with London Brain Injury Association, London and Region Food Bank, Toronto’s Second Harvest, The University of Western Ontario’s University Student Council Mental Health Commissioner during mental health awareness week, a children’s literacy program… just to name a few
– Started running again (also lost 20lbs)
– Started two amazing employment opportunities (one of which I still work at)
– Spoke at a youth conference (my long term goal is to do more of this)
– Started this blog with registering the domain http://www.kwetoday.com 🙂
– Gained an interest in politics and motivated to do more work for Indigenous peoples, specifically Indigenous women in Canada
– Met some amazing people, especially the women I have met, all of who live in London ON.

I honestly don’t think I could have done half of what I done without time management. I also don’t think that I could not have done the other half without the belief that I could accomplish anything I want to.

Coming to school was a choice. Volunteering was a choice. Starting to run again was a choice. I am sure you are starting to see a pattern here: choice. Earlier this week, someone asked me how I would describe myself? I simply stated, “resilient” (which is simple enough because the conversation was about resiliency and domestic violence). Later in the conversation, the person then again asked me what does resiliency mean to me? I just said, “resiliency is having a choice and making one.” There were 2 ways my life could have gone if I didn’t go back to school. Bad or really bad. I didn’t want either. I wanted to live a better life.

I believed that I could make a choice. Trust me when I say this,

If you really want something to happen in your life, you will do whatever it takes to make that happen.

I really wanted a better life. I am not perfect and some angel now. I do still make mistakes but I know that I am a better person than I was last year, and the year before, and so on. That is the ultimate personal accomplishment. Time management and personal belief, along with having choices and making choices, has gotten me here today. Yet, that is not all that has helped me. What also helped me was goal setting.

I wanted a better life. What does that even mean? What is a better life for me? I know what it is not: it is not what or how I was previously living my life (The key here to goal setting is figuring out what does having what you want mean to you on your own terms?) My definition of a better life may not be the same as someone else’s definition. I stopped comparing myself to others. A major thought process that happened within my own self went something like this, “Oh I am almost 25 and not even in university and don’t have a car and don’t have this…” Blah blah blah. The pattern? I always looked at what others had and what others did instead of worrying about what I had. Thus, I began to put my own interests on the “back burner.” By defining what I wanted on my own terms, I set the framework for a better life for me and only me, and most importantly, on my own terms.

Another trick to goal setting? Break down a big goal into smaller goals. In the end, it may seem like a lot of work but if you accomplish a bunch of little goals that are apart of your ultimate bigger goal… you WILL feel better about yourself 🙂 Trust me, this works. So you want better grades? Okay, great, break it down: you want to study math for 60 minutes a week or you want to review your study notes a week before the test or you want to have a final draft done well in advance to get the help that you need to get that better grade. Sometimes this seems easier than it appears, but remember, make an action plan to make your goal happen in steps. How does that saying go? Rome wasn’t built in a day. With all that being said, sometimes life happens and goals get interrupted. Let life happen. Don’t beat yourself up for messing up your goal for one or two week. Just remember, life happens and you won’t know where it may take you… it may take you places you never thought possible.

Just remember, life is supposed to be fun. As many people like to say, live, laugh, learn 😉 So, go live life, learn and learn to laugh (especially at yourself)!