Party, party, party — it’s what most folks do on New Year’s Eve to say goodbye to the previous year. Hopefully, our heads have cleared up by now from the revelries of New Year’s Eve, and we can take time to focus on what lies ahead in the coming year. So, steep a pot of tea or brew a jug of coffee, and let’s sit down and contemplate what the year ahead may bring our way.
Goal setting is important. I have often found that the best way to accomplish a goal is to think it through, write down your game plan, which should include a realistic timetable, and then review that plan from time to time to verify that progress is being made.
Make a list of your goals, which should include a few short-term items as well as longer, more involved things that you must stretch to reach. Being able to cross off the short-term items once you have accomplished them will give you the encouragement to continue working on the long-term or more involved goals.
Time is one of our most precious assets. It is the one thing that “once it is gone, it is gone forever.” You can’t get it back. Thus, in setting your goals, you must define which goals you are setting are truly worth trading valuable time for in order to achieve them.
Include in your list of goals a realistic time in which you can reach each goal and define the pay-back value of each goal — meaning, how your life will be made better by achieving each of the goals you finally decide upon. What are the obstacles you expect to encounter along the way?
Once your list of goals is complete, lay out your plans to achieve each of the items. Are you being realistic? Are you biting off more than you can chew? If you are satisfied that all of the goals are doable, it is time to write down your plans on the calendar and start NOW.
Start a daily diary. If you have one already, then, over the next month or so of chilling temperatures and falling snow, you can while away the time by reviewing what you saw, thought, or accomplished in the past year. By recording data from last year, such as when turkeys began showing up in your hunting area in the spring, when you were able to begin spring planting of food plots, when various hatches occurred on your favorite trout streams, or when you observed several nice bucks running together prior to the archery season, you will be able to lay out a much better game plan and set goals for the upcoming seasons.
Promoting your sport would be an excellent goal to include in your plans for the next 12 months. Whether you are a biker, a hiker, a hunter, or a fisherman, it is important to the continuation of your chosen sports to do your part in making sure these activities are around for generations to come. Consider joining a few of the conservation groups that support and promote your interests. Take time to introduce someone to your sport — whether it is a youth or even an adult who has never had the opportunities that you have had. Increasing interest and participation in your sports of choice will help raise needed dollars and aid in awareness of issues when support is needed for proposed legislation.
Habitat improvement is a win-win. Projects to develop food plots, plant mast-bearing trees or plants for cover, create brush piles, or clear logging roads and trails can be added to your list of goals. Whether it is on acreage that you own, at a hunting club you belong to, or at a farm or woodlot that you have permission to hunt, doing habitat improvement work provides great exercise, adds to wildlife food and cover sources, and can help cement a good relationship between yourself and a landowner.
Over the next several weeks, spend time relaxing, reflecting, and rejuvenating. Focus on what really matters in your life and how you can improve upon that which you already have. Take time to set your goals for the new year, develop your plans to accomplish those goals, and then take action to reach them. The feeling of accomplishment you get as you check off the goals once you have achieved them will drive you on to complete the others as well.
