We like lists nowadays don't we? "5 Things he wishes you knew!" "20 things that mean he's the perfect guy" "10 Easy Steps to Happiness" the list goes on and on and on..
My favorite ones recently have been "10 Ways to Stay focused" or "How to Set Goals: 12 Steps" (that one even had pictures!)
I've read about how to set goals... make them attainable, break them down into concrete steps, make a time line, etc..
But ya know what, I'm horrible at keeping resolutions or achieving goals. Somewhere along the way I get burnt out and I forget why I even set it in the first place. The fire dies that got me going in the beginning. I'm always disappointed in myself when I add another thing to the list of things I didn't finish.
Ya know that feeling you get when you go to a church service, listen to an inspirational speaker, or read an uplifting book? You might leave thinking that you've just discovered the secret to everything.. if you could just apply that thing you learned, everything would fall into place. Seriously, how could anything not work right if you were using that thing consistently? So you might set some new goals because you're on fire with this new enlightened state of being.
But then a few days or weeks later, that thing doesn't seem so relevant to everything you go through. Turns out, there are several things to learn/apply that probably need to happen for life to be the breeze you thought it could be.
So why is it we can't just keep adding these "aha" moments up until we've got all of them in our pocket to use for whatever comes our way? I imagine most of us would be in a pretty good place every day if we constantly remembered how to handle every situation in the best way we've been taught.
But we forget what we learn.. so we go back to church, back to the inspirational speakers, back to the books.. and we think "how could I possibly have forgotten this? I was sooo ready to do all of these things! How could I forget how important this thing is?"
Why don't I accomplish my goals? Finish things I start? Stick to new habits? Because I forget why I started them. Sure I might remember the textbook "why it matters," but the fire isn't always going to be there. There are a lot of things to be working on and improving.. no one can be on fire about perfecting everything all the time.
So I'm not here to start a new project in the same way I've done a couple times in the past, because goodness knows I'd quit a few months in. In fact, I'm not even going to be trying to reach a goal at all. The Happiness Projects that I've undertaken in the past have focused on a new theme each month, breaking each one into 4 or 5 knew habits or attitudes to develop that month until, magically, by month 12 I'm happy and doing everything that months 1-11 started.
But this project will be about collecting the "why's." I'm not going to get anywhere without having a resource bank that I can turn to when I forget why I'm doing something I started.
I apologize for the misleading title. I don't have a list of "12 reasons why" anything, but thats what I'll be finding. 12 Reasons why its worth working on the 12 things I'm going to work on. (You can see the project I will eventually tackle here.)
Every month will be about accumulating resources, like movies, songs, talks, speeches, books, etc, that can help remind me why that month's goals are important.
I want this resource bank not only to finish the dang happiness project I can't seem to get through, but because the rest of my life I'll be trying to balance all of the things that could possibly be improved or worked on. I can't imagine it will hurt to have somewhere to go back to for a little inspiration.
My progressive 12 Reasons list will begin with the "happiness" topic that hopefully I'll finish with after my real project. I mean, I guess I'm setting a goal for myself, so I imagine I should start by outlining why I'm doing this in the first place.
So keep an eye out for that list.. I don't know if I'll just have one list for the whole month or if it will also be broken down by "topics". Suppose we'll find out together :)
