So this year I was thinking about a new approach to goal-setting. Especially as it relates to self-responsibility, something folks in any recovery program are familiar with as an important topic. I thought about the 12 Days of Christmas tradition, which means a loved one receives one gift a day for the 12 days preceding Christmas. If I was to turn the idea of that from a gift into a goal, and the 12 days into 12 months, I could come up with looking at 2018 as a year to bring myself into further alignment by taking responsibility for things I wouldn’t want others to have to deal with if something happened to me.
I thought this might work, because each of these 12 items would be big; not something as easy as cleaning out the closet, which I could do in a day. No, these tasks take more time, resolve and persistence to complete, which is probably why I haven’t gotten them done before now. So, giving myself a month for each of these tasks seemed like a lower-pressure way to look at it. Plus, if I can actually achieve these 12 major things in this year by breaking them down into components to be done each in a month, I will have increased my Self-Responsibility score dramatically.
Because I moved to a different country a year ago, there are transition and update types of chores that I need to do. I need to re-establish key connections for everything from accountant to lawyer to doctor to electrician.
So, here is my list:
JANUARY: Find lawyer, get will updated. File extra copy of will and Advanced Directive with lawyer.
FEBRUARY: Do office filing set up and get all files updated. ID and archive boxes that aren’t current and store.
MARCH: Complete my Step #4.
APRIL: Get outdated and incorrect information removed from my credit bureau records.
MAY: Do Step #5.
JUNE: Make final arrangements, and research & get proper coverage for end-of-life care.
JULY: Do Step #6.
AUGUST: Arrange for medical power of attorney.
SEPTEMBER: Do Step #7.
OCTOBER: Do Step #8.
NOVEMBER: Do Step #9.
DECEMBER: Make list of the location of important information/papers (policies, investments, health information, passwords, bank accounts, etc.) Make sure this list is available to partner.
If any of these tasks take less than a month, I may try to get a second started or even completed. But if I only do one per month for the entire year, I’ll be very happy with that.
It’s probably immediately noticeable that half of my goals for the year are to complete much of my 12-Step Al-Anon work. If I can get through more than the 9th step in my 12-step recovery work, that’s great too. But I’m not going to stress it, because there’s only so far you can plan anything. Ultimately, that’s not completely under my control, and it’s possible my higher power has other plans for me, so I want to stay open to that.
But I feel that to do proper recovery work, taking responsibility for these things (and more) is critical. I know that by next Christmas, I’ll feel very ready to celebrate the gifts of the season, having spent the year giving myself the gift of self responsibility.
I’ll let you know next year how I did 🙂 If you try it, I’d love to hear what kind of things you decide to do. Oh, and Happy New Year!!!
Ask & you shall receive,
