NurseWeek News

The Open Road
Begin the year's journey with an agenda of healthy ambitions

By Katherine Vestal, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, Great Lakes Editor
January 17, 2003

Ringing in a new year usually causes us to pause and think about what we would like to accomplish during the next 12 months. Regardless of whether we have a real resolution or just a desire to make something different happen, the new year is the beginning of setting goals on which we can focus. I know that statistics overwhelmingly indicate that few of us will follow through and actually make major changes in our lives, but making resolutions does provide a collective energy around an agenda as we start the journey into 2003.

I have thought about the things that I would like to accomplish this year. The first is to get organized. Despite several calendars, multitudes of lists, yellow Post-it reminders everywhere and asking friends to remind me of things, I invariably hit the panic button when I find I have either forgotten something important or nearly forgotten and it is the nth hour to get it done. Surely there must be a better system to keep me on track so I do not have to rely on my memory and the dreaded 2 a.m. wakeful worry time.

The second thing I would like to do is to stop procrastinating. I periodically monitored my own stress this year and concluded that most of my stress was due to being under the gun for deadlines, which I invariably had known about for a long time. In watching my own behavior, I know that when I am spending time doing those things I don't enjoy, such a washing the car, mopping the floors and cleaning out the garage, there is a deadline for something I need to do lurking in the background and I am working hard to avoid it. So, in avoiding it, my stress rises and-voilà!-there I am, back in the vicious cycle of panic. I rationalize this behavior by telling myself that this is the only way I will periodically have a clean garage.

My other resolutions are simple: lose weight, exercise, eat healthy foods, contribute to others, spend quality time with my family and have some fun. The one thing missing from this list is to work harder. I don't need a plan for that because it is the default activity on which I spend most of my waking hours. I love to work. I find professional challenges to be a type of rush that I thrive on. I love the colleagues with whom I work. And I am fascinated by the way things in organizations get done. Although it is not always easy to be a part of organizational life, if we could step back and look at it from a distance, I think we would find the organizational labyrinth and intrigue to be better than an award-winning movie. I think, as nurses, we are natural hard workers, so it is nice not to have to add that to my priority list.

So, I am entering 2003 with a fairly clear idea of what I might do to have a successful year from a personal standpoint. I am hoping for the ability to stick to the goals that I think will make me a better person, both at work and at home. Fortunately, I have a fallback position that ensures that if I don't succeed with the changes, at least I will have a clean garage.

Best wishes to you in keeping your resolutions for 2003.

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