This last Thursday, Don shared with us his presentation “ My Wish”.

He shared with us that this presentation is Part four of his series on making changes.  He shared that when it comes to our fate, maybe your fate is what you make it.  We may need to learn to define who we are today. When Don made his last presentation, he gave us a homework assignment to come up with a list of our own intentions in life. He advised us when we have our own list of intentions, we should hang it somewhere that we can see it every day.

Some of my intentions are;

1) To lead by example 

2) Listen less to my inner critic.

3) Try to give back even more to the community.

4) Not worry so much about what others think.

5) Take up a new hobby this year, maybe gardening? 

Don also handed out a nice worksheet we can use to write down a list of our intentions, and the changes that need to be made to make those changes happen.  Once this worksheet has been completed, it will be a good roadmap that will help us get a better focus on our dreams.

Whenever we encounter any barriers to reaching our dreams, these are not blockages, even though negativity will tell you dreams are not possible. 

We have to learn to listen to our internal voice of encouragement.  When it comes to change, do not be afraid to lose a part of the old you.  Learn to be true to yourself to attract the right people in your life.  You will find like minded people when you make the changes you need to make.  We need to encourage each other more, and when you have success share it with others so you can celebrate.  Learn to summon the best of who you are.  Be good, kind and brave!  Let go of the past and help others. Today is a gift, make today count! 

Below are the instructions for the worksheet as well as pdf and excell versions of the worksheet.

Tonight we ponder, what if your fate is what you make it?

So, we just left 2024 behind. Your 2025 journey is just beginning.  Part of any journey is deciding where we are going.  We talk a lot about change over the past several months, so tonight we are going to make a road map for you to follow to achieve the change you want.  So lets start by Defining who you are today. go to the blank side of the handout. Use the top line to write at least 5 things about yourself you are happy with.  At the bottom of the page in the blank space, using these five things you like about your life, write a paragraph that tells me who you are today.  Now go to the line that says values, list at least 5 values you live by.  And, remember those intentions we talked about two weeks ago. There are 24 open boxes to list them in, or as many things as you have tonight.  

If you get stuck on what goes in each box, flip the page over and you will see my filled out worksheet with some changes already in progress.  Remember this is both an individual challenge and a group challenge.  Feel free to share in second hour and even pair off into smaller groups or pairs to hold each other accountable.

Now, go below the blue line.  List all the things you would like to change about yourself this year.  There are 11 lines, use as many as you need, but only put one thing you want to change about yourself on each line.  Some changes may be interdependent on other changes, like I will finish my degree and get a job is really two changes, one dependent on the completion of the other.  My guess is that this list will be longer than 5 items  as we are always our own worst critic.  Break each change down until you are at a level where you can make a clear, achievable, and measurable path to each end result.

Leave the rest of each line blank for now.

Except the next two columns .  The first one is for your project’s start date, and anticipated done date.  Especially if your changes involve meds, remember you can’t truly feel the change of an individual med if you change more than one at a time.  And ALLWAYS with the consultation and permission of your doctor.  Discuss your changes with your doctor, they will likely have some great suggestions for you.

The next box on each line is for Your WHY.  Your Why is important as that is what is going to motivate you.  When you have a bad day or a bad result, look back at the why column.  This is your primary motivator.  

And there is one last column I want you to be sure to fill in and that is the far right one entitled “End Results”.  I want you to be able to close your eyes and visualize what your life will be like when you make it to your end goal.  This and the “Why” are what will keep you going when you want to skip a day or just give up.

Your homework over the next week is to fill in how you are going to achieve the change you are looking for.  Some solutions may be simple, some may take time.  Some may require another thing to have already changed before you can start working on them.

Next put them in order as it is much easier to start working on one goal at a time.

Now give yourself a REALISTIC time to complete each goal.  When I say realistic i mean if one of your goals is to loose 50 pounds, you are not going to do that in a month.  But, if that is on your list set a target for completion.  Last year I wanted to loose 20 pounds by my trip.  I gave myself 4 months which was quite realistic without huge lifestyle changes.  Not only that, I could tell if I was on track along the way because the goal was measurable.  My why was important because I wanted to loose the 20 pounds so I could keep up with the walking tours we had signed up for.  In thinking through my why, I discovered that the actual number on the scale was not what I was trying to achieve which made it easier as I did not need to be fixated at every bite of food I ate, just that I could keep walking comfortably for longer and longer distances.  In the end the number on the scale became irrelevant to my true goal.  

Now many of my changes for this year are longer term and can be worked on simultaneously. Doing things to better my health and retiring or finding a new type of job do not depend on each other.  But several of my health change goals require new drugs or dietary supplements and I know that I only want to change one thing at a time so I can see what does and what does not work for me. ON the other hand I will not attempt to change my job status until I have the heart surgery that I hope to have this spring.  Changing insurance and having the number of sick days  to recover will keep me at my current job at least until the surgery is over.

When you have your list completely filled out, hang it somewhere where you will see it often.  If you need a fresh copy, the link to download one will be in the blog.  Put the start days for each goal in your phone’s calendar.  

LInk to PDF of the form

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Link to Excell of the form

https://depressionbipolarsupportomaha.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/my-changes-blank-excell.xlsx