Focus on Something Small

At the beginning of a new year, many people will set resolutions of different goals they want to accomplish throughout the year. Sometimes these goals are small, sometimes they are big; but all require focus and determination.

For the last six months, my biggest focus and struggle has been figuring out how to get Sophie to nap. She has been the happiest baby, except when I leave her in her crib. So, it has been months of trying different strategies and tactics to get her to nap in her crib, most of which have ended up in me carrying her around in my Tula Baby Carrier just so she would get some rest. This has been very discouraging.

With the new year arriving, I stepped back from the situation to figure out what I could control in what felt like a very out of control situation. I realized that I could control putting her down in her crib. After months of trying, it became easier to just put her in the Tula – skip the screaming, skip what felt like false hope every time there was silence which was really when she stopped screaming to take a breath, skip the discouragement just so she would get the rest she needed to grow and develop. However, I knew that this was not helping the situation in the long run. Here are some pictures from our “Napping Adventure”…

So, this became my goal – put Sophie down in her crib for both of her naps and continue throughout the week no matter the result. There were a few successes and there were a lot of “failures”; out of 14 attempts, she fell asleep two or three times on her own. But, when it came down to it, I accomplished my goal! Now, a new week has started continuing my goal, and we are three for four with Sophie falling asleep in her crib on her own! I have to believe that this persistence is going to make a difference in the end and at some point, napping won’t be an issue at all.

Maybe 2017 started with overwhelming feelings of what you want or need to accomplish. Maybe 2016 was a hard year and you were discouraged with the start of a new year. Maybe your life is just feeling very out of control on a daily basis…

Find something small that you can control and make that your goal! Create a goal you know you can accomplish and make that the stepping stone for bigger and bigger goals as the year goes on! 2017 is a new year…bring it on!