As the kids return to school, the leaves turn crimson and a
cool breeze fills our homes on this beautiful September morning, there is no
better opportunity than now, to take stock of our surroundings. At this time of
change, the fall is a perfect opportunity to examine and adjust our sails.
Like January, when
the year is new, the fall feels like an ideal occasion to start fresh. The
breeze is bright and clean, sweeping away the hot and sticky summer. The autumn
rains wash away all memory of those warm summer months and our mind turns to
preparing for a new season, a change. That mental preparation for this new period
sets us up ideally to access our yearly goals. Of course, I’m talking about
your family history goals but feel free to evaluate all of your life’s goals at
this junction in time.
Take a moment this week to assess what you have accomplished
so far this year in your family history research, your writing and blogging. Did you set some goals early this year? Are you
on track to achieving them, or have you barely looked at them? Are their
opportunities to advance your research, and do you have a plan for the rest of
the year.
It’s time to take stock of your research, make a plan and adjust the map based on your work thus far. Research plans are wonderful tools
but work best when we utilize them to their full potential. As we learn new information, we need to
calculate and amend our plan for that recent knowledge.
Evaluating, adjusting and changing are life’s greatest
opportunities for growth. If you apply that philosophy to your life and equally
in your family history research, you’ll constantly be moving forward.
Take a few minutes this week, take stock, evaluate your
research and adjust your sails as we navigate our way through these last few
months of 2013.
