Out with the Regrets and In with the New Year!
What is it about a New Year that implies a fresh start? As though, tomorrow begins a clean slate to start over-I will wake up thin, without cavities and without the lessons learned from the previous year. Isn't the charm of each new year, the ability to reflect on everything we've learned?
I dont make New Year resolutions-because I dont want to wait to the new year to begin them. I will wait for the beginning on a month to begin a new task or habit-only so I can easily track my progress, but in a way-its still a resolution.
So at the risk of accountability, something too many feel the need to cover-up and hide, I'm going to post all the resolutions I have made to myself over the last year and how they went-and maybe, how I'll handle them next year.
1. Loose 30 pounds. After taking on a outside sales position a few years ago, I gained 30 lbs! At the beginning of 2013 I was only about 10lbs down from my heaviest weight ever. Upon returning, I joined a gym and went 5-6 times/week until about April after a weightloss of 15 lbs. After that, I stopped going. My excuse was that I needed to focus on my blog (yes, I blamed you, aren't I nice?). I still happened to lose some weight and got to the lowest point in July (a total loss of 20lbs for the year). But since I haven't gotten myself back to the gym, some of the weight has crept back. Making my total weight-loss for the year, 10 lbs.
2. Read as many books as I can. I cant explain my insatiable thirst for knowledge. I go to the library and check out more books than I can possibly read. For the year, I have read 25 books. I had no idea what to expect out of this goal, but most of what I gave myself was permission to let things go-so I may read. The funny thing is, even Levi has severely increased his reading this year. I dont think he's keeping count, but he's definitely been picking up a book about as often as I. I found keeping a list of the books I read was a good motivational tool, also, I referred back to it often when recommending books to friends (or readers).
3. Research and Start a Blog. Completed.
4. Blog 3 times a day. After quickly learning how unrealistic this was for me-I'm now satisfied with 3-4 times per week. That is a realistic expectation for myself. The new goal: Increase the value of the content for the you the reader!
5. Become a professional writer. I took a small hiatus from writing when my day-job lost a few people and my hours surged. But this year, I did take on a regular writing position with an online magazine, I have been asked to review a few products and I got my first freelancing gig! I'm excited to pick the pace in 2014 and see what other opportunities are out there for me!
6. Practice yoga daily. I failed miserably. I love yoga, I love how it makes me feel, I love the culture around it. One of my goals in life is to be a yoga instructor. So this is my new focus for 2014. Last week, I met with a local friend and yogi and she gave me the incentive and information to get my practice started. So stay tuned for more on the yoga front!
7. Get out of Debt. What a great goal, right? Sounds so much easier than it is, but I have student loans, a car payment, etc and a very active lifestyle. So, sometimes it easy to spend the extra $20 than put it toward debt. Levi and I borrowed the Dave Ramsey DVDs from some friends and it was one of the best things we did all year! We eliminated SO much debt!!! We still have a little ways to go, but Ramsey's simple method gave us the tools to gain some traction on what we owed. I know I sound like one of the people on his video and I dont care. It helped us, brought us closer together and we were more active than we ever thought we could be, due to taking the right steps. 2014 is going to be the year we get out of debt and start looking for a house. We couldn't be more excited!
Ok, so those were goals from 2013. The reason I posted them, was because we too often take on a new goal and disregard the old. Goals are meant to be built upon, not disregarded-otherwise, what was the point of doing it in the first place?
Goals for 2014
1. Develop a regular yoga practice.
2. Take yoga instructor training courses.
3. Add value to my blog posts by learning more about what my readers are looking for.
4. Quit my day job.
5. Maintain a reading consumption of 25 books a year.
6. Have the life I designed.
What are some of the goals you are working on-regardless of the time of year?
Happy New Year!
I dont make New Year resolutions-because I dont want to wait to the new year to begin them. I will wait for the beginning on a month to begin a new task or habit-only so I can easily track my progress, but in a way-its still a resolution.
So at the risk of accountability, something too many feel the need to cover-up and hide, I'm going to post all the resolutions I have made to myself over the last year and how they went-and maybe, how I'll handle them next year.
1. Loose 30 pounds. After taking on a outside sales position a few years ago, I gained 30 lbs! At the beginning of 2013 I was only about 10lbs down from my heaviest weight ever. Upon returning, I joined a gym and went 5-6 times/week until about April after a weightloss of 15 lbs. After that, I stopped going. My excuse was that I needed to focus on my blog (yes, I blamed you, aren't I nice?). I still happened to lose some weight and got to the lowest point in July (a total loss of 20lbs for the year). But since I haven't gotten myself back to the gym, some of the weight has crept back. Making my total weight-loss for the year, 10 lbs.
2. Read as many books as I can. I cant explain my insatiable thirst for knowledge. I go to the library and check out more books than I can possibly read. For the year, I have read 25 books. I had no idea what to expect out of this goal, but most of what I gave myself was permission to let things go-so I may read. The funny thing is, even Levi has severely increased his reading this year. I dont think he's keeping count, but he's definitely been picking up a book about as often as I. I found keeping a list of the books I read was a good motivational tool, also, I referred back to it often when recommending books to friends (or readers).
3. Research and Start a Blog. Completed.
4. Blog 3 times a day. After quickly learning how unrealistic this was for me-I'm now satisfied with 3-4 times per week. That is a realistic expectation for myself. The new goal: Increase the value of the content for the you the reader!
5. Become a professional writer. I took a small hiatus from writing when my day-job lost a few people and my hours surged. But this year, I did take on a regular writing position with an online magazine, I have been asked to review a few products and I got my first freelancing gig! I'm excited to pick the pace in 2014 and see what other opportunities are out there for me!
6. Practice yoga daily. I failed miserably. I love yoga, I love how it makes me feel, I love the culture around it. One of my goals in life is to be a yoga instructor. So this is my new focus for 2014. Last week, I met with a local friend and yogi and she gave me the incentive and information to get my practice started. So stay tuned for more on the yoga front!
7. Get out of Debt. What a great goal, right? Sounds so much easier than it is, but I have student loans, a car payment, etc and a very active lifestyle. So, sometimes it easy to spend the extra $20 than put it toward debt. Levi and I borrowed the Dave Ramsey DVDs from some friends and it was one of the best things we did all year! We eliminated SO much debt!!! We still have a little ways to go, but Ramsey's simple method gave us the tools to gain some traction on what we owed. I know I sound like one of the people on his video and I dont care. It helped us, brought us closer together and we were more active than we ever thought we could be, due to taking the right steps. 2014 is going to be the year we get out of debt and start looking for a house. We couldn't be more excited!
Ok, so those were goals from 2013. The reason I posted them, was because we too often take on a new goal and disregard the old. Goals are meant to be built upon, not disregarded-otherwise, what was the point of doing it in the first place?
Goals for 2014
1. Develop a regular yoga practice.
2. Take yoga instructor training courses.
3. Add value to my blog posts by learning more about what my readers are looking for.
4. Quit my day job.
5. Maintain a reading consumption of 25 books a year.
6. Have the life I designed.
What are some of the goals you are working on-regardless of the time of year?
Happy New Year!
