New Year, New Goals
Happy New Year, Friends! We are IN IT! 2019. One full week in.
I'm sitting on my couch, my legs wrapped in an electric blanket set on high, my shoulders draped in a sherpa blanket. It has dumped snow and been too cold for it to melt, so I am just doing my best to stay warm (I'm always cold, so winter though I enjoy it, doesn't help my body haha).
The new year started off a little rough for me, which excluded me from the things I had mentally planned out for the stroke of midnight. I started getting sick on New Year's Eve, and progressively got worse until I just gave up and went to bed at 11:15. I wanted to go outside in the snow, light sparklers, and get some cute kiss pictures with my main man. However, when your body is fighting a cold, going out into the freezing temperatures is not appealing. It's okay, we did kiss at 10:00 p.m. when the ball dropped in NYC! Also, we have like, a million more New Year's Eves to spend together! The new year still arrives, whether I'm awake at midnight or not, and I will try again at the end of this year.
The month of January brings about a lot of "resolutioners," a renewed desire to try harder, to change, to reach new levels. I'm sure your feed is filled with people proclaiming resolutions and purging their homes (which, I am going to do over time because let's be real, clutter is everywhere). Often, these resolutioners are met with failure, with the exceptional few who keep their resolutions (frankly I've never met one). I've never been a resolutioner, I have always known that I would end it in failure in 2-3 months, at most. However, setting goals and to-do lists is one of my favorite things. I love the idea of setting out to accomplish something, and the new year is like a reset button we can push. I enjoy saying to myself "Okay, this year, this is what I want. This is my focus" There is a chance to try again and be better. Even if we don't set out to become different, our lives will inevitably change over the next 12 months. I've decided to approach the new year from a different method, and one I am really excited about.
Instead of setting one, two, or three resolutions for the year, I am focusing on becoming a better wife, lifter, spender, believer, and blogger. Overall I want to become better. That's a pretty broad goal, right? In order to reach this goal of being a better person, I'm setting one specific goal in 5 different areas of my life monthly.
These are the five areas:
1) Fitness and Nutrition (one fitness goal, one nutritional goal)
2) Spiritual Life
3) Personal and or/home
4) Blog/Instagram Goal
5) Financial
I think that this way, I can work on multiple aspects of my life, but not become overwhelmed. I don't have to think about how I want to this, this, and this in my financial life all at one time. I can simply think about ONE goal, for ONE part of my life, for ONE month. I think this way will lead to success and in December I can look back without too many regrets or feel as though I've wasted my time. It think it will begin and end each month more successful, bringing at least a bit of achievement. It will also be interesting to see the progress I make and how my focus changes in each area.
Here are January's specific and concrete goals that will lead to my main goal of being a better human.
Fitness + Nutritional Goals
I have so many fitness goals I want to achieve, but I know it's better to focus on one at a time. For the month of January I will be completing a 30 day running program (okay, pause: it is indeed January 8th, and I started the running program yesterday. I am giving my self a one week late start because of winter vacation, so the last week of this program will overlap into the first week of February). I just found one for beginners on Pinterest! I will be updating the progress daily on my fitness Instagram @fitnesswithkaydee. Cardio is important and I'm bad at it, so I want to make running a new habit.
My nutritional goal is simple: stop drinking sweet drinks. I took up the habit of drinking a soda every couple of days (sometimes everyday if I'm being honest) and it didn't make me feel the best (sluggish, overly full, and it made me crave soda more). I'm cutting out all drinks besides unsweetened tea, coffee, and water. It's a simple goal, but these nutrition goals will get more intense over the months.
Spiritual Goals
I am always striving to strengthen my walk with God, so I am committing to prayer journaling every day in January. It is my favorite way to pray, and prayer is something I want to make a priority this year. I'm really excited to start using this prayer journal I got for Christmas to help set the tone!
(I use this to start, then I use the pink journal to actually write my prayer).
Personal/Home Goals
My goal this month is to clean out my guest room. I mean clean out and purge the guest room. It acts as a storage room and I am SURE there is a lot in there we could get rid of to create more space and organization. I think I'll do it gradually, on box or area at a time, and it might lapse into February.
Blog/Instagram Goals
My blog and Instagram goal for January is to plan my photos (for both). I want to create high quality photos for both that are relevant to my blog posts. I want my Instagram to be more organized, high quality, and speak a specific and meaningful message rather than posting randomly! I'm excited to practice some photography skills haha.
Financial Goals
My financial goal this month is to simply pay of my student loan as soon as possible. I am so close and can't wait to see a balance of $0.00. Then I can focus that money on different bills to pay to help us reach our overall financial goals.
Do you set goals, or resolutions? What are they this year? Let me know! I want to do this together. If you haven't set a goal for this year, maybe you could go along with me and set 5 goals every month! Let's be intentional about life this year, in all areas. I will be updating at the beginning and end of of every month either in a post here or in a post on my Instagram. This will keep me accountable as well as help me track my progress. I am super excited for the year and everything that it will involve, I can't wait to accomplish lots and learn more with you! Let's get it.
