As we’re nearing the end of 2010, a lot of people are thinking about their new year’s resolutions for 2011. I very rarely participate in the new year’s resolution craze—this coming year I’m not going to have a new year’s goal considering I have a list of 27 things to do before I turn 27 next November that I haven’t yet put much of a dent in. But over this past year, on top of my weekly goal list, I made a lengthy resolutions list, and I thought I should update on how I did this year in making these things happen.
1) I will write more.
I feel like I accomplished this. I didn’t put any specific measurements to it, but I’ve been journaling consistently once a week this year, sometimes twice, with an occasional miss. I’ve also blogged some, so I’d call this a success. The next step is to get back to creative writing, my real desire, something I haven’t done in a long time and feel drawn to do.
2) I will read more.
This one is also a success. I did manage to squeeze in 12 books this year, one being the NCV Bible which I completed reading in November (it took me two and a half years to read the whole thing!). I re-read all the Harry Potter books in preparation for the movie last month, and I also established one night a week as reading night, which I’ve been able to stick to on most weeks.
3) I will honor the Sabbath.
Like I said in my original new year’s resolution post at this time last year, for me, this is Sunday. That may change—I’ve started reading the Bible over again and this time I’m studying it, not just reading, but for now, I’m trying to get into the habit of taking a day of rest. Obviously there were quite a few weekends when I didn’t succeed at this, especially because it’s a habit that I have to form, but I’d say more weekends than not I did take Sunday to rest, so I’d call this one a win, too.
4) I will find a home church.
I was most worried about this one, but I did it! Fortunately for me I mentioned my church hunting woes at work one day and a lot of co-workers had some great suggestions, and I found a church as a result of that conversation. I really love it—I love the music, the atmosphere, and the teaching. It’s been really great.
5) I will take better care of my body.
This goal has definitely been my biggest challenge this year. I still haven’t successfully found a workout routine, but I haven’t given up. I have, however, made a lot of good choices when it comes to the food that I eat, so at least I’ve made some progress there! Hopefully into 2011 I can really tackle this.
6) I will be more loving.
This goal happens to be the least quantifiable, but I think I met my own expectations of what I wanted to do. My goal was to train myself to think more about others and less about myself—I’ve made a lot of progress in this and it’s something that I’ll continue to work on as life goes on. There’s always room for improvement here, especially because people are generally selfish by nature, including myself.
All in all I’m really happy with my progress over the last year, and I’m determined to carry the good habits and thoughts into 2011.
Happy new year! :)
For those of you who are still interested in my resolutions updates (and by “for those of you” I mean “for me so I’ll get my butt in gear”), I’ll say up front I’ve not been doing well on most of my goals. There is a lot going on in my life right now…all the things that come with the end of the “fiscal year” at work, a huge project at work that I’m spearheading, and now house stuff.
Yes, indeed, Jonathan and I are looking to buy our first home. We’re pretty far along in the process…pending a home inspection and a loan approval (and closing, of course), we should be getting a house next month.
I’m very excited about it, but I do tend to slack on my resolutions when I have so much going on. I don’t think I’m going to be able to give 100% to my resolutions in the coming weeks. I have to give myself a break while I’m so busy. But I do think I can do better. And I will, starting today!
For those of you who are interested, here’s a picture of the house. Hopefully Jonathan and I will get out soon to take pictures of our own, but this picture on the listing is the best I can do for now.
Thanks for keeping me accountable. I hope you’re all doing well with your goals!
If you’re keeping up with these updates with any consistency, you might have noticed I didn’t post a resolutions update last week. Actually, I’ve done very well on all fronts, including the frequency of my workouts (the hardest part of all for me). Since I’ve done well, I didn’t feel the need to post last Sunday. I think it’s important that I keep on updating about my progress, but I think perhaps I don’t need to do it every week anymore. Everything is coming easier for me now that it’s been a few weeks and I’ve been holding myself accountable via this blog. So I’ll definitely keep updating, but probably on a bi-weekly basis for now until either 1) I start to lapse and need to update weekly again or 2) do even better and can further reduce the number of resolutions update posts (let’s hope for the latter)! :) Thanks for reading—keep holding me accountable!
- I will write more.
- I will read more.
- I will honor the Sabbath.
- I will find a home church.
- I will take better care of my body.
- I will be more loving.
I can do it!
Success is a fight between you and yourself. ~ Unknown
This past week I did much better with all of my goals. I wrote quite a bit, I read quite a bit, I rested a lot this weekend and have churches lined up for every Sunday in February. I managed to focus more on others than myself at work which has been especially difficult given the struggles and stress there. I got plenty of sleep and ate well this week, too.
But what I can’t seem to get in the swing of things is exercising on a regular basis. I have tried and tried. My husband is a personal trainer and even that doesn’t get me working out as often as I should.
So my question to you is: how do you stay active? What are your tricks for making yourself exercise, especially when you don’t want to?
Well, friends, I didn’t do too well this week with my resolutions. Honestly, I’ve felt sick all week. Not sick sick, but my-body-is-fighting-off-a-sickness-and-making-me-feel-awful sick. Like I-need-a-nap-every-day sick. Like I-can-barely-make-myself-go-to-work-every-day sick. So that has put a damper on my goals.
I am feeling better this afternoon though, which I hope is a sign that the rest I’ve been giving myself has defeated whatever it was that was trying to invade my health.
Here’s to a successful week. :)
A recent blog post on a favorite blog of mine, Tip Junkie, featured a “word of the year” giveaway (the giveaway has ended now—sorry!). The challenge was to pick one word that describes what you want out of 2010.
I found the idea intriguing. I thought perhaps that having a one-word mantra for the whole year might remind me of what I want to accomplish. I chose the word “commitment,” specifically commitment to myself and the goals I’ve always wanted to achieve. This is the year that I want to buckle down and do the things I’ve always wanted to do and never have.
What about you? If you had to choose one word to describe what you want out of this new year, what would it be?
For this week’s resolution update, I’m going to rate myself on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 meaning I completely failed at meeting my goal this past week, and 10 meaning there is nothing I could’ve done better to meet my goal. I’ll just straight up say…I did not do well this week.
1) I will write more. 8 – I was consistent with my blogging and journaling.
2) I will read more. 8 – I read quite a bit this week, mostly my magazines.
3) I will honor the Sabbath. 7 – Despite having company over this weekend, I managed to do most of my chores on Saturday and rested most of the day today.
4) I will find a home church. 5 – I didn’t go to church this morning, but I did do some research to find a few more new churches to try in the coming weeks.
5) I will take better care of my body. 5 – I couldn’t get into working out this week. Really, there’s no excuse.
6) I will be more loving. 5 – I had an extremely frustrating week at work, and it’s during those stressful times that I get more caught up in myself and my own needs than I should. I need to be better at focusing on others.
Not a stellar week, but again, there’s always tomorrow.
“Doing your best means never stop trying.”
Another week has gone by…here are my updates on my resolutions:
1) I will write more. I’ve been blogging pretty consistently (as you can see). I didn’t, however, write in my journal last Wednesday like I was supposed to. I think I’ll be doing that tonight—I need to.
2) I will read more. I didn’t read on Thursday, my designated reading night. I talked to a friend instead, but I hadn’t talked to her in a while so it was worth it. I did read quite a bit during the rest of the week.
3) I will honor the Sabbath. I worked hard on Saturday to get my chores accomplished so I could rest today. We did have to go look at a house today (we’re in the market) but we couldn’t go and see it yesterday—the realtor was busy. I prepped dinner last night again so I wouldn’t have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.
4) I will find a home church. I went to another church again this morning, and I’ve been praying for God to show me where He wants me to be!
5) I will take better care of my body. Confession—this is not going well. I’m stress eating. And I only worked out twice last week. But I have to remind myself that twice is more than zero, and I have to remember that this is a new week with new opportunities. I can do this!
6) I will be more loving. I haven’t done well this week to focus on what other people need rather than my own feelings. Work has been very stressful for me lately and I’m getting swept up in my stress rather than how I can be a servant for others. I need to improve on this.
Overall, not an excellent job, but blogging about this stuff is keeping me thinking about what I need to do. I think it’ll be better going forward!
It’s been one week since I posted about my goals for this new year, but I feel like I’ve already made strides to achieve all of them. Here are my updates:
1) I will write more. Well, for starters, I’ve written 7 blog posts already (not all have posted), including this one. I’d say that’s more than I was writing. I’ve also committed to writing at least 2 posts a week and have scheduled this writing time in my planner (Sunday and Monday). I scheduled time to write in my journal every Wednesday and I managed to accomplish that this past week. I also created a bookmark folder in Firefox for “things to post about” so when I see something online that makes me think of a post I can write, I have it saved. I’d say I met this goal this week.
2) I will read more. I finished reading my 9th book of 2009 just before the year was over (Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fford; book banter post to come). I’m already reading quite a few books (you can see the list of my current reads on the right side of this page), and I’ve started reading two more books this past week, Severance and The Big Over Easy. I’ve designated every Thursday as reading night, and I’ve been keeping up with reading all the blogs to which I’ve subscribed. I didn’t read this past Thursday (it was New Year’s Eve so I was busy), but I did read a lot this past week. I feel like I’ve accomplished this goal this week, too.
3) I will honor the Sabbath. I thought this would be a lot harder for me than it has been. I usually have a slew of chores to do on the weekend, so this week I wrote them all in my planner on Friday and Saturday, and that included prepping tonight’s dinner yesterday to minimize the work I’d have to do today. We’re having slow-cooker pot roast, so there’s minimal hands-on time anyway (I planned this on purpose). I’ve written all my recurring weekend chores on a post-it that I will stick on every Saturday so I make sure I get them done that day (laundry, grocery shopping, giving the house a quick tidying up, etc.). The only thing that some might consider “work” that I’ll be doing on Sunday is writing my resolutions update post, but I don’t consider that work. Writing (anything) is something I enjoy. I realize the day isn’t over yet, but I think I’ve succeeded this week at honoring the Sabbath.
4) I will find a home church. I’ve written it in my planner every Saturday to decide where I’m going to go to church the next day, that way I’ve committed before my alarm goes off the next morning that I have somewhere specific to be. I attended church this morning and I’m keeping a list of all the churches I’ve been to with some notes about my experience there to make it easier to track where I’ve been. This week, I’ve done as much as I can toward this goal. This one will just take time.
5) I will take better care of my body. Late last year there was a solid 5-week time period when I was working out every weekday, and I hope to get there again, but I’m not going to dive right into that just yet. This past week I only worked out once—I know I could’ve done better. This coming week I’m going to work out 3 days, and late in January I’m going to resume the 5-day routine. In the meantime, I’ve found some workout videos to stream on Netflix, and I’ve been writing out some small workouts I can do here in the house as well as some ideas about outdoor workouts so I can choose from a list what I’d like to do that night rather than get stuck in a rut like I usually do. I was also a lot more conscious this week about my food choices, trying to work in more vegetable servings (you’ll find in keeping up with this resolution that vegetables and I have a hate-hate relationship), and I’ve been consistent about getting at least 8 hours of sleep every night. All of these will prove more difficult this week as work is resuming tomorrow. I think I could’ve done a little better this past week, but I have made improvements and plans toward getting better, so I’d say I met this goal.
6) I will be more loving. This one is a little hard to track. I can think of many times this past week when I consciously stopped my thought process to insert positive thoughts of service—I had to make myself stop internally complaining and start volunteering my time and energy (especially to my coworkers) with a happy heart. This was hard for me last week because I had a specific set of tasks I wanted to accomplish and I didn’t because I was busy helping others. But it isn’t about me, it’s about other people. This will take some time too, but I feel like I accomplished this goal this past week.
To help me achieve all of these goals, I’ve put an extra piece of paper in my planner on every Sunday so I can jot in notes and keep track of my progress during the week. And perhaps the biggest stride I’ve taken to achieve all of these goals is adding them to my daily prayer list. “…With God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26
Overall, I’ve done well. Here’s to continued success!
How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions so far?
I know it’s a little early to even have thoughts of New Year’s resolutions, but something about tidying up after Christmas—putting the gifts away, throwing out all the crumpled wrapping paper, and doing all those dishes—makes me want to jump start the new me…or, the chance at a new me, anyway.
I’ve not really been serious about blogging before. I’ve always wanted to do it consistently but I’ve had two fears: 1) that I would neglect my daily journal, which I don’t want to ever give up and 2) that I wouldn’t find time to keep blogging and that I would quit and feel like a failure.
But I’ve realized that 1) I don’t have to give up my journal to blog. There are many things I would write in my journal that I would never post to the internet—and vice versa. And 2) being afraid of failure has stopped me many times in the past from doing things and I’ve got to get rid of that habit.
The beginnings of this blog will be based on this time of New Year’s, a time when so many people set new goals for themselves. They feel as though the slate has been wiped clean come January 1 and now they can actually do all those things they’ve been promising themselves they’d do for months now.
I’ve never been a fan of New Year’s resolutions. I’ve always been of the persuasion that there is no time like the present, and it’s silly to wait until January 1 to start exercising, quit smoking, write a novel, be a nicer person, or whatever the goal might be. If you realize there’s something you need to change in life, just change it. Stop waiting for January 1, or next Monday, or even tomorrow. Time isn’t going to wait on you.
This time last year I decided I would do something about changing myself and becoming a better person, despite my opinions about the “new year” being the time for it. But I had many things I wanted to accomplish this past year, like volunteering more, like finding a home church, like being more positive, like checking up on my Grandma more often. I didn’t feel like the massive list of goals could be tackled without a plan, and I’m a girl who loves a plan.
So I made what I call a “Weekly Goal Planner.” I made a giant calendar in Excel that shows every week of the year. I numbered each of those weeks, and I put one goal on every week. It’s easier to train yourself to pray every day or be a better listener if you give yourself an entire week to focus on that one goal. I found that by giving myself that entire week, things became much more habitual and I didn’t have to think about them as much (if anyone wants to see the Goal Planner, just let me know and I’ll post it). In the middle of the week, if I thought of something I’d like to do, like workout more frequently, instead of beating myself up about not doing it now, I assigned that goal to a week in the future and let myself forget about it for the time being.
Growth and change are just as difficult as they are important, so I found by breaking up my little goals, they were much more attainable and as a result of achieving them, I gained more confidence in myself. It’s a lovely little cycle.
I’ve already made my 2010 Weekly Goal Planner. Of course it isn’t completely filled out but, as the year progresses, I’ll think of more things to fill in the blanks. But it occurred to me today that there are some big goals, some long-term goals, that I want to accomplish, and I don’t think they can be contained on a weekly basis.
Since I’ve always wanted to blog, I’m going to do it. And since I’m going to do it, I’m going to use this blog for accountability. Every Sunday, I’m going to post a resolution update—I’m going to re-list my resolutions and give the world a status update on each one. This is the one thing I’ve never tried, and I’m a little scared to (there’s that fear of failing again), but I’m going to do it.
Here is my list:
1) I will write more. Whether in my journal, whether snippets of poetry, or whether I somehow start writing fiction again, I am going to write. I love writing—I’m just lazy. Playing video games is easier than writing. Doing the dishes is easier. I can come up with a million excuses and things to do instead of writing, but I’m not going to anymore. I am going to write.
2) I will read more. This year, I’ve read only 8 books (one of which I finished reading today). The year isn’t over, and there is at least one more book, possibly two, that I hope to finish by 2010, but my unspoken goal has always been at least 12 books per year. Now the goal is spoken. I will read at least 12 books in 2010.
3) I will honor the Sabbath. For me, that’s going to be Sunday. I realize there’s a lot of cross-denominational debate about what day of the week constitutes “the Sabbath,” but honestly, I don’t think that God’s going to be pointing fingers on judgment day saying, “Shame on you for honoring my day of rest on the wrong day of the week.” Seriously? Some cultures don’t even have days of the week. It’s all semantics. Anyway, I’m going to obey that commandment. All the others are obvious and easy (don’t steal, don’t cheat on your spouse, don’t murder, etc.) but for some reason, I’ve always neglected this one. I’m not sure what exactly this will mean, but I am going to honor the Sabbath.
4) I will find a home church. This was actually one of my goals this past year, and I failed. I certainly did try, but I could’ve done a much better job. I’m not going to let my discouragement keep me from continuing the hunt. I’m not a “churchy” girl, but I know I need a church family. God has a place for me, despite my pickiness, and I’m going to find a home church.
5) I will take better care of my body. I realize this is a loose goal. I don’t want to say, “I will work out X days a week” or “I will lose X pounds” or “I will eat more vegetables.” There was a time in my life, during college, when I was routinely working out, eating well, and getting plenty of sleep. I never quantified those things, but as soon as I was “healthy” I knew it. It’s physical and mental. When I’m finally taking care of myself again, I’ll know that I’m doing it right. At the moment, I’m not. I feel sluggish and disappointed in myself. I will take better care of my body.
6) I will be more loving. This isn’t to say that I don’t love people. I love my husband and do my best to take care of him. I love my parents and call to check on them frequently. I love my friends, my family, even strangers! But I’m talking about a conscious and quantifiable love. Conscious in that I want to do what’s best for others before I do what’s best for myself. I want to help others with the right spirit. I want to do my husband’s laundry without thinking the entire time about how it would be nice if he would help me more around the house. I want to check those proofreader marks for my coworker without thinking that I’m above the task and that they could do it themselves. And I want to shower people in love rather than judgment. That will be the hardest part for me, because I’m very judgmental. But I want to be more loving, with a pure heart, and I will.
All of these things require time, but mostly they just require time management. I’ve got to be smarter about managing my time so I can stay committed to the goals that are important to me.
Besides resolution updates, I hope to use this blog for other things, things I’ve always wanted to blog about but never have! I think the resolution updates are going to keep me coming back to the blog, and the rest of the posts (crafts, recipes, book reviews, etc.) will keep others coming back.
Happy 2010 everyone—may it be full of blessings!
