It’s a new year!
I love new years. I love fresh starts.
Goals to set. Resolutions to make.
January may be one of my favorite months of the year. Full of hope and possibilities.
2018 was good to me. It was filled with travels, good health, achievements (I earned my black belt in Jiu Jitsu) and plain fun. Still, there is much I didn’t do or didn’t do enough of last year.
Not enough writing.
Not enough beach going.
Not enough sleeping.
I’m going to share my plan with you to hold me accountable and in the hopes that it will inspire you.
My goals and resolutions for 2019
Habits to create:
Lights out at 10 pm
I had been going to bed well past midnight and I was exhausted all the time: when I woke up; every day; all day. I can’t give my best to anything or anyone if I’m sleep deprived so the number one habit I’m working on establishing now is an early (for me) bedtime. It’s been so long since my body has had the rest it needs, I’m pretty excited to see how this one change will affect the rest of my life. (My husband and daughter are pretty excited too!)
Drink 3 water bottles/day (75 oz/1/2 gallon)
It’s amazing what proper hydration does to the body AND the mind. The first two days, I only managed to drink two bottles but by the third day, I could easily chug down all three. It’s the best (and cheapest) skin care regimen (I can already see a difference) and a great way to control my appetite (goodbye mindless snacking!)
Surf social media only 1/day
Believe it or not, that one has been the hardest to adjust to. Exactly why I needed to put it on the list. I joined Facebook last year and it didn’t take long for me to waste my hours scrolling. The number of times I feel the pull to check my feed is mind boggling and it has required a lot of discipline to stick to doing it only during my lunch break. The other night, I was waiting for my friend at the farmers market. Before, I would have grabbed my phone to pass the time. Instead, I sat down, people watched, gazed at the stars and relaxed. I hadn’t been “bored” in that way in a long time and it felt great!
Wear nightguard
That one is self explanatory. I should do it. I don’t like to do it. I need to do it. End of story.
Goals to achieve:
Exercise 4x/week- Yoga 1/week
That should help keep me healthy, emotionally balanced and in current pair of jeans :-).
Write and publish one essay/week
When I first started this blog, I wrote every single week. I have written 106 essays so far but only 6 in the past 6 months. It’s time to get back on the writing wagon. It’s good for my mental health and one way I’m able to contribute.
Self publish a book of my essays
I hesitated making this goal public. That one scares me. From the nagging voices in my head asking me “who in the world would want to read your book, let alone buy it?” to the legitimate fear of figuring out the technicalities involved there is much to keep me from even getting started. But… It’s always been a dream of mine to have a book published and it’s time to work at it. Others do it. Why not me?
Read 52 books
Because goals shouldn’t all be difficult to achieve 😉
Go to the beach 1/week
Yes, I had to put that on the list. We live ten-minutes walking distance from one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and we don’t go often enough. No more!
A lot of people scoff at the idea of new year’s resolutions. I am a believer.
Have I reached every goal I ever set? No.
Have I accomplished more because I set goals? Yes!
I don’t know if life is going to give me sunny days or stormy weather. I do know I want to be the captain of my own ship and I know in which direction I want to go. It’s my life after all.
I suspect I’ll stumble on occasion, even fall sometimes. I don’t have to be perfect. I just have to get better. This year I’m ready to put faith over fear. Are you?
“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”
Anne of Green Gables
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You will do it!!!!! Let the journey of 2019 begin!!!
Congratulations on your black belt!! You are so inspirational not only in your tenacity and insight, but also in showing your imperfections and being so real about those! Thank-you! I’m thinking that sleep deprivation must be a common theme for moms because I hear about that as a common thread and connection to feeling irritable/yuckier. Each of your resolutions is so inspiring, and as you said, you make progress even if not every goal is achieved. Anyway, so glad that you wrote this, thank-you!!
You’re so kind. The extra sleep is definitely working wonders. Sleep deprivation is almost unavoidable when our kids are little but now that mine is almost 9, I’m my own sleep ennemy 😊.
That’s so cool that you’ve been able to get the sleep you need recently. The last few days I’ve been making myself sleep in a little longer (on top of the challenges with a 7 month old nursing, it’s really hard as a morning person, physically and as someone who wants to get a ton of things done, emotionally), but I realized that I actually can get back to sleep sometimes if I just make myself stay in bed until the time I want to get up. I believe that sufficient sleep is so incredibly important for our health and well-being. So I’m gonna keep trying 🙂
Key words: keep trying.
Yes!
🙂 Thank-you!