It’s the last week of January 2018 … Remember New Year’s Eve? … Remember those resolutions you made? … How’s that going?
If you are still committed to your resolutions, congratulations !! I recently read an article that said January 17th is “Ditch New Year’s Resolution Day”. If you “ditched” it, that means your resolution didn’t even last for 3 full weeks ☹ Continue reading
Well, 2017 has proven to be an interesting year for me. Mostly because I decided to make my health a more important/relevant part of my daily schedule.
For the first half of the year, we (my hubby and I) worked on making healthy food choices (for the most part). We made a meal plan and cut back on eating out so much. We cooked most of our meals at home. We “brown bagged it” (are those even a thing anymore?) for our lunches. We did have a “cheat” day on the weekend, but really tried hard to not go overboard. We both lost some weight, but not a whole lot 🙁
We tried making a concentrated effort on being more active. Exercise has never really been my thing, so I tried spending more time doing activities that I enjoyed, like camping and taking long hikes in the woods of various state parks. I also worked a lot in my yard and garden. We went for bike rides and went bowling. You know what I mean? Activities that had a purpose in additional to exercising my body.
We also joined the local gym to have a place to do a more consistent type workout. Like many, we went 3 times a week religiously for a month or two, then it dwindled to 2 times, then once a week, then very sporadically until we are now at the point in time of saying ”why are we paying for this – we never use it”. By the middle of summer, I was off the healthy wagon more often than I was on it ☹
I ran into a friend of mine that I hadn’t seen in a very long time. I commented that she looked amazing … she of course thanked me, and responded that that the best part is that she felt great. Healthier than she ever really remembered feeling. Being a good friend, she told me all about the great health and wellness program she was following that was giving her such great results.
I started following the program and I’m feeling great … I’ve lost pounds and inches. I’ve gone down 2 sizes. At my annual physical, my bloodwork came back as being in the normal healthy range, plus I was able to stop taking meds for high blood pressure! It sounds strange, I know, but I feel younger 🙂 I don’t feel as many aches and pains as before. I’m sure my joints appreciate not have so much extra weight to support 🙂
I do have a few health goals for 2018:
I also have a few business goals for 2018:
For me, the difference is this:
Resolutions seem kind of all or nothing – you achieved them or you didn’t ?
Goals can be broken down into doable steps … they are a work in process ?
It has been 2016 for 3 weeks already, and I’m finally able to sit down to reflect back on 2015 and make some goals for 2016. The perfectionist in me says that I shouldn’t write a blog post about New Years resolutions / goals because it is already nearing the end of January. This topic should have been covered in my first post of the New Year. Oh well, it is what it is! December and most of January have been very busy with family & holiday stuff, plus an unexpected road trip for an out of town funeral (plus another local memorial service this weekend). In addition to all that, I had some technical difficulties with the website for most of December. So, I’m cutting myself some slack and starting my blogging New Year now 🙂
~ I wanted to blog consistently (once a week) ~
I was about 85% successful (having the technical difficulties in December played havoc with this goal).
~ I wanted to create a brochure ~
I now have a beautiful full color brochure for my future clients to learn about our services. I have also been able to have them displayed in many local businesses.
~ I wanted to get more local exposure / get our name out there ~
I joined the Chamber of Commerce and join in their networking events monthly. I’ve made many contacts and learned a lot about running a successful business. I also had a booth a 2 local vendor fairs.
~ I plan to get a business mentor from the local SCORE program.
~ I plan on making a weekly blog schedule and having several posts written and scheduled in advance. Please let me know of any topics you would like to see.
~ I plan on taking some courses to get certified to offer more “Virtual Assistant” type services.
For me, the difference is this:
Resolutions seem kind of all or nothing – you achieved them or you didn’t 🙁
Goals can be broken down into doable steps … they are a work in process 🙂
So, it is getting toward the end of November, on the very cusp of the Holidays. Back in the end of September (while it was warm & sunny ~ unlike now, when we have measurable snow in the weekend forecast), I wrote a blog post talking about making handmade holiday gifts. You can read that post here.
In that post, I laid out some goals for myself. So, I wanted to give you an update on accomplishing them. Sadly, I haven’t met all of them … yet. There, of course, is still plenty of time ~ it’s not even Thanksgiving yet. The perfectionist in me wanted everything to be done super early, but that perfectionist won’t be getting her way this year 🙁
Continue reading
It’s New Years Eve … a day to reflect on the passing year and to think about new beginnings.
Many people make New Years Resolutions … I do too, but I like to call them Goals for the New Year. Resolution has an all or nothing feel to it … you either accomplished it or you didn’t. I tended to think in black and white (which I’m in the process of changing – one of my ongoing goals is to be more encouraging and positive), so you would think I would be in favor of resolutions. Sadly, I found myself feeling like a failure sometime around February or March.
I have learned, however, that life is lived one day at a time … and that there are lots of “gray” areas, so I’ve decided that I prefer the term Goals. With goals, you can have steps toward achievement. Improvement counts toward achieving the goal … it’s not necessarily all or nothing – pass or fail.
The planner / organizer in me loves making lists … so I make a yearly To-Do List 🙂 I actually break it down into a few lists … Business, Personal, Home and Relationships. I usually list a few areas I need improvement in with a couple of ideas to start working on them. I don’t put them in any particular order … with asterics, not numbered … no specific importance rating. I try to break things down into doable bite-sized tasks. My goal for the end of the year is to have worked on these improvements consistently enough throughout the year that they have become habits.
I like to reflect back on my goals for the past year and see improvements, whether large or small, they are steps in the right direction 🙂 Sometimes I need to roll-over items to next year’s list, but I choose to believe that I am a work in progress (positive and encouraging), not a failure.
2014 is a clean slate, a new beginning … we have to let go of the past and look forward to the future. Forgive ourselves, let it go, and work toward improvement in the new year.
HAPPY NEW YEAR and BLESSINGS on your 2014 GOALS !!
Thanks for spending some time with me. My goal for this blog is to share some of what I have learned in life:
I hope to share my ideas concerning things I love, such as – travel, kids, crafts … as well as skills I have acquired and honed – organizing, party planning, home management. Sometimes my posts will relate to some service/task that Tracy Helps You offers, sometimes they will be informational or my opinion/review of a book I’ve read or a product I’ve tried. Other times it may be something that I’m currently interested in learning more about. I hope to help you save time and energy by letting you know what has worked for me and also what hasn’t.
I truly do like helping people, and I like knowing that I was able to play a small part in improving someone’s day. In doing this, I believe that I really am lending that person a helping hand. Help can be actual physical help or it can be emotional help through encouraging and inspiring words. I hope my thoughts and ideas will prove helpful to you 🙂