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 ?
I’ve always wanted to keep a diary. When January 1st rolled around on the calendar, I would make a resolution to document my days. I always had the best of intentions, but after only a few weeks it faded into the background of my busy days.
One of the gifts I received when my first child was born was a “Baby’s First Year” calendar. It had little stickers to place on the days he reached milestones, as well as ones to note doctor appointments, etc. I really enjoyed having a separate place to record all his “firsts”. When my daughter was born a few years later, I purchased another one to save all her important dates too. I found myself referring back to my son’s calendar, remembering going through all the same developmental stages with him.
Then I decided to use my regular wall calendar in the same way … without the cute stickers. I put everything on that calendar, combining the whole family’s schedules. As the kids grew older, my calendar pages really filled up with all their activities and school schedules.
I have saved all these calendars. Over the years, usually during the week between Christmas and New Years, I have gotten into the habit of paging through these old calendars. I usually go through and write birthdays on my new calendar at this time. Sometimes I’m looking for a specific event, other times I’m looking through them to be reminded of old memories and reminisce.
This year, I’ve decided to try to combine my hope of keeping a journal with documenting events on my calendar. While browsing on Pinterest, I came across the idea of a perpetual calendar. Each day of the year has it’s own card. Each daily card would have several years worth of events that happened on that date. The idea being that I would write a quick sentence or two about my day on each card. Then the next year, I’d write my short journal entry on the same card as the last year. Over time, I would be able to look back over many years, all documented on the same card for that date. I’m hoping that since it’s only a sentence or two, I won’t feel overwhelmed by trying to come up with profound thoughts while staring at a blank page in my journal. Some days will have exciting entries, some days will be boring … but they all add up to life 🙂
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 !!