New Years Goals: 2011

The new year is almost upon us.  Today I stood on the scale at the doctor’s office and wanted to cry.  I easily gained 5 pounds this holiday season.  Setting year long goals is not my cup of tea.  I have kept  two New Year’s resolutions in my life.  The first was an entire year of not eating candy.  That goal was made 3 months in to my first year of teaching when “no” was not a word in my vocabulary and I ate everything in sight.  The end of that year felt great, I had met my resolution.  The next year long goal I achieved was making by hand every card I mailed.  Ironically that was the year my older daughter was born so I made a lot of baby thank you cards.  Sure I felt proud after each accomplishment, but other than a date on the calendar I had no motivation.  All I wanted to do was prove to others that I really could reach my goal.  That didn’t seem like the best game plan, in hindsight.  With two little girls, a dog, a cat, a husband, a blog, and friends I know that my time is divided and that my goals need to be fairly easily attainable.

Setting year long goals does not interest me.  It is just too long.  Instead I am setting three month goals and will evaluate at the end of each quarter.  It is much more obtainable for me to set a goal of losing 5 pounds in three months rather than 15 pounds in a year.  I always feel like a year is a long time and I get beat down along the way.  My goals may seem crazy (especially the running goals), but they are all well thought out.

Fitness: – Run 180 miles total by March 31st, 2011. That equates to 60 miles per month. With a half marathon in March this is more than doable.  My husband and I are running together.  🙂  Talk about great motivation.

Health: Drink a minimun of 6 glasses of water each day.  Yes, I know that eight is the daily recommendation, but I am taking small steps.

Journaling: Write in the girls’ journals at least once every 2 weeks

Weight: Lose 5 lbs in by March 31st

Laundry: Fold clothes each day and do not leave any in laundry baskets

Dinner: Make a new recipe every week!  Then somehow do not be affected when the picky eaters in my house protest eating it or tell me they do not like it.

Blogging: Make more bloggy friends.  Anyone?  😉

Post: Post more posts that show who I am as a person, posts that have my “voice”

Host: Host more blogging events throughout the year

Email: Be better about responding to emails – no more than 24 hours can pass between me reading it and replying to it.

Photos: Print and mail photos to grandparents on a monthly basis.  They will appreciate the gesture and as few as two photos a month will make them smile.

Mystery Shopping: Find more companies to shop with.  Post more about those companies.

Donate: Visit the food bank once per month with at least 10 items per trip.  This will yield a minimum of 120 items donated to the food pantry

Financial: save 15-20% for a down payment on a 4 bedroom house. This means adhereing strictly to our written budget.

Motto: A place for everything and everything in its’ place.  This means some serious decluttering and no more leaving things to be put away.  Doing it correctly the first time is what it’s all about.

So that’s where I am starting.  What about you?