2012 Goals

I like to set goals. I never really stick to them, but I like the feeling I get when I determine that I'm going to DO something. I feel like, yeah! This is going to happen this time! And if only for a little while, I have something to work towards. So New Year's is a fun time for me. A fresh start, a new year, a new day.

This year I think will be a little different. Of course I have those goals I will work towards, but I'm a lot more realistic about how much I'll actually accomplish. In years past, I always feel like I'll have time and energy and motivation to meet my goals, although it rarely ever happens.

This year, I know I'll be busy. I've got a... uh... spirited child who demands my attention 95% of the time while she's awake. That doesn't leave much time for anything else. Usually I can occupy her with treats or by letting her demolish my piles of papers so that I can cook some sort of dinner or do the dishes. But much else has to wait until after bedtime, and by them I'm just so exhausted that I don't really do much but sit around.


So, with that in mind, here are my goals:

Pay off my two credit cards: During my extended maternity leave (9 months), we plowed through our savings and I ended up using two of my credit cards. To me, it was worth it to acquire some debt so that I could stay home for a couple more months with my daughter. The total owed is not really that much, and if I put all my extra cash towards them, I should have them paid off by March. The only catch is, if I do that, I'm not saving up for my summer off of work (yay for teacher summers!) and I might have to go back to the credit cards and have to repay them off.

Work out twice a week. For me, this used to mean having to go to the gym to count as a workout. Now, the mommy-me will allow family walks, rough-housing with Adelaide, dancing in the living room, hiking in the park, etc. Of course, we still have a gym membership, and I'm going to try to get in there every once in a while, but it's not the end-all, be-all for working out. Already this week, we've gone on a family walk after dinner, so I just have one more "workout session" to get in.

DECLUTTER. Remember my post a few days ago about my word, cleanse? I mean it. Declutter my house of JUNK. Declutter my pantry of junk food. Declutter my mind of things to do. Declutter my life. I always feel bogged down. Stressed. So getting rid of the physical stuff in my house that we don't use and don't need will begin to calm down my surroundings, and therefore give me a simple space to begin decluttering my mind, making me a happier mama.

Kick the junk food habit. Oh boy. Kevin and I are major junk food addicts. For real. Just this week we've spent an embarrassing amount of money on convenience store junk food (even though we set the goal, um, Sunday). I think this is because we're tired and chips and soda are quick pick-me-ups, but it doesn't help us in the end. It's going to be a tough thing to really achieve for us, but replacing processed junk food with healthier alternatives will be SO good for us.



That's it. These goals WILL take time, committment, energy, motivation. But they are goals I can work towards and don't have to be done right now. So what if I don't work out twice a week? As long as I at least make an effort to meet that goal, then I'm doing alright. It's a process. I think too many people get so worried that they're going to fail their New Year's goals that they give up before they really get started. By setting goals, you're giving yourself something to work towards. I really believe it's all in the way you think about it. Give yourself some wiggle room!

Do you have some New Year's goals? Please share!
Oh, and check out my reflections that I wrote last year, right after having Adelaide! My, seems so long ago!

"Cleanse"

That's my word for the new year.

Cleanse.

I want to cleanse my home of clutter and crap. I'm always one to be up for a clutter-purge, and I'm feeling that urge to purge again. Seems only right that it's happening now. The beginning of winter, the beginning of the new year. I want to start FRESH.

So, over the next couple of weeks, hubby and I are going to seriously go through all of our stuff and really think about what we need to keep and hold onto. Well, really it will be me going through everything and dragging my husband along. But right now, he says he's "in", so I'm taking him with me. Each nook, cranny, closet, under-the-bed will be sorted. For instance: that bag of charcoal in the hallway closet? Gone. We haven't had a grill in, oh, a year? I'd rather give that to someone who will use it now, and pay $5 for another bag if and when we ever get another grill, you know? Free up space for me now. Cleanse.

Also: my health. I'm healthy. Really, compared to the average person (in my opinion, of course). We eat a vegetarian diet, very low in dairy. We eat as organic as we can afford. We avoid fast food about 95% of the time. We don't eat fried food, high fructose corn syrup, food with a super-long ingredient list, etc.

But we could do so much better, as I think we all probably can. We are going to do a Healthy Eating Challenge for the month of January, inspired by an article in the latest issue of Kiwi magazine. Cooking from scratch as much as possible, avoiding overly-processed, overly-packaged foods... you know, that stuff that's an easy and convenient go-to when you're feeling lazy. It will take teamwork, dedication, and lots of planning to make it happen. Especially when it's been a long day at work and I come home to a messy house (maybe not though! Cleanse!) and a fussy baby (toddler?). But, again, Kevin says he's "in"... so hopefully we'll be able to start off the new year with at least a month of conscious eating.

Cleanse.

What's your word of inspiration for the new year?