New Year, New Goals

Happy New Year, all! I hope you’re easing back into a somewhat normal routine and feeling excited about 2017. We spent a wonderful, long weekend in Nashville ringing in 2017 with family. It was so much fun to catch up with family and spend time just lounging around.

Like many people, I like to use the brand new year as a time for reflection and goal setting. Last year I kept my goal for the new year pretty simple: relax more. I started off strong, but quickly fell into my normal habit of booking all of our weekends with hosting commitments and travel promises. It made for a fun year, but we spent much of the last month of 2016 feeling like zombies.

My goals for 2017 strike a similar theme and I’m going to really focus this year on sticking to them. They’re achievable, which will hopefully make that a little easier. Here’s what I’m shooting for over the next 12 months.

Read more. I set a goal last year of reading 52 books, which was way too ambitious (I only made it through 12). Reading is a lifelong passion of mine, but I’m awful about carving out time to crack open a book. So, I’m committing to reading at least 20 books this year. I’m already doing pretty well this year — I’m on book number two! I’m also trying to expand the genres I reach for. I’ve read a lot of thrillers over the past year, but I want to switch it up a bit.

Say “no” more. This goes along with my goal from last year. I’m really bad about overcommitting myself personally and professionally. I’m a people pleaser, so I have a hard time saying no when someone asks for some of my time. I noticed it start to catch up with me in little ways in 2016 — a running injury, back pain, more migraines. This year, I’m vowing to put myself first by saying “no” to opportunities and obligations I don’t have the time or energy for. Hopefully it results in less stress and more time to enjoy each day.

Establish a workout routine. Ooof. The past two months of 2016 were really rough on my workout routine. It basically disappeared. I got to the gym when I could, but it was only about twice a week. I’m trying to get back into the workout routine that keeps me sane by writing my workouts down in my planner at the beginning of each week. I would never flake on any other appointment written in my planner, so I’m making the same committment when it comes to workouts.

Save more. Now that we’re settled into our house and we’ve knocked out our biggest projects, James and I are going to sit down and reevaluate our budget. My goal is to save double what we did in 2016 over the next 12 months.

Those are my big goals for the year and I’m excited to see where they stand over the next few months.