Hello! Happy New Year! How are you? I hope you had wonderful and safe Christmas and New Year’s celebrations. Matt and I had a much needed holiday, much of which was spent visiting my family in the country. Now I am feeling rested, recharged and ready to embrace the new year. Do you have any new year’s resolutions? Do tell!
To be honest I don’t really like the term ‘new year’s resolution’. It scares me a little bit. It feels inflexible and like if I don’t achieve it everyday then I have failed. But I also think it’s better to try something and fail, than to never try at all. So I have a list of new year’s goals. I feel like goals can be flexible and forgiving. If I don’t achieve everything straight away and everyday, it’s okay, I’ll just try again tomorrow. Every little bit of progress counts and should be recognised. Here are some of my new year’s goals:
- Walk at least 10,000 steps a day. I am borrowing a pedometer of Matt’s to track how active I am and so I can increase my daily activity and exercise to reach the recommended 10,000 steps a day. It’s three days in to the new year and I haven’t achieved this yet (and keep forgetting to wear the pedometer), but it’s okay. I will keep trying.
- Practise yoga at least once a week. I find that yoga, or other similar stretching type exercises, really help strengthen and tone my muscles as well as helping me manage stress. I’m just not very good at doing it regularly. This blog often motivates me to get back into in whenever I’m feeling lazy and uninspired.
- Read more books. Books are great and can teach me things, broaden my mind and transport me to places I will most likely never afford to actually visit. We own heaps of books, most of which I haven’t read so I have plenty to choose from. I also want to check out our local public library, which I have been meaning to do ever since we moved here nearly three years ago.
- Create an effective filing system. (Nerd!) I used to be somewhat scattered, disorganised and messy especially when it came to document storage. More recently though, I seem to have morphed into some kind of neat freak. Everything must have it’s proper place! We are getting a new filing cabinet soon (second hand, but new to us) and I’m not ashamed to admit that I am SO excited about it!
- Save more money. As I said earlier, every little bit of progress counts and I think this is very true when it comes to finances. I often think that if I don’t have large sums of money to be saving, there’s no point trying to save at all. This thinking isn’t really logical, it just comes down to learning to acknowledge even the smallest steps of progress. So I am going to try to save regularly, even if the amounts seem small and insignificant.
- Go to bed earlier. I’m sick of being tired. Going to bed earlier will probably help!
- Drink more green tea. I used to drink heaps of green tea, but have gone off it a bit lately. It’s so good for me though so it’s time I got back into it. Given the heat wave we’re currently experiencing (yesterday was over 40 degrees Celsius), hot tea has lost its usual appeal. I need to get organised and put a jug of green tea in the fridge with some lemon slices – yum!
Most of these goals stem from my desire to be constantly improving myself and living a healthier, happier life. I could have just set my goal as ‘live a healthier, happier life’, but that’s kind of vague and hard to achieve. By breaking it down in to small, achievable goals, it’s easier to make progress. I firmly believe that making many, small, positive steps can add up to make a big difference! Do you have any goals? I’d love to hear them!
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I have a few 2012 ambitions:
1. Get married. No seriously. September this year it’s happening, and I’m so badly organised, and I’m determined not to leave everything to the last minute.
2. I’d like to share a blog with the world! I always seem to be time poor, but I read so many blogs (like yours), and they inspire me so much, I feel a burning desire to be creating my own little humble corner of the world wide web. I had one ages ago, but I can’t seem to commit. :/
3. Get better acquainted with my dSLR camera. I’m working on it, but loving it. Baby steps though.
4. Embrace my gym more regularly and get fit!
5. Catch up with you and your man! It has been far too long! xx
These are great goals! So excited for you that your wedding is this year! If you do start a blog, let me know – I’d love to check it out. Definitely need to catch up soon! I’ll check the schedule, talk to the Husbando and see if we can lock a date in. xo