Workin' It Wednesdays: January 2017
I've decided to link up with Shay and Erika on the 2nd Wednesday of every month to share tidbits about how busy ladies (like myself) work at keeping it all together. While I may not always have it all together, I certainly do work at it!
January's topic is oh so appropriately: New Year's Goals.
Ironically when I sat down to write this I hadn't yet actually written out or given a lot of thought to my New Year's goals! Shame on me. I've had a busy week at work fresh off of an amazing yet exhausting New Year's weekend combined with a minor cold so I've basically been a zombie in the evenings trying to catch up on reading and sleep. Nonetheless, now is the time for me (and YOU!) to figure out 2017 goals.
2017 Goals
1) Read the bible in a year with my friend Elizabeth using The One Year Bible. I'm way excited about this because it gives me a set plan versus picking random books to read in the bible as I have been.
2) Run the Aramco Half Marathon this weekend and sign up for next year's half marathon. Yes, it's this weekend but I still have to put it on this list of goals because anything can happen including a change in motivation (or the lack thereof) between now and race day.
3) Continue eating and cooking Paleo and Whole 30 because I simply love it as well as the health benefits from it.
4) Continue working out 3-5 times a week. Give or take schedules and travel, 4-5 is ideal for me and I'm never too hard on myself if I have an off week like I did this past week fighting this cold. I couldn't take any chances of it turning into something worse before the half.
5) Work on growing and sharing my blog for as long as God calls me to and for as long as I have helpful information to share with others. Without either, my efforts are futile and in vain. I am prepared to stop at any point He may tell me to and acknowledge that what I have shared to that point was for His glory yet all that He wanted me to share. Who knows!?!
6) Save money and shop less. Isn't this a recurring theme for so many of us? I need to break the online shopping addiction. If I had to go to the stores to shop I would rarely buy anything! I battle the "shopping for only the things I need" vs the "but, it's a really good sale!" war in my mind on the daily. For real. But, I do love a good sale. ;)
7) Read the news. I rarely ever know what is going on because I don't really watch TV and I forget to look at news sites. This.must.change. Thank you, Rachel, for sending me the news site email we had discussed on New Year's Day. That will be the first step for me to get back out of my bubble where's it's so cozy. ;)
8) Practice speaking Spanish and re-learn the extensive vocabulary and grammar that I used to know after studying it for eight years. I have become even more shy and introverted through the years (hard to believe it's gotten worse!) especially when it comes to speaking a foreign language. I also hope to not lose all of the Dutch I learned years ago, but that's less practical all in all. Spanish is so abundant in Houston I *should* be speaking it regularly like I used to do TWELVE years ago. Twelve. Whoah. My last class in Spanish was in 2004 when I minored in it. Goodness. Time flies. And so did my memory...
9) Make phone calls. It may seem silly to add this, but I hate talking on the phone. Hate it. However, with much of my family now living out of state I have to bite the bullet and make calls. This is a major thing for me to work on. Major. It has nothing to do with who I speak with on the phone, it's the feeling of being trapped because you have to just sit there and listen. If you multitask then you're not really listening to the person well. If you're too focused on the conversation while multitasking then you're also not giving 100% to the other thing you need to work on (ie: grocery shopping on the phone takes three times longer for me). I'd rather talk in person so you see facial expressions and emotions, but of course that's not always feasible so back to square one.
10) Publish my old poems. I put this on my list every year. I was supposed to accomplish this in November this past year but time got away from me and the time I did spend typing some of them up in October brought out weird, old emotions from lifetimes ago and reminded me of who I used to be. I didn't like it...so I put it aside. Again. I believe I can somehow take them and use them to inspire young girls with those same, intense emotions to make better choices than I did, show them how to grow and handle their emotions better, and direct them to the only person who can heal and fill their hearts - our Lord.
This list is not all inclusive as I'm sure I could go on. I have plenty of things I need to work on and perhaps acknowledging these to the public eye will help me feel more accountable. I am excited to be in 2017, for all of the blessings and adventures God will bring this year, and the valuable lessons and harsh eye openers He provided me last year just in the nick of time. Goals or no goals, I always strive to improve myself. Life's lessons continue to show me I am less than perfect while providing a new opportunity to get it right (or better) the next time. Enter in a new year to try again. Thank you, God.
What are your New Year's resolutions? I'd love to read them in case I need to incorporate them into mine as well!
Happy New Year everyone!
XOXO
