Some might balk that this post is late given that the date on the calendar is January 17th. However, I take goal setting very seriously. I don’t think it is necessarily the beginning of a New Year that makes it the only time that goals need to be set. New jobs, epiphanies and birthdays are all optimum times for looking hard in the mirror and finding ways to strive to be a better person.
That being said, I do typically establish goals for the New Year. I don’t call them Resolutions. They are goals with measurement and steps. I gave lip service to my goals in 2010 until June 16th. This date is now on my calendar as a day of a personal epiphany. I looked into my soul and found the root of why so many goals on my annual list made them appear year after year. I am delighted to be able to put together a list that is an evolution of what I can only say is a step forward.
1) Complete a Triathlon and learn how to spell it! Last year, I really tackled the need to exercise more with developing a relationship with my road bike. It drove a lot of other goals to completion as well. Let’s face it, when you are working your tail off literally, you begin to care about what you put in to fuel the activity. I also ran my first official 5K Road race on Thanksgiving morning with my rescue Brittany, Brodie. I have no idea what my time was but it was a great high. The next step is to train to complete a Triathlon this summer. My weakness is getting into the pool for workouts. Some subsets of this is to master the monkey of climbing hills on my bike and getting under a 10 minute mile over 3.2 miles. See, I am not just interested in finishing but not being last!
2) Tackle the clutter monster: I hate clutter. I hate the clutter especially caused by the clutter mail causes. The inability dealing with it has resulted in bills being lost. Missing a charge on a credit card that took a long time to clean up and spats with my husband. Now, I am going to need some help from him to really tackle this one. But I am ready. This also moves into the idea of putting stuff away. I am famous of leaving the vacuum out, not folding the laundry or leaving it in the basket (as a load is currently sitting). I have a new mission statement. “Put it away”. Part of this goal is to work through a cleaning out process. In reality, we have now been in the house for almost four years. Time to clean out the clutter. Closets, the basement, desk drawers, and bookshelves are all going to be under attack. One small problem is that I am also going to try to use coupons and savings a lot more. This is going to be a balance issue.
3) Take my vitamins. This one sounds weak. I have tackled getting soda out of my diet for the most part. I have been able to find a yogurt I like. I am eating a least one piece of fruit a day. Water is a staple in my day. However, I can seem to choke down the pills daily. I am seeing it as training for my old age.
4) Coupons and grocery bill: I am going to work on saving more at the cash register. I have always been something of a brand whore and snob. This means using coupons and paying attention to the grocery flyers. It also means planning meals. I am kicking and screaming not wanting to get the Sunday paper. (more clutter) I just never find coupons for items I use. However, I do use coupons. I need to get better about leveraging the free money out there for dinner out, dry cleaning, and not buying anything at a retail store like a Loft or otherwise without a sale or an offer. I am going to try to track the savings and see how I do. In reality, I would like to get the grocery bill under $100 a week. There are two of us. We do eat breakfast. lunch, and dinner, for the most part, at home. It will take work. I am close.
I have a couple of other ones that are more personal and need to work on the professional goals as well. However, I have also found that when the list of goals, aspirations or resolutions is too long. It never happens. By training for the race, I will continue with my healthy goals. By working on the clutter and the grocery bill, the house will naturally be cleaner and it will also help me to focus on some financial goals. I have also been able to identify what was holding me back from achieving these goals. Wish me diligence, as it is not luck, but hard work that allows each of us to turn a milestone in our lives.
