I have really gone back and forth about making resolutions for myself in 2015, but after some thought, I realized that I really like setting goals for myself. It is cliche to set these big goals for New Year's, but it just makes sense! I wouldn't be me without having a few things in mind that I would like to accomplish in the next year.
Below you will find my goals, concisely bolded for those that may not enjoy my rambling prose (is rambling prose an oxymoron? Ha.) Rambling is therapeutic for me. Don't judge.
Exercise consistently throughout the year. Consistently being the key word. For the past two years, I worked out very consistently 3-4 times per week from January to approximately October, then, after October, it all fell apart. In 2013, I was in my first year of teaching and from August to October, I was always training for something (Capital Pursuit 10 miler and then a half marathon in October). After the training was over, I let the stress of teaching take over. November is a stressful month in my building and then December brings about its own unique challenges personally and professionally. I think everyone is just trying to get to winter break in one piece. I found that 2014 was no different. I worked out consistently until October and then, I just stopped. Last year I had a wedding dress to fit into and I knew I would be looked at by 200+ people, so that really motivated me to get in shape. In 2015, we hope to get pregnant, and honestly, for me personally, that might be more of a reason to drop some extra pounds and get into shape. I am terrified of putting on weight from being pregnant, and I know that if I am not in shape when I get pregnant, not only will it be hard to exercise throughout pregnancy, but it will be hard to lose the extra weight.
So, um, that naturally leads to another goal of 2015. Get pregnant. I am hesitant to talk too much about this goal of ours because my heart aches for those that struggle with infertility. I am not assuming this will be easy for us, and I realize that this goal is not controllable. Obviously, we do what we can to control it, but at the end of the day, there is a plan that I am not privy to knowing. I trust that plan. What I will do, all I can do, is take care of my body and be kind to myself.
My next goal is a financial goal. I have really, very willingly, given the financial reins to Bill in the terms of managing our finances, but we both agree that we need to be a team. We need to hold each other accountable to our spending and we need to continue building up our savings. Money stress is the worst kind of stress for me. It takes over my thoughts and turns me into a different person. I can feel my chest tightening up just writing about the stress over money. I hate it. When we have money saved for emergencies, I feel much better. I would love to take Bill Ramsey's course Financial Peace University this year so we can work on becoming better at taking care of our marriage and avoiding fights over money.
In the second year of teaching we are required to complete a portfolio. It is due before spring break and is a list of 10 standards, with several sub-standards underneath that. Each standard requires an artifact that demonstrates how you have met that standard. Overall it is about 43 artifacts, with captions. My goal was to finish my portfolio by the new year, but that is clearly not happening. My new goal is to complete my professional portfolio by the end of January. I. Can. Do. This.
In 2014 I read a measly 35 books. Much different from the 57 books in 2011 and 71 books in 2012, however, 2014 was BUSY. We planned a wedding where we did everything ourselves (except the cake. I thought about making a cake, but then realized, I don't bake well). We bought a house and combined two lives (and stuff. Lost of stuff). We were busy. I was busy. Reading for pleasure was a luxury that my scattered brain had a hard time focusing on. In 2015, I want to protect my reading time and will aim to read an average of one book week and read 52 books for the year.
That's it.
What is one big thing you would like to cross off your to-do list in 2015?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
That is a great list of goals! I hope that you can cross each of them off the list! I am still finalizing my goals for the 2015 but one of my goals is to complete a list of organizational/purging projects. I have gotten rid of a lot of stuff in the last 2 years with my moves and all, but more can be done. I live in a small space so the less I have, the easier it is to live and be happy in this small space!
For a book goal, I am doing this Book Riot Read Harder challenge! (http://bookriot.com/2014/12/15/book-riot-2015-read-harder-challenge/) I am excited to do it because it's going to push me to read genres I might not have read otherwise (like romance, poetry, science fiction, etc). I like that it's 24 books because that means I can read other things. I'll also have a side goal of reading 52 books.
I just have one big goal for 2015 and it's to slow down and step away from technology more. I want to spend more time reading and I think I'm going to make a goal of reading 40 books in 2015, which would be 7 more books than I read in 2014. I know I would read a lot more if I didn't waste lots of valuable extra reading time on my phone, on my computer or watching TV.
We are also hoping to start a family in 2016 and will start trying closer to the end of this year so I really just want to spend the year being in the moment, appreciating my husband and life and saving money like crazy. Oh and I want to get in great shape before our trip to Maui in April so I can feel confident in a bikini on the beach :) So I guess my goals are kind of similar to yours in a way!
Yay! I hope you have an easy time getting and being pregnant :) happy 2015!
I think my main goal for this year will be to get a new job. There's other smaller things I want to work towards like possibly getting pregnant but the main goal is to get a new job. And move my body more.
Your goals are fantastic! And let me just go ahead and say I share a couple of them. ;)
I was sure I was going to have issues getting pregnant, and honestly still feel a little guilty about how easy it was. I realize it's not something I can control, but still I hate that it's something people have to experience.
I would recommend the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility though. It's long so I didn't read it completely, but even the parts I skimmed through I found to be helpful.
And of course, hope you have a very happy 2015!!
Your goals are really great, and I have no doubt 2015 will be a great year for you!
52 is a great goal for books. I set mine to 50 this year but I'm not sure if I'll reach it since we'll be having our baby any day now... and speaking of babies, that is really exciting that you're thinking of getting pregnant this year! I know how you feel about the weight issue. Before my wedding, I lost 118 pounds and have gained a lot of weight with this pregnancy. At the end of the day, I know the baby will be worth it and that I can lose the weight again, so do your best not to let it stress you out too bad.
Great idea to make financial goals too. I feel very similarly and let money stress me out way too easily. We worked hard to save up some money to have when I'm out on maternity leave and I feel much knowing we have that ready and waiting for us.
Happy New Year!
I truly hope you have an easy time getting pregnant. It took us 5 years and 2 rounds of IVF - a nightmare I wouldn't wish on anyone else. Crackheads get knocked up every day - you can too!
A portfolio once you're teaching? I remember doing one in college that was like you mentioned and we had to do it before we graduated but beyond that, nothing once teaching. Good luck!!
exercising consistently is up there on mine too. I have started some 30 day challenges and a 30 day yoga course, and I hope to form some habits that stick with me.
great list of goals! hope you have a fabulous 2015 and that you get to accomplish them all!
styleandchocolates
Post a Comment