New Year's Goals

A lot of people say they dislike new year’s resolutions because they never get accomplished; they are merely dreams that people wish will come true. While I agree that they are dreams, I think they are a good idea, although I think “goals” is a better word choice than “resolutions.” The term “resolutions” stems from the word “resolve,” meaning a determination for accomplishment. In this sense, it is easy to fail because we either accomplish our resolutions or we don’t. If we use the word “goals,” it denotes that we are merely striving to accomplish something. If we do not succeed at accomplishing our goal, we can still take pride in the fact that we attempted it and that we set the goal in the first place. So, in an effort to be accountable, I am listing my 2011 New Year’s Goals.

1. I want to create meals that are healthy enough for Josey to share with us. I am incredibly pick when it comes to Josey’s food because I have done so much research (thanks library science degree) that describes the effects of foods before 5 years. Most of what she eats has to be unprocessed and organic. I am striving for the same thing for Michael and myself so that we can be good examples for her and so we may be healthier in the process.

2. I hope to decrease my unnecessary spending. I am a clearance addict, and while most of what I buy either fulfills a long-awaited want or need, can be used in the future, or will be given as a gift, I do find myself buying things simply because they are on sale. I plan to keep a strict list of “wants” and “needs” so I can more clearly identify, and I am going to take more time to consider my purchases. Before I reach the register, I am going to take the time to evaluate everything in my shopping cart to make sure it is necessary.

3. I will reduce the clutter in my home. I am constantly doing small decluttering missions, but we still have many things that are not used, not loved, or both. I battle over things because: 1) They were given to us by someone special, or 2) I paid good money for them, so I should keep them. From now on, if it’s not loved or used, it’s gone. And hopefully keeping goal #2 will help me with this.

4. I would like to lose 45 pounds. This sounds like a lofty goal, but really it’s less than 4 pounds per month. This will put me at the weight I was at my wedding. I am starting the new year at (gasp!) 189.6 pounds. I will be combining goal #1 with Slim Fast to help me with this. Included in this goal is the hope to exercise 2 to 3 times per week, although being the mother of an almost toddler and working two jobs does make that difficult.

5. I am going to simplify my work schedule. I teach university English and private piano lessons. In my English classes, I’m known for giving too many assignments that take forever to grade. This has got to stop because I don’t have 40 hours a week just to grade. My piano lessons are also too strung out.  I will not take on any more students or expands the days on which I teach. And if I can, I will condense everyone to two days.  I love teaching piano, but I need more time with Josey. I can teach more when she’s older.

6. I want to complete the projects we’ve started before beginning new ones. Right now we have an unfinished kitchen, interior doors that were never painted, a heater that was never vented, scrapbooks that were never finished, and decorating that was never started. I want 2011 to be the year things come together.

Just these 6 goals are going to keep me busy all year. Although there is not much detail to any of them, they do provide me with an objective so that I can develop plans for accomplishing them. What are your new year’s goals?