simeone says

My “resolution” for 2018 was to just make it through. While that doesn’t really meet the requirements for goals as they are taught to us in school (I’m talking about those  Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely goals), I did learn a lot. Here we are a year later and what I learned in 2018 has inspired some of the things I would like to be cognisant of over the next 12 months.

Be more critical of the things I let into my life. One thing that became very apparent to me looking back at 2018 is that there are “things that are important” and “everything else”. The “things that are important” are the people, opportunities, activities, material goods, etc. that bring you joy and help you live a life that is in line with your values and goals. The parts of ourselves that we pour into the “everything else” – the things you feel obligated to do in order to not let someone down, the people you once considered friends but are too afraid to realize you’ve outgrown, the impulse buys that you wind up regretting because they merely sit and take up living space – is effort, attention, energy, time, money, or thought that is taken away from the things that are truly important. In 2019, I hope to refine the inner voice that recognizes the important things and get better at reducing the attenion I give to the everything else.

Post more on this blog. I’ve had this blog for a couple of years now, but never really stuck with consistently posting on here. Part of that was due to the fact that I would write a post and it would stay in drafts because I thought it was either not important enough to post after using a majority of this blog to post about serious topics related to sexual assault or I thought it would be too real  and worried what  people would think. Another reason for lack of consistant positng is I was choosing to spend times on things that, in retrospect, didn’t really matter or bring me much joy as writing does. I was choosing to “not have enough time” to create blog posts. In 2019, I hope to post at least biweekly, which would give me a realistic goal of posting at least 26 times this year.

Work on a business idea that I’ve had for a while. I struggle with putting this one in this post because writing about it publicly is one of the ultimate forms of accountability. A lot of my close friends know it has always been my ultimate life goal to start my own business. I have had an idea for a couple of years now, but I haven’t turned thoughts into action for the same reason I don’t post blogs – fear of failure and choosing to spend time on other things. In 2019, I want to turn thoughts finally move these thoughts into actions.

Spend less money on coffee. Guys, I buy coffee out at least 5 days a week. The math nerd in me keeps track of my monthly personal spend by category and a large percentage of my expendable income goes to coffee. It’s unrealistic for me to say I’m going to stop buying coffee out because I’m not. Going to Dunkin is something that really does bring me joy and I have the financial means to indulge in it. But I would like to cut this down to 3 times a week max by the end of 2019. My main hopes in doing this is to use more of my stock-pile of Standing Stone coffee I have been hoarding in my freezer since I moved away from my favorite coffee shop.

Take working out less seriously.  I love working out, but there was a time where enthusiasm for working out soon turned into an obsession. I used to spend up to 2 hours a day working out which obviously isn’t very attainable for most people with jobs and responsibilities. On days I didn’t have the time or the energy to keep up with working out this much, the guilt and stress would be overwhelming. In 2018, I threw out my back a couple of times, got pneumonia (only once, thankfully), and started working a part-time job on top of my full-time job. All of these things definitely impacted my ability to maintain my rigid work-out schedule. This gave me the opportunity to become more balanced and remember why it is that came to love working out in the first place. I love the way working out makes me feel and that there are always new strength goals to work towards. In 2019, I plan on having a work out schedule but want to continue to do it from a place of enjoyment and not of dread or obligation.

That is just a quick summary of the things I want to work on in 2019. What things are you looking to work on this year?