Time for another goals post. (Because you know I'd rather call them goals than resolutions.) I've discovered I do like blogging about my goals for the year for a few reasons. One, it feels like getting some accountability, whether you guys are asking me about my progress or not. Two, it's easy to find and see what my goals are in the middle of July when I've been slacking and can't remember. Three, it's fun to look back and see how I did when I'm making new goals! Here's a quick recap on last year. We went to at least two new places (camping in MO and at the Indiana Dunes). I read 7.5 books which was okay but still needs improvement. There were a lot of days I had to be cheerfully intentional with our living room torn up and Dearest Carl working away. And then I started in on the last one and ultimately failed. But you can't win them all, right?
Moving on to this year. Dearest Carl and I sat down January 1st and talked about all our goals for the year, including personal goals, travel goals, house projects and everything else you can think of. Then we laid them out by month and by the end, it felt so good! We are on the same page, working towards the same goals, each month. It's wonderful. But even before we did that, I sat down and thought up just a few personal goals for myself. I stuck with four because I feel like four is doable and not flipping my whole life upside down. So without further ado, here's what I'm working on this year:
1. Get up earlier. Dearest Carl is a night owl and over the past few months, I've gotten in the habit of staying up too late and sleeping in. Now that works fine for some people except that I'm most productive in the morning. So when I roll out of bed at 9, I don't get as much done as I hoped. This year, my goal is to be getting up at 6:30 (at least on week days). Carl jumped on this with me so together, we're starting to get up at 7:30 and taking slow steps toward our goal. I know it will get easier when the sun comes up earlier.
2. Keep reading. Two years ago my goal was a book a month. I still don't think that's unreasonable but I've discovered it really takes choosing to use my free time well (aka, more reading, less Minecraft). Currently I have a stack of books to be read so this year, my goal is to continue choosing pages over screens and see how far I get.
3. Exercise together! For a few weeks last Fall, Dearest Carl and I got outside and did something almost every day for a half an hour. And I loved it. Not only were we getting active together (a first in our relationship) but it gave us uninterrupted time to talk about the week or the month or what's for dinner or whatever! This year our goal is to exercise together at least two days a week.
4. Shake it up. I'm a planner, as many of you know. I like my calendars and to do lists and ducks in a neat and tidy row. Some of that will never go away, but I think I could definitely loosen up. So this year, I want to be more spontaneous and try some different things in our daily lives. My first step, switching grocery day to Wednesday after it's been Friday for four years. Wild, right? I also want to open up our home as much as possible in the coming year so don't be surprised if you get a last minute invitation to a movie night or game night.
We've already started in on a few of these goals and I'm excited to see how it will go!
What goals are you making for 2017?
(Image via @therainingirl)
