Do you set New Year's Resolutions? I don't typically but I do always have goals in mind. My high school FCS teacher used to tell us that if we didn't have goals we would stop being productive. She'd ask what we were living for if we didn't have goals to meet. When I'm feeling in a slump or like I haven't accomplished anything lately, I do a self check on what my goals are and what I'm doing to work towards them.
So while we don't necessarily set 'new years resolutions' we do take advantage of the fresh start of the new year to have a family meeting and talk about our goals. We typically make lists for what we want to accomplish for the marriage, as a family, for the home, and for the business. I like to check in on our lists throughout the year to see how we are doing. It's a great way to help us stay intentional about meeting goals together.
This year, I've started thinking about my personal goals for 2013. I feel like I have more than ever before and I realized that's likely because my life feels just a little crazy right now!
My personal goals for 2013:
1. Capture (and record!) B's memories. Obviously this is an important thing for me but I've not been investing as much time into this as I'd like. I plan to do a better job by doing Project 365 again, blogging our life (at least one B post a month), & keeping up to date on the family yearbook (by not getting more than one month behind at a time). In his first year of life I did a decent job at getting photos printed and keeping his scrapbook but I'd like to do a better job of it this year.
2. Spend time in prayer with B each day (other than before meals). When I'm on bedtime duty, this is easy to do as part of our bedtime routine but when it's not basketball season, R does the bedtime routine a lot of nights (and I'm normally working). I want to be more intentional about spending time in prayer with him more often throughout the day.
3. Schedule 'me time' at least once a week. B was exclusively breastfed (yay!) which made it difficult for me to get much me time when he was tiny. At least that's what my story was. I know even breastfeeding moms make time for themselves and it's so healthy (and necessary) to do but between taking care of B, the home and the business, I felt like there wasn't much time left for me. I plan to take more 'me time' this year by spending more time with friends, reading a book each month, going to the store by myself!, getting haircuts (seriously, I only had ONE in 2012!), blogging and crafting.
4. Exercise at least 2-3 times each week. I know that doesn't seem lofty but for me it is! I go in phases with the exercise and right now I haven't exercised since the Color Run (yikes). When I'm on, I can exercise 5 times a week. And when I'm not... well see my previous comment about the last time I exercised. When B was born, I was intentional about healthy eating habits and exercising so that I could be a good role model for him (in case his crazy dad's exercising habits aren't enough to convince him). At around 6 months, I was losing weight too fast and was going to need to either do something different to maintain my weight or quit breastfeeding. Instead of adding more healthy calories to the diet, I just quit running. What a mistake! I feel like it's something I have to start over with at the very beginning so I'll be working back to where I was (and then STAY there this time).
5. Set work hours for {cb}h (and NOT work outside of those hours (as much as possible). This one will be tough for me! I spend way too much time on email and Facebook during my editing hours. I think setting specific hours for editing and specific hours for communications (email, Facebook, blogging), will help me use my time better. I also need to be more strict on charging extra fees for extra hours. I typically will allow repeat clients to schedule things outside of my scheduled hours and do not charge the extra fees. I am missing out on too much family time to be doing this any more. It's so hard to find a good balance when working from home but I think it's getting easier all the time.
6. Do a women's Bible study. I had been doing both the spring and fall sessions of women's groups but since B was born I hadn't participated in one. R & I do a study with our small group (and it's great!) but I do still miss the women's study and I need to get back to it. My previous studies had been in the evenings and I hated to give up that time with R and as a family so I want to get signed up for a morning one (that also includes daycare).
My other 2013 goals are family, home and work goals that I work on with R. We had our family meeting and spent a good few hours working on them. To summarize- we plan to be more intentional with our time and to invest more in people that matter. Oh and to work on a bathroom. :)
Do you set goals? Do you check in on them often? What do you hope to accomplish in 2013?
