So 2018 is here and everyone’s sharing their new year resolutions and how this year will be different from the last. While I’m all for self-improvement, I don’t really get into the ‘new year, new me’ excitement. I really feel that if you’re truly passionate about something, you’ll devote your time and energy into it immediately. And therefore, a new year is irrelevant to those resolutions or goals because timing is not what drives this change, you are. I definitely am not knocking anyone that has taken time to write out their goals and used the start of a new year to reset. I just want us to shift our association of setting goals and making changes in our lives with just the start of a new year but rather, with the start of a new mindset.
With that being said, I wrote out a few goals for myself in September of last year as I stepped into my 30th year of life and I have carried them into the new year. After I wrote everything out, I realized there was a common theme of more which got me pretty excited. This is a year of MORE! Enjoy reading them 🙂
Eat at home more:
I do not care for cooking. That is one thing I’m sure all my friends and family can agree on. It’s not so much that I don’t like it, but more so that I don’t think far enough in advance to do it. I also get a bit nervous on how it’s going to turn out. My sisters and mom can cook well and my sisters and mother-in-law are also good cooks.. and then there’s me. LOL Growing up a tomboy, I’ve avoided the kitchen all these years and now that I’m a wife I’m just like ummm.. want to order a pizza.. again? I’ll be honest, my husband has definitely shared that he would like me to cook more (in a respectful way) and I think it’s time for me to finally open the chef apron I received as a wedding shower gift and get to work. Not to mention, grocery shopping will save us money in the long run and eating at home allows us to eat healthier.
Read more:
The last book I read took me almost a year to read because I am so horrible at picking up a book! When I open it up, I will read for hours, but I never think about grabbing a book. Instead, I tend to grab my phone or computer which is terrible. Being realistic, my goal is to read 2 books within year 30 but my hope is that this creates a desire for me to grab another and another and another. So if you have a recommendation of any books I should read, please drop the titles in the comments!
Love more:
With all the horrible, horrible things happening in our world today, one thing we could all use more of is love. I use this word loosely because I don’t want my love to be limited to just those close to me. Instead, I want to love people I don’t know more. Buying a homeless person some food, complimenting a stranger, letting someone go ahead of me in line — these gestures of kindness are expressions of love and you never know how big of an impact these small gestures can have on someone. My thought process with these acts of kindness is that they will pay it forward and the cycle of love continues.
Volunteer more:
A couple of years ago, I was volunteering at minimum once a month and sometimes 3 or 4 times a month. But after I got an engaged and started the planning process for a two day wedding (I’m sure I’ll share more about this in a future post), volunteering was quickly shifted to the bottom of my list. Now it’s time for me to get back into it- I love giving back to my community!
Spend more time outdoors:
I used to be outside all the time. Whether it was as a kid playing with friends, running or just sitting outside and enjoying the weather. And since I moved from Chicago to Louisville, it’s been so easy to just hop into the car and go straight to my destination but that needs to change! I’ve started sitting on our balcony more and I can totally use this as a time to read! Look at that!
Do more & make more decisions:
I want my 30s to be the start of doing more as in executing. It’s so easy to talk about what you want to do or create a vision but the more you talk and dream, the more time you’re wasting that can be used towards execution! And that brings me to making more decisions. I am terrible – like seriously terrible – at making decisions. It’s like I can go through what I don’t want but can never decide on what I do want. lol My husband, on the other hand, is a great decision maker. He knows how to efficiently assess a situation and make a decision. As a result, I typically defer to him when it comes to decisions (not without my unsolicited commentary of course) but I would like to be more in control of being decisive of what I want. Pondering over a decision can result in a missed opportunity and if I’m going to execute more then I need to be better at making decisions!
Be more Present:
Ahhhhh! This one is so important to me. I hate going out to eat and seeing couples on their phone throughout the entire meal, friends hanging out and everyones on instagram or snap or even parents out with their kids but their heads in their phones. And what I hate even more is that this is me! Well, not the parent part but I am an auntie lol I was doing a good job with this at first, but I’ve noticed I’ve been more in my phone/ computer since I launched my blog last month and I really need to put a limit on that. I get caught up in capturing and sharing how much fun I’m having that I don’t allow myself to really enjoy the fun.
Whether you’ve set a new year resolution or not, self-improvement should always be a focus. And everyone’s definition of self-improvement will vary because we are all in different places in our lives. But one thing we all need to make sure we do is set realistic goals. We have to manage our expectations and not put ourselves in a position to be disappointed. What are your goals for this year? I would love to hear them!
Cheers to a year of happiness, love and prosperity!
♡ Xo,
YorsTruly
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