2016 is well underway and I have yet to post about my New Year’s Resolutions. Don’t think that I had forgotten – I always make New Year’s Resolutions! Resolutions are the reason that New Year’s is one of my favorite holidays, if not my favorite. That and the blank slate feeling of a sparkling new year. But first, let’s evaluate last year’s success, or lack thereof.
Last year, I selected a word for the year a la Susannah Conway to describe what I wanted to achieve in the New Year. That word was LESS. Overall, I would say that I did pretty well making it a year of less, though not always in the way that I intended.
I certainly have less clutter than I did last year, though there is still plenty of room for improvement.
I am less disorganized, having purchased my first Passion Planner and used it religiously.
I am less intimidated by social situations, having finally worked up the courage to join the monthly Mensa Gen X/Y Trivia Night group.
I weigh about 4 pounds less than I did at the beginning of last year (this after having gained 8 lbs over the holidays – grr!).
However, there were some unexpected consequences of less as well. I ran less after suffering a series of injuries and illnesses, some of which I am still wrestling with.
I got less decluttering done than I wanted, for the same reason.
And I ended up with more debt. Again, same reason, plus a few unexpected home repair issues.
For 2016, I have selected LIGHT as my word of the year. I would like to live lighter, feel lighter – mentally and physically, eat lighter, spend lighter, and “own” lighter. To help me achieve this, I have defined a series of micro-resolutions which I intend to implement slowly throughout the year, as well as a couple of larger resolutions. They fall primarily into three areas: health, well-being, and home. Incidentally, this will be the first time I have ever made “well-being” resolutions. The initial list looks some like this:
Health
- Do two sets of resistance band exercises daily at work for my shoulder
- Use my standing desk at work, starting with an hour a day and working up to four hours a day
- Run 3xs a week, work up to 4xs a week
- Return to reduced carb eating plan
- Get entire family to the dentist (our last dentist stopped taking our insurance, so we need a new one)
- Run 620 miles this year (Endomondo challenge)
- Weight train 1x a week, work up to two times a week
Progress
I am starting with the first three of these micro-resolutions. This week, I did my resistance band exercises twice daily, except for one day that I only did one set. I used my standing desk for about an hour on three days. And I have gone running twice this week and plan to go again sometime this weekend. I feel that I am doing pretty well so far in the “health” category!
Well-being
- Meditate or sit quietly for 5 minutes each day. Work up to 20-30 minutes per day.
- Practice Daily Gratitude. Tweet daily gratitude each day.
Progress
This week, I recorded a Daily Gratitude daily via Twitter. If I forgot one day, I would do it as soon as I remembered the next day. I was able to meditate twice, though once I fell asleep. The second time though, I successfully meditated for five minutes. Obviously, this category is a work in progress.
Home
- Eat out only once a week
- Completely renovate the front yard and get the back yard cleaned up
- Set and achieve declutter goals for each month
- Finish closet renovation
- Finish painting house
Progress
I started with the first two items on this list. This week, we tried to eat out only once, but then I was really craving buffalo wings so … I also started thinking about how I want to redo the front flower beds. Hopefully, the weather will hold and I can get outside today and start pulling some of the old weeds and dead plants out. I want them to be ready when it’s time to plant in a few months. We lost the tree in our front yard during a storm this year, so I will need some sun-loving plants. There is room for improvement in this category, but I made an acceptable start.
Did you spot the large resolutions in that list? Yes, paint house and renovate yard.
Of course, I will continue with my decluttering and home improvement projects, and continue to try to pay down our debt. And I may add additional resolutions along the way.
There is nothing really earth-shattering on my resolutions list, but I am hoping that my micro-resolutions will become daily habits to help me achieve a lighter life.