2017 has officially started. I have taken a bit longer in writing this post because for a long time all my thoughts were just a muddle in my head. My goals for this new year are simple, yet overwhelming at the same time. I realised I needed to be more specific with my goals for this year. I still like the resolutions I had in 2016 but I decided to really break them down into manageable, quantifiable goals, so here goes:
- Run once a week for the year – 52 runs at least (regardless of time and distance)
- Run a 5km comfortably – get a training plan in place and start by 1 Feb
- 5 walks/hikes – I have a list that I will share with you soon
- Visit 3 counties in Ireland (not including Dublin!)
- Do 2 big holidays – I cannot wait to share what these are!
- Read daily – with a focus on mind and body
- Complete the 8 week Beach Body Program
- Start and complete a new challenge group
- Track my steps everyday with my Fitbit (the goal is set to walk 10k steps a day)
- Eat breakfast at least 5 days a week
- Run a race in Ireland (races here are kinda expensive, so it may just be one race this year)
- Blog consistently – stick to the plan and blog weekly (I still need to do that live FB video!)
- Pay my folks back 1/3 of what I owe them
- Get my credit card down to a more manageable figure
- Review my goals at the end of each month and celebrate my successes
Along with my goals for 2017, I tried to think of one word to encapsulate 2017 – one word to live by. I thought long and hard about it too. Every day I would tell Rob a different word: appreciate, enjoy, less, simplify, breathe, journey, relish, savour, cherish… the list never seemed to end, and I just never could get a word that I felt I could honestly stick with, and one that encompassed all that I was feeling.
My biggest challenge in 2017 will be to overcome this comparing phase I seem to have been stuck on all my life. In high school, I felt you needed to be cool to be popular. In varsity, I thought you needed to be popular to stand out. In work, to stand out, I thought you had to be earning big bucks to be successful. In marriage, to be successful, I often think society says you are not complete if you are not a mother, you need to have babies. But none of that is true.
I learnt too late that my quirkiness and weirdness makes me authentic. That the fact that I love my job makes me successful. That a marriage is only as strong as the two people who communicate to each other – and communicate every day. That if you work as a team you can achieve all your goals and dreams – and that your goals and dreams as a married couple might not be to have kids, and that doesn’t make you a bad person. I really need to stop worrying what I think other people think – because maybe not everyone thinks that way, and who cares if they do!
My hope for 2017 is that I continue to follow my own path, and to enjoy my own journey. I need to stop comparing myself to others. I compare my life to others all the time. I look at what some friends have or do, and I feel jealous, regardless of all the incredible things that have happened in my life, all my amazing achievements, I am still hungry to please others. I still want what others have. I often don’t stop to think that everyone has their own path, their own journey. That my path will lead me to all the things I want, with hard work and focus, I just need to trust myself and keep my focus on me, looking forward to my own future.
In 2017, I want to challenge myself to live with less. To focus on what truly matters, and trust me it is not stuff. I want to simplify how I live. I want to buy only what I need, and to stop trying to live up to the Jones’s. Material objects cannot bring you happiness – adventures, experiences, travel, meeting new people, trying new food, seeing new places – these are things I want to spend my hard-earned money on. Not on fancy shoes, or designer perfume.
I hope you will join me this year as I try to be kinder to myself. I aim to continue to love and support the ones around me that are having a fabulous life, and not to tarnish it with my jealousy. I plan to simplify, quantify, and be consistent – not just in January but throughout the year.
I think I have finally figured out what my word for 2017 will be: KINDNESS. To treat myself and others with kindness – that will be my focus this year.
What are your hopes/dreams/goals for 2017? Do you have one word you have chosen to live by for 2017? Share with me in the comments!
~ Meg ~