We are more than halfway through 2013 and I haven’t been as gung-ho about the resolutions I set at the beginning of 2013 as I usually am. I know there’s a lot of negativity about setting long-term yearly resolutions since we change so much throughout the year. What we think we want in January can be vastly different come July.
Looking over the goals I set, I’m not happy with them. Some of them make me feel really bad about myself (ahem, losing 50 lbs) and some of them I just don’t care for anymore (ahem, sending snail mail). So it’s time for a change. I believe goals should motivate us, excite us, challenge us. They shouldn’t make us feel terrible about ourselves or stress us out. We have enough stressors in life and goal-setting shouldn’t be one of them.
With that in mind, I am setting new goals to take me through the rest of the year. I really want to focus on goals that are important to me, that feel achievable, and most importantly: ones I will find fun to complete. Below lists the ten goals I’ve set to focus on for the rest of this year:
I want to establish daily quiet time and journaling. I know how much I need my quiet time to do my devotionals, read my Bible, pray, and journal my thoughts. I’m using 750words.com for my journaling, which I like because I just can’t get myself into a groove of journaling by hand and it gives me a cool infographic about how I was feeling based on what I wrote when I finish. As for Bible reading, I’m currently using She Reads Truth for guided devotions and then reading 3 chapters a day in Genesis. I’ve never actually read the whole Bible, which is something I’m striving to do.
I want to pay off my credit cards. At the beginning of the year, I was out of credit card debt but thanks to my cruise and then my travels to Orlando, I’m back into debt and I really need to focus to dig myself back out of it. I know I need to follow a guide to repay your loans faster.
I want to go brunette. For those who don’t know, nope, I am not naturally blonde. Way back in 2010, I went from being a long-haired brunette to a short-haired blonde and it was one of the most fun transformations of my life. But it’s gotten to be too much to keep up with and I am currently in the process of growing out the blonde and will soon (very soon!) be a brunette again. Stay tuned!
I want to have $250 saved in my savings account. This equals to $15 a paycheck. I currently have $45 in my savings account and I’d like to be able to have $250 saved. My ultimate goal is $5,000 in my savings account so I have a ways to go… but this is a start.
I want to get a tattoo. I know exactly where and what, and it’s something that’s been on my mind for over a year now. I just have to do it!
I want to write and edit a novel, including winning NaNoWriMo 2013. Every time I sit down to write fiction, I realize that this is what I’m meant to be doing.
I want to read 100 books. I just finished book #52! Well on my way to this goal and it’s one of my resolutions I wanted to keep.
I want to write 50 guest posts and make at least $100 from freelancing. I’ve written 27 posts so far! And I’m getting more aggressive with searching for freelancing gigs, so I’m crossing my fingers I can make this happen. (And I’m looking for more blogs to guest post on. Fill out my form, pretty please?)
I want to eat out no more than 3 times a week and snack better. I love eating out but I also really love saving money so I need to cut down on how often I eat out to do so. And snacking better? Less sugary snacks, more wholesome and filling foods.
I want to spend more weekends outside. Trips to the beach, trips to the pool, trips to different dog parks with Dutch, trips to the farmer’s market, trips downtown… I just want to be outside more! I live in such a beautiful place and I want to take advantage of it.
It blows my mind that we’re in the last half of this year. The first half had its good moments and its bad moments. I’m hoping the good outweighs the bad over the next 6 months. I’m ready to kick things into high gear and be able to easily cross off the majority of these goals!
I think we sometimes have to reassess our goals and see if they still make sense for us. I do like how some tend to do monthly intentions. I don’t think I will ever do that, but I like that approach. I honestly haven’t even looked back at the goals I set and now that I think about it, I can’t even remember if i did a goals post this year. Sheesh. The only goal I really care about is passing the CFA. If nothing else happens this year, I am ok with that. My other unofficial, not blogged about goal is to work on expanding my professional network so that it will hopefully be easier to find a job in the midwest after my year commitment is up. I am working on that, but that one is a little trickier.
Good luck with the set of goals you’ve made for yourself!!
Good for you for rethinking the goals that weren’t working for you. I completely agree that goals are good for pushing yourself, but they shouldn’t make you feel bad about yourself.
I am with you on the mind blow portion of the 2013 year; it is FLYING BY.
It is so important to look at and review goals. My biggest one for us this year was to put aside a certain amount of money each month and even with all the house guests and other things that have come up, we have been able do to do it. It makes me feel good to know that we have a nest egg that we are working on for the future (or for rainy days. or trips. or whatever).
And 52 books this year? Holy cow girl, that is amazing. I’m sitting at 25 right now so I’m in awe of you =)
about the reading the Bible thing: I read the whole Bible 2-3 times, and i know it can be daunting to not get lost in it. one way that helped me was to read it chronologically, and this way all the things in the Bible will make more sense.
I love the goal about journaling. I tend to get side tracked, although I know the positive effects it has on me.
I love the idea of tweaking the New Year’s goals in the middle of the year!
YOU HAVE INSPIRED ME. I have been having soooo much trouble with my goals, so much trouble achieving them! I WANT TO REVAMP TOO!!!!!
love these goals, also i’m so baffled/amazed that you’ve read 52 books, that is amazing!
Awesome goals moving forward into the second half of 2013.
I especially love the goal about more quiet time. I may need to adopt that one.
ALSO- whoa. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you as a brunette! I’ve only known you as a blonde. Definitely excited to see this!
I filled out your form 🙂 I think you would look great as a brunette! And way to go on the books – my goal was ten! I also agree that a revamp is sometimes necessary – so many things can happen in a year, a month, even a week, that sometimes what worked in January will not work in July. Go you 🙂
Yay goals! I like your idea of revamping your goals halfway through the year. Why strive for something you cared about in January, but have no interest in now?
Good luck with your new goals, Stephany!
I don’t know about you, but I’m impressed! Keep up the great work.
When I traveled to Hawaii last year, I used a travel agent that allowed payments to be made. You might want to look into something like that to keep the travel alive without the extra debt!
I never actually made goals. I pretty much for the most part stick to my 101 Things list, and then occasionally add on other more short-term goals. I have a hard time deciding a whole bunch at the beginning of the year and I find that I’m more successful if I just make them as I go along. I think the pressure of New Year’s causes us to rush into things that we SHOULD do rather than what we actually want to do. Then by the middle of the year, you actually figure out what you WANT to do and then you’re all successful. So maybe we should all be making July resolutions instead?
I think it’s so smart & honest to reassess your goals. It’s not failure – just an admission that things change, priorities & interests change, & that you can change with them. Well done – & good luck!
I am glad that you are taking a step back and taking a realistic look at the goals that you made. We change a lot each day and sometimes we just don’t have the same goals as we used to. Sometimes we also make goals for the wrong reasons. For instance, WHY did you want to send snail mail? Did you feel guilty for not keeping in touch with someone? Did you feel nostalgic for the good ol’ days? Maybe the reasons were perfect at the time, but things change! Good for you for realizing it. Good luck with your new goals!