I honestly cannot believe it is time to recap my 2012 Resolutions! Didn’t I just make these goals? How are we three days away from the end of this year? I gave myself lots of goals for 2012. Let’s see how I did!
Health and Fitness
1. Get to my happy weight (ideally 115 lbs). Nope. Ugh.
2. Run an entire 5K in under 35 minutes. The only 5K I ran was in April and I definitely didn’t make this goal. And then I took a break from running because I was hating it so much. And then I broke my ankle and was sidelined for 3 months. And then I started running but now I’m sidelined again until I can have a proper sports massage because my muscles are cramping, they are so tight. And then. And then. And then.
3. Exercise 4-5 times a week. About 70% accomplished. I was so much better at exercising when I belonged to a gym but cannot afford a gym bill anymore, so I just need to have the motivation within me. Excuses, excuses.
4. End my addiction to soda. Not completely, but I’m getting better. I want 2013 to be the year I stop drinking soda altogether!
5. Get up-to-date on all doctor’s visits. A goal accomplished, finally!
6. Give blood at least three times. Yes! I started taking daily iron pills after I went twice to give blood at the beginning of the year but my iron count was just below the cutoff. Now that I take them regularly, I never have an issue and give blood as often as I can!
7. Run the Turkey Trot 10K in November. Nope, thanks to that stupid broken ankle.
Money
1. Pay off all credit card debt. About 2/3 completed. I paid off my largest credit card bill earlier this year and just paid off my Target credit card. My last credit card is halfway to the balance, which I am hoping to get paid off sometime in January. I haven’t done well with this goal, but I want 2013 to be a much smarter year for me financially, so I’m working on it!
2. Try as best I can never to keep a balance from month-to-month on my two credit cards. FAIL.
3. Pay off my ER visit bill. I didn’t even get started on this! I want to focus on getting this paid off (or the majority of it) in 2013.
4. Set aside 5% of every paycheck into my savings account. FAIL.
Blog/Social Media
1. Switch Stephany Writes to self-hosted WordPress, with a brand-new design. I checked this one off in early March and I worked with Doniree on the switch. She took care of everything and made the process so easy and stress-free. I am so happy with the switch and completely recommend using Doniree if you want to make the switch. (I also use her hosting service, Whiskey Cloud, which I never, ever have issues with. Wholly recommend!)
2. Take one break from social media a month. I think the only month I missed doing this was September, but as I was coming back from a month-long social media hiatus, I think it’s okay. I really love stepping away and I want to continue stepping away regularly in the new year. (I’m thinking about one weekend a month.)
3. Have a weekend away with special blogging friends. This didn’t happen. Sob.
Writing/Reading
1. Write and edit a novel. When I did my resolutions recap post in October, I was 100% positive I was not going to make this goal. And then I went and wrote a novel in November. See what happens when we stop making excuses and just start doing? Pay attention, Steph. I haven’t gotten around to editing my novel, but I am super proud of writing it! Yay, me!
2. Read one nonfiction book a month. Completed! I really like reading nonfiction but I generally do not read a lot of it so I made this a goal so it could become more natural for me. This year, I’ve read: Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling, Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff, MWF Seeking BFF by Rachel Bertsche, What Women Fear: Walking in a Faith That Transforms by Angie Smith, Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli, If You Have to Cry, Go Outside by Kelly Cutrone, Twenty-Something, Twenty-Everything by Christine Hassler, The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe, Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman, The Joy of Less by Francine Jay, and Quiet by Susan Cain. Whew!
3. Read 75 books. I’ve read 89. BOOM.
Other
1. Fly on an airplane. Yup! Accomplished this goal back in September when my mom and I flew to Atlanta to visit family. It was a short ride (less than an hour) but I was still silly excited about it. I am totally an eight-year-old at heart.
2. Fully immerse myself in the online dating world. I feel like I did accomplish this. I’m not sure what I was aiming to get out of this goal, but I think I just wanted to put more effort into dating and finding that special someone. I connected with a few guys, went on some dates, and tried to open my heart more to love. I’m hopeful for what 2013 will bring me.
3. Find my faith again. I don’t think I ever lost my faith but I do think I was searching for something when I started this year. I was struggling with my faith and I was stuck on this idea of perfection when it came to being a Christian. While I still feel like the crappiest Christian there ever is, I’m starting to realize God cares more about my intentions, less about my perfections. I know I can do better and I want to do better, but at the end of the day, it’s about loving Jesus and trusting in Him.
4. Join a book club, Bible study, or some type of social group. Yes! I started attending a woman’s Bible study at my church in the earlier part of 2012 but wasn’t able to make it to their Fall or Winter sessions, due to scheduling difficulties. But I also joined a local book club that I’m totally loving. Yay!
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In total, I accomplished 12 of the 21 goals I set, or about 57% total. I failed miserably at the health & fitness and money goals and surprise, surprise – they are a major focus for me in 2013. But there were a lot of goals on here – like writing a novel and joining a social group – that I really hoped I could accomplish but didn’t have a lot of faith that I could. So it’s pretty neat to be able to cross them off as complete!
I really love making New Year’s Resolutions. I love sitting down at the end of the year and evaluating what goals I want to make a priority in the new year. It’s no secret that I love, love, love goal setting and creating New Year’s Resolutions gives me a focus for the upcoming year. I know I’m not going to achieve every single goal I set, but I was able to achieve 12 major goals this year. I am thrilled about that!
Stayed tuned – next week, I am bringing you lots of 2013 goodness. I will reveal my theme for the year (including the vision board I worked on this past week!), as well as my intentions for 2013. I have some lofty goals for this upcoming year, but I know I have all the power within me to achieve them.
What are some goals you set this year that you accomplished?
I think you did great as well. I mean, you probably accomplished more than you would have if you hadn’t made this list right? I had a pretty short list of resolutions that included passing level 2, focusing on my finances, not buy any books in 2012, and run a sub-4 hour marathon. I passed level 2, really bucked down when it came to finances, did not buy any books, and did not run a sub-4 hour marathon. So I made 3 of my 4 goals, which I feel good about. I will set about 3-4 goals for myself again next week and am looking forward to tackling them in 2013!
Way to go on accomplishing your goals! And you came SO CLOSE to running that sub-4 hour marathon. Blast! 🙂 You still did amazing.
I’m very proud for all I accomplished in 2012. I would have wanted to do better at the health & fitness and money goals but I’m putting a very strong focus on those next year.
I plan on making my own list of goals as a blog post for Monday since it’s New Year’s Eve. What is this vision board? I feel like I should do one, lol. I think I will split mine up into categories the way you did. I think that’s probably the only way I’ll have a chance to attain them. I think one of my big goals for 2013 is to become more of a goal-setter, in general. I also have a few key words for the new year picked out that I’m focusing on, but have a preference for one in particular. You did such an amazing job with your 2012 goals! 57% may not seem like a lot, but it is! I can’t wait to see how you do with 2013! 😀
You can see my vision board in today’s post! Sorry, I meant to text you about this. Whoops. Just a bunch of inspiring pictures, basically!
Becoming a goal-setter is a great goal! I adore goal-setting with a freakish passion. So I will help you in any way with this endeavor! 🙂
These are my favorite types of blog posts. My review will be posted soon! Probably first of 2013 since I’m horrible about posting on the weekends and Monday is for 2012 review.
You did so well, Stephany! Maybe the blogger meet up will happen in 2013. Can’t wait to see your vision board!
Thanks, Linda! I think it was seeing your resolutions in 2011 that pushed me to do better. 🙂 I’m very happy completing over half of the goals I set. There were a LOT on that list so that’s pretty cool!
I think you did great, considering you had so many things on your list! I didn’t make any resolutions, but I did do a mantra: Healthy Choices. I think I did pretty good. I focused on pursuing my dreams, got myself out of some toxic relationships, and finally saw a therapist and got myself on meds (which I apparently do need — I feel so much better now!).
It was also so awesome meeting you this year! Definitely a highlight. 🙂
I’m very happy – I set a ton of goals and accomplished over half. Not too shabby!
You had a pretty great year yourself and I think you definitely achieved what you set out to do. Can’t wait to see what 2013 has in store for you!
I don’t think I managed to accomplished a single goal on my list except my number of books. I’m making a simpler lit this year – still challenging, it setting myself up to succeed.
You can do it! Goals are hard, especially because we change so much so goals we thought were so important one month tend not to be important further down the year. And then life can just be hectic and crazy and goals fall to the wayside. Hopefully, 2013 will be a great year for you!
Even though you didn’t reach all of your goals this year, you reached A LOT of them and should be really proud! I felt similarly about running, always getting sidelined and injured, but it finally stuck this time around when I restarted about three months ago. I know you’ll get there too, eventually!
Also? YAY about writing a novel! I really should try NaNoWriMo one of these years. Congratulations! That must be a really great feeling!
I am determined to find a love for running – somehow! I just have lots of difficulties because I have high arches and it just makes everything so much painful. Hopefully 2013 is the year I find that love. 🙂
And yes, writing a novel is the BEST feeling. I felt so awesome – during, too! – and I just want to keep writing, writing, writing.
I think you did great this year! I always remind myself that as long as I am *accomplishing* goals, I’m not failing. You got to do 12 things this year that you may not have focused on had you not set them up for yourself 12 months ago. I think that’s great! I also think there are some valuable lessons to learn from that- it’s so easy to get carried away and make ALL THE GOALS, but remember you’re only human and you may not always be able to accomplish ALL the things. 😀
Can’t wait to see what you’ve got planned for 2013! Love all the time you’ve been putting into this 🙂
I’m very happy with how I did. Obviously, I really wanted to hit more of my health and fitness and money goals but I’m putting a major emphasis on them in 2013.
I think the fun part about making a ton of goals is that you’ll most likely end up achieving a great number of them! I can say, darn, I didn’t lose any weight, this year was a flop! OR… I can remember I set 21 goals and achieved 12 of them. It helps my mental state, is what I’m saying. 😉
I’m not sure I completed any goals, or really made any now that I think about it!
You got so much done! I didn’t really make resolutions this year, because I find I’m so disappointed in myself when/if (usually when) I don’t accomplish them. This year, my “resolutions” list is full of ambiguous but important things, like “be healthier” and “see the good in people.” Cheers to 2013!
I used to not really like them, but then I realized I just set unrealistic goals or things I don’t actually want but they make my resolutions list look good – ha. And once I started focusing on things I really wanted to achieve and put into practice, it made goal-setting a lot more fun!
Ambiguous goals are good, too! I tend to make mine suuuuper specific because otherwise, I won’t even attempt them but I know they take the stress off goal-setting for some people.
You did very well! I made a long list of goals and didn’t finish many of them, but I think making the list and having the goals is half the battle!
It really is! Once I started realizing it is OKAY not to achieve every single goal I set, but to just try my best… it took the stress out of goal-setting. I want to achieve every goal I set, but some are going to fall to the wayside as others gain prominence in my life.