At the end of December, I sat down and made a list of resolutions to achieve in the coming year. I love the idea behind resolutions and forming long-term goals to achieve throughout a calendar year.
For me, no goal is set in stone. I’m not the same person I was more than half a year ago. My goals and future plans are ever-changing and I think it’s appropriate to look over my resolutions and make changes where necessary. So, without further ado, my halfway check-in of my 2012 resolutions:
Health and Fitness
- Get to my happy weight (ideally 115 lbs). Still struggling. I’ll get there. Eventually. The most important part of the process is to keep trying, right? Right.
Run an entire 5K in under 36 minutes.This is no longer a goal of mine, as I’ve put running on the back burner for the time being. I have a lot of trouble with my ankles and arches when I run. I have a very high arch which makes me overpronate when I run. I’ve had a gait analysis, tried supportive shoes and specialized inserts, and even saw a sports orthopedic about it. There really isn’t much that can be done and I just don’t enjoy running. Even when I finish, I’m forever beating myself up. I’m moving on from running. At least for now.- Exercise 4-5 times a week. Doing well with this goal! I fell off the wagon a bit in May and June, but my exercise has amped up again and it’s something that’s just a part of me now. Exercise comes easy for me. (It’s all the healthy eating that trips me up!) While I’m no longer a member of a gym, I have found some sweet boot camp deals through Groupon and Living Social, go to my apartment gym a few times a week, and have a ton of workout DVD’s to keep me busy! I do miss belonging to a gym and having classes available to me, but it’s just not in the budget right now.
- End my addiction to soda. Not going well. I was doing well during the first quarter of the year but fell off the wagon when I went on my first cruise and I’ve continued my downward descent into the deliciousness that is carbonated beverages. I want to get back to not buying soda at the grocery store anymore and having it just a few times a week. Basically, I don’t want to crave it anymore and the only way to do that is to take it out of my diet completely.
- Get up-to-date on all doctor’s visits. Yikes. I’ve gone to the dentist and the eye doctor, but need to make three more appointments for various other visits. I will have this done by the time December rolls around. Count on it!
- Give blood at least 3 times. (1/3) I’ve given blood once but I want to wait on giving again until I get blood work done, because my iron count is pretty low. (I just made the cut last time!) This one is put on the back burner for now, but I’m still crossing my fingers I can achieve it!
Run the Turkey Trot 10K in November.I’m taking this goal off, due to my new hiatus from running. I guess I was really gung-ho about running back in December! I will most likely run/walk the 5K since my mom and I have been doing it for the past 6 years, it’s become a tradition. And it’s just a fun race to do. It’s a perfect environment for a slow runner, ha!
Money
- Pay off all credit card debt. I’m not where I want to be with this goal. While my biggest credit card is history (yay!), I want to work on paying off my other two. I really want to focus on my money goals for the last half of this year and tighten up my budget.
- Try as best I can to never keep a balance month-to-month on my two credit cards. Failing. Must do better on this.
Pay off my ER visit bill.I’m putting this one off until next year. I know I shouldn’t, but it’s $2,500 and it’s going to take me a while to pay it off. Not having insurance sucks, my friends.- Set aside 5% of every paycheck into my savings account. Oops. I forgot about this goal. Again.
Blog/Social Media
- Switch Stephany Writes to self-hosted WordPress, with a brand-new design. Yup! Finally, a goal completed.
- Take one break from social media a month. (6/12) I’ve been doing well with this goal. I’ve taken a break every month and I’m looking forward to taking a month-long social media/blogging break in either September or October.
Have a weekend away with special blogging friends.This one? Isn’t going to happen this year.
Writing/Reading
- Write and edit a novel. HAHAHAHAHAHA! I haven’t even started on my novel. I keep letting other things get in the way! This is unacceptable.
- Read one non-fiction book a month. Going strong with this one! The books I’ve read: What Women Fear (January; 4 stars), Cinderella Ate My Daughter (February; 5 stars), Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (March; 5 stars), Skinny Bitch (April; 2 stars), Stuff Christians Like (May; 5 stars), and 20-Something, 20-Everything (June, not yet finished).
- Read 75 books. Sitting pretty at 47 books read this year. I’m about 7 books ahead of schedule so I have no doubt this goal will be completed. Yay!
Other
Fly on an airplane.Unless the flights to Atlanta over Labor Day weekend go down a bunch, this isn’t going to happen this year. Oh, well!- Fully immerse myself in the online dating world. Yes and no. I’m a bit annoyed with the online dating world now. I just want to rewind to 6 weeks ago, honestly. That is all.
- Join a book club, Bible study, or some type of social group. I did join a Bible study at my church. We’ve been on hiatus for most of the summer and I really miss going! I can’t wait for it to pick back up soon.
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I have completed 4 goals, 7 are currently in progress, and I haven’t even begun to work on 4. I also deleted 5 goals from my resolutions. That’s really not too shabby! I’m happy with the progress, but I do want to focus on a few goals to be able to mark them as complete.
This time around, I want to focus on my money goals. I actually have a post brewing in my head about it. There are also a few goals in the health and fitness area that I think I can cross off by the time my next check-in happens in October. Time to get moving on them!
I think you are doing great so far! You set a lot of great goals for yourself and even if you accomplish half, that’s probably still more than you would have had you not made the list of goals! I only made a couple of goals for the year – I get overwhelmed if I set too many, so I stick to about 3-4. One was to not buy a single book in 2012, and I have accomplished it so far – and it surprisingly hasn’t been that hard. I also made it a goal to be more mindful about my spending, and I’m doing pretty well at that as well. I have set budgets for things like target, eating out, and shopping, and I’ve been staying under the goals for the most part – except target. target is my weakness.
Keep on keeping on! You are doing great!
I think the great part of goals is that I so badly want to check off some of these items that it gives me that extra boost to get going on them! It’s funny, though, I get overwhelmed at the thought of writing my check-in posts until I see how much I *have* accomplished. I know I’m not going to check off every goal, but if I can check off the majority – that’s awesome for me.
You set some great goals for yourself! Target is every woman’s weakness, I think. I actually went there for one item this weekend — and actually left with JUST that item. I don’t think that’s every happened – ha!
Great job so far! If it helps I don’t even REMEMBER what my new years resolution was. Or maybe I didn’t make one?? haha
One thing about the soda. When I give up foods/drinks (for similar reasons to you, certain things I just can’t moderate!), I give it up for a certain period of time (say, 30 days) instead of “for all eternity.” This lets me just focus on the right now, and for some reason it feels easier to hold myself accountable. Then, after the 30 days, I let myself have try it once – and a lot of times I find it doesn’t taste as good as I remembered it. This happened for me with soda, I used to love it and then I tried it again and the fizz actually almost made me sick. A few years later, I still drink it occasionally but the addiction isn’t anything like what it used to be. Good luck!
What helped me before was keeping soda out of the house and ONLY having it when I went to a restaurant. This cut down my soda intake drastically and while I don’t drink it a ton now (usually only have it with dinner; maybe twice on the weekends), it’s still more than I want to. More importantly, the craving and addiction for it is still there. I do like your suggestion, though! Maybe I should test it out. Scary, though!
I agree with Lisa, you’re doing a great job. It’s hard to keep these all going and keep that same idealistic mind frame from the new year year.
Giving up soda is so hard, I completely understand that difficulty of that goal. I usually limit myself to 1 a day, but even that 1 sometimes makes me fall off the wagon. I need the fizz, the carbonation, the feeling of drinking pop, I wonder if there is some alternative? Probably not, but I keep hoping there is. With the heat the way it is lately I have been doing a good job of drinking only water because I need to stay hydrated, but if the heat wasn’t there I’m sure I would slip up a lot more.
For me, soda is a comfort “food”. It’s something that makes me happy but I also know it’s not something I need every day. I usually keep it at 1 soda a day, but the weekends I can go a little crazy. I just want it to be something that I don’t crave or NEED anymore. Just a nice treat to have every once in a while.
You’re doing quite well lady!! It seems like you’re rather on track. It’s great that you’ve accepted that some of your goals just aren’t for you anymore, it’s all about growing!! I should probably do a halfway check in too… I don’t even REMEMBER what my goals are… Maybe I’ll do that now?! Hmmmm.
That’s why these check-ins are so good for me! I didn’t remember many of these goals I set, but then I look back and see I’m well on my way to completing the vast majority of them. It’s a great feeling!
You are doing really well. You have set a lot of goals for yourself, so even if you just get a portion of them done, I think it’s a win!
Yep! The point of resolutions is not to cross off every single goal, but to have something to work towards. And I’m pretty happy with my success so far! Thanks for the support!
i totally agree with goal not being set in stone, because, yes!, people DO change. i though i was the only one who thinks like this, but glad to see i.m not alone 😀
also, way to go! i.m sure you.re going to do great for the rest of the year.
You are definitely not alone! I don’t think there’s anything wrong in adjusting your goals because we change so much and so do our goals!
Does your hospital offer financial aid? There’s a program in Colorado for people who are uninsured/underinsured and can’t pay their medical bills. Even though we have insurance, our bill for Sebastian’s birth was almost $7,000, but it was reduced to less than $100 for the hospital stay and the anesthesia, so all we have left to pay is the surgery (about $1,200). We never would have found out about it except that Bryan’s friends told us about it. I never even knew hospitals offer financial aid. You should look into it, if you haven’t already. It pretty much saved us because we would have been spending YEARS paying that off.
I have no idea! I could have haggled to get the price down – since I was a full-time student when it occurred – but I don’t know, since it’s been almost 2 years now, if they would still even listen to me. And I’m terrible at getting tough on the phone, ha. It’s going to take me a while to pay that off, though. Blegh. May see if something is available to help me out!
You are doing well!
I think we need to remember that we totally signed up for a lot of resolutions! So totally forgive yourself if one area of improvement is going slower than another. Overall, you are doing swimmingly!
Totally true. I wanted to make these resolutions and a lot of them are dear to my heart. It’s not going to be the end of the world if I don’t complete them, nor does it make this year a “bad” year. It just means other things occupied my time! Like cruising! 🙂
This makes me realize I haven’t looked at my goals in a million years…what 12 Changes?! I’ve been off that wagon for months. Oops. Maybe that will be my goal for the week, ha.
I fell off the 12 Changes wagon in March or April, ha. Whoops. 😉
All in all, you’re doing pretty well! I did a check in with Joy Council goals the other day and was thrilled to realize I’m halfway through them! I had three: new job (done!), to enjoy our anniversary trip in October (we’re also going for a wedding) by not being stressed about money (halfway done – have reserved the hotel, have to buy plane tickets, but trying to save a little at a time), and my health. I’m actively working on my health (especially trying to mitigate PCOS symptoms) – I’ve gotten back into yoga, I’m working with a holistic health consultant, and I’m in the middle of an eight-week sugar detox.
It was an awesome feeling to know that I’m on track to get these all accomplished this year!
You’re doing great with all your goals, Becky! It’s pretty great when we realize how much we ARE capable of accomplishing. Way to go!