I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions, mostly because they don't seem to last past January, but seeing how 2015 is passing so quickly, it just seems to be a natural time to look back on the past and make plans for the future. I've been thinking back on the person I was at the start of my marriage and who I am today--and so much has changed! For the better, I think. I'm much more comfortable with myself now than I was back then. The way I live my life is very different too, not just because I share a life with a wonderful man, but because together we have made choices that have helped us to move toward meeting our goals, focus on what is important to us, and cut out everything else.
So instead of resolutions, I decided to make goals for what I hope to accomplish this year.
To keep with my resolve to be a more balanced person, I have made the goals in 7 general categories. You can keep things as general or specific as you wish, depending on what you want from your life.
1. Life/Personal
This category is for those large, overarching goals you may want to make. What do you want your life to be like? Are you headed in that direction? Are the decisions you make on a day-to-day basis leading you toward what you really want long-term?
For example, my goal for this year is to increase our human family from two people to three. Because of the impact a new baby has on a family, all our decisions, whether career, financial, or health-related, are all leading us to be in a better position to be prepared parents.
2. Career/Intellectual
Making a goal in this area seems fairly obvious to me, like changing jobs, learning a new skill, or going to grad school. Or it could be simpler, like taking an adult education course or reading a book that will help you grow intellectually.
I'm hoping to take a little break to care for our baby, so I'm not making any career goals for now. However, I am working on learning Spanish. I won't be fluent anytime soon, but I'm making progress towards my lifelong goal of being bilingual.
3. Financial
Let's face it: we can all stand to make financial goals, right? Financial goals can be small, like saving a little each month or making a budget, or big, like paying off a student loan.
For us, since I'd like to be a stay-at-home mom for a bit, financially we are trying to pay off as much debt as possible, while also saving as much as possible. Sounds tough, right? Well, we've been doing that since we bought our house, so to a certain extent, it has become a habit.
4. Health
This one sounds easy: how can you improve your health? I think it's easier said than done, though. Take exercise, for instance. I'm really good at starting an exercise routine. And terrible at keeping it going. This is a lifetime battle for me, and I intend to keep fighting.
5. Spiritual
I plan on going to church more this year. It's a chance to meet up with people socially, and a chance to dwell on something greater than myself and my problems. We could all use something like that, right?
6. Home
When you own a fixer-upper, there is always something that need to be done. This year we plan to switch out our front lawn with drought tolerant plants, as you know. I also need a new automatic watering system installed in my garden in preparation for summer. I'm sure other projects will present themselves too, but for now those are my goals for the year.
7. Creative
For a balanced life, it's so important to find a creative outlet. I personally need creativity a bit more than the average person, I think. Actually, recently I've been bingeing on creative craft projects at home, and I've found them to be very satisfying. It's just a good reminder that I need to make projects where I can be creative a priority in my busy schedule.
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