2016 Goals

Remember when I mentioned that if I get overwhelmed I tend to just stick my head in the ground and quit sharing back when I talked about my One Word for 2016 (Grow)? Yeahhhhh, well, consider that as being the case these days. I had grand plans for being on top of 2016 and those are all still there, they just kind of got pushed to the back burner while I got my head knocked around by reality for a little bit. But here's the thing, especially as I start talking about my 2016 goals - just because you didn't meet a goal, doesn't mean you should throw it out the window. It just means you need to re-evaluate, adjust where needed, and get back to it. So with that, let's talk goals for a moment.

First, I am going to be quick to admit that I'm pretty good about setting goals. Working towards them? That's a whole other issue. hahaha I can set them, I can apply SMART goal setting techniques, I can come up with plans for meeting them but in the end, more often than not, I get off the beaten track and end up tossing them out the window. BUT...I'm determined to not let that happen in 2016. I'm determined to pick myself back up, dust off my britches, and get back to it if I get knocked off of the proverbial horse. Like right now...dusting myself off.

I did a lot of thinking about my goals and coming up with meaningful ones for me to work on this year...and I'm actually really excited about them and the possibilities of where they can take me!

Goal #1 - Be Financially Responsible
Ahhhhh - yes, MONEY!! It's necessary, but it sure is the bane of our existence sometimes. And it can cause so much grief if not handled appropriately. Here is it broken down:

• Set a budget monthly. My husband and I have a day calendared towards the end/beginning of each month to sit down and do a full review of how we did that month and create the plan for the next month making sure we budget for any extras like vehicle registrations, repairs of any kind, debt payoffs, etc. 
• Balance the checkbook each week to ensure nothing is getting missed and everything is hitting the account as it should be.
• Create a spending report for the month and use it as a balanced scorecard to assess if we are being financially responsible

Sure this isn't a glamorous goal and doesn't elicit all kinds of excitement like, perhaps, training for a first marathon or other life event. But this one sets the stage for everything else because if I'm spending all my time stressing about money, I won't have the energy to do the rest of what life requires.

Goal #2 - Position Myself for a Work Promotion

There's a possible opportunity for me to get a promotion this year at work and it's the one I've been waiting for. I've had several other chances to do other things at work that would have brought me increased pay, but for me anyways, work is about so much more than what I take home in my paycheck. So I made the conscious decision to hang back in the intention that down the road the job I want will open up. I think it is very real that this could happen in 2016. So in order to prepare myself for that I have some objectives outlined:

• Enhance my professional appearance - I always dress nice and professional especially when I consider the campus culture, but my feeling is that I take "casual Friday" and dressing down in summer more seriously than I need to. I would rather up my game in that arena and be dressing nicer rather than dressing with the crowd. I'm not talking super fancy like suits when the work culture is skirts and sweaters; but I'm talking that I can wear a nice pair of jeans with some appropriate boots, sweater or blouse and accessories. I don't need to wear a t-shirt to work pretty much ever. Simply put.
• I've been given the opportunity to participate in a year-long leadership program at work, and I'm so excited that I was selected. It's about 22 people that were nominated by their division leadership and it's a great group of people that are most likely the future generation of movers and shakers here at the college. So I'm quite humbled to be in such an esteemed group of colleagues. So needless to say, I'm planning on totally rocking the program and getting everything I can out of it.
• Start my Bachelor's Degree program. It's been too long and I've pushed it back enough. It's time to get it done. My plan is to be in my program by summer (July/August depending on when the cohort starts). To get there I need to secure my financial aid package (this goes with the financial responsibility goal too) and clear some stuff off of the personal plate to ensure my brain is available to get back in the swing of the educational game.
• And of course, be a stellar employee that is focused on work when I'm there. I need to cut out some of the distractions and be fully present in what I'm working on.

Goal #3 - Get to Goal Weight

No really...get to goal weight and keep it off! I know that I'm one of those people that has set this goal every year for so long, but I'm not going to let that keep me from chasing it this year again. I will meet it. I will. My objectives to accomplish this:

• I set this goal with my running coach, so we are going to be working on it together...talk about accountability!
• I will track my calories even though I hate it and I will drink at least 8 cups of water a day. I will pack my lunches more often than not and I will train consistently.
• I developed a reward plan that goes into effect on February 1 so I will earn some money to help me buy new clothes as I shrink out of what I have...or just to buy fun stuff along the way like kick-ass tunes or new books.
• I have plans to add back in some lunch time walks too, but I need to move it out of the "plan to" stage and into the "doing" stage. 
• (FYI - I'm down 6 pounds since the first of the year! Woohoo!!) 

Goal #4 - Develop My Blog
Yeah this little space of mine over here that I like to so often neglect. The reality is that I enjoy blogging, I just don't want to make it my career. So I've done a lot of thinking about what that means and how I should go about blogging without it consuming my every waking moment. (Obviously, I haven't done a very good job getting this one off the ground yet in 2016...but I'm dusting myself off!!)

• Blog 3x a week minimum on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday
• Develop a solid editorial calendar and stick to it as much as possible
• Set an appointment for writing content every night when I get home
• Study at least one blogging resource a week
• Attend the 2016 IDEA BlogFest!! (So excited about this one and that I get to attend as a Sweat Pink Ambassador!)
• Represent the brands that I am an ambassador for through consistent posting on social media and with appropriate blog posts

I have some other lesser goals like read more, journal more, perform maintenance around the house on a somewhat consistent schedule (like baseboard cleaning, light plate covers...things like that), check back in on my goals each month, etc. Those are more intentions of how I want to live though rather than a solid GOAL that I can measure. I also have three running specific goals that I will talk about in the near future. Stay tuned...

So there you have it - my 2016 goals! I think you can probably see that I did put some thought into these and I think they will all help me GROW this year!

QUESTION: Do you have goals set for this year? What are some of them and how are you working on achieving them?

Go-Go-Goals!

I realized yesterday that I never actually came back on here to share my 2015 goals. It took me long enough to even come up with what I wanted them to be and I have to admit that I've tried to keep them fairly simple because I know that it's going to be a crazy year with everything I have going on. I may keep these goals for the entire year, or I may make some changes mid-way. I just know that I really want to get back to some basics as my bad habits have gotten a little out of control.

Keep in mind that these are not resolutions per se, but goals that are attainable. If I had made a resolution, trust me, I would have already broken it so it would have ended up falling along the wayside. HA! So here's what I want to focus on for at least the first half of the year.

1. Get my 5 servings of fruits/veggies (freggies) in each day. Now I recognize that I may not get 5 every single day, but I'm striving to hit that goal on a regular basis and so far I think I've done okay. One thing I'm doing differently is making sure that I have a fruit or veggie with every major meal or snack. So a typical day might be my traditional cereal for breakfast, then a banana and yogurt for a snack, some type of veggie or two at lunch, an apple in the afternoon for snack, and then veggies with dinner. Since I've been doing this I can say that my family is also doing a better job of getting more fruits and veggies in their diet too!

2. Drink my water (minimum of 8 cups, 7x/week). I've gotten really lazy about this and I don't like how being under-hydrated feels. So I'm working on getting back to this being a habit that I don't even have to think about. It's hard in the winter because I'm just not as thirsty and drinking cold water isn't as appealing; so I'm having at least one large cup of herbal tea in the morning to warm myself up. My main struggle with this one is the weekends. I get busy around the house and I just don't think about it. But I know if I'm drinking my water during the week then I will start to crave it on the weekends.

3. Strength Train/Knee PT Exercises at least 2x each week. I mentioned in my Citrus Half race recap that I was having knee pain in my "bad" knee so I pulled out my sheet of at-home PT exercises and immediately added those back into the rotation. Additionally, I also mentioned that issue with calf cramping and I really think it goes back to some muscle imbalances/muscle fatigue. Strength training and those PT exercises should add some much needed balance into my body that will only help me with my running.

4. Run for an entire 5k. This used to not be a problem at all. In fact, I never even thought about stopping to take walk breaks back in the beginning of my running. If I was doing a 5k, I just ran the entire time. But between the knee completely taking a crap on me, and getting WAY too used to long, slow training runs for half and full marathon training I have given myself a lot of leeway in taking walk breaks. Oh look - there's a hill! Better conserve my energy and walk that bad boy! Oh look - a water station!! Better walk through it so you can get the water in your mouth instead of on your shirt, and since you're already walking, might as well wait until you're comfortable again! Yeah...I want to break those bad habits.

5. My overarching goal, even though it doesn't fit the typical "goal mold" of being measurable is to just stay sane through the spring semester at school. I believe I've mentioned that I'm taking two classes: Math and English. Both are challenging even on their own and will be very time intensive. The Math is time intensive because I'm going to need to use every study skill and resource available to me as math is a very tough subject for me to grasp easily. I can get it, but I have to work at it. English is easier to grasp, but there's lots of writing and lots of peer review. So it's just going to take time to actually sit at a keyboard and write all those essays...oh and the 9-page research paper due at the end of the semester. Ugh.It's just a lot of work, so really goals 1-3 are there to help me meet goal #5. If I'm eating well, staying hydrated and exercising regularly then I am a calmer, more peaceful person. It's times like this that I realize the little joke about exercising so you don't slap someone is oh-so-true and not so joke-like!

I think I've selected some goals that will truly benefit me overall, that are achievable, and that I can measure. I will be re-evaluating as necessary or as certain things become habit to the point that they are happening without me even thinking about it. Or if something comes up that really needs to be elevated to goal status then I may add it in.

How about you - have you set any goals for 2015? How do you make sure you are working towards your goals and they aren't just "put on a shelf" and forgotten?

Oh Hey...It's 2015!

I think one of the things I've come to accept about myself is that sometimes I just need a little more time to process information. Yes, it's almost a full week into 2015 and I swear I thought about the fact that a new year was around the corner before it was actually here, but I just didn't process everything I needed to yet to be able to meaningfully discuss it. For example, reflecting on my goals for 2014 since I don't feel like I can fully move forward into 2015 before reflecting some.

I'm still a little proud of myself that I actually closed out my year of Courage (2014's One Little Word) and shared my word for 2015 - Now. And I swear that I thought about goals and resolutions...but thinking about them and actually screaming them from the rooftop are two very different things. Because what I'm learning is that if they are only in the brain, they aren't anything. They are just a nebulous thought that can poof away in a moment. If they are down on paper they are an actual living, breathing thing. Right?

I set some goals in January 2014 and I kind of treated them like most people treat their resolutions. I wrote them down and then promptly forgot about them for the most part. One goal stuck and I kept it in my mind all year long and worked at it (most of the time). Let me take a look back at those goals for a moment:

Get to my goal weight of 140: How did I do? I think I'm probably in the EXACT same place I was at the beginning of 2014. I bounced around in the same 10-pound range and didn't actually lose any net weight. So that was a total bust...

PR in the major race distances: How did I do? I can pretty much check them all off except for the half marathon which will take place this weekend. I ran a 5k PR at the Hometown Heroes Honor Run in October. I ran the Mission Inn 10k in November and it was not a PR which was disappointing; HOWEVER, I noticed on my Garmin records that I set a new 10k PR in 2014 at, of all things, my marathon in September. I was surprised by this as I had set out to start slower than slow and I definitely owned the marathon mentality of slow and steady. So I count that as a 10k PR because, well, Vinnie my Garmin says so. And he speaks the TRUTH, yo! And then since it was my very first marathon, it was an automatic PR even though it was ridiculously slow. So that leaves the half marathon that is taking place on Saturday (which I'm considering part of 2014 since it is SO early in the year). Do I think I will PR? No, no I absolutely do not. If I did I would be absolutely shocked. But I'll try and even if I fall a little short, I'm going to consider this goal mostly a success.

It turns out I run a marathon while standing still...HA!
AKA: the picture where I didn't want to look terrible so I struck a pose instead.

Blog on a more regular basis: How did I do? Well, look at the archives and see for yourself. This wasn't a total bust, but it wasn't a success either.

Devotional or Bible Reading 3x a week: How did I do? Total and complete bust. 'Nuff said.

Date night with Hubby 1x each month: How did I do? Yeah...not so much. But we did get to enjoy some time with each other by going to the beach in August, spending time at a cabin with the family in June, going without the family to my marathon in September, and other little things throughout the year. The reality is that we spent a lot of family time and that was truly awesome and I wouldn't give that back for solo time at all. And we spent a lot of lazy Fridays just chilling on the couch catching up on TV shows we like to watch together. Call that a date if you want because it was more awesome than going out to dinner. Not a success, but not a total bust either.

Pumpkin Patchin' it up in SoCal style...note the shorts and tank tops - yeahhhhhh...

Now I did have some very real roadblocks come up that weren't entirely expected, but isn't that life?? I started taking classes again by randomly deciding a week after classes had started that now was the time to work on my transfer units so I could finally get going on that long-awaited and forever-and-a-year-ago planned Bachelor's degree. And I couldn't make it easy on myself either by enrolling in an online Managerial Accounting class that kicked my rear for much of the semester. It wasn't helped by a VERY poor instructor either. But I survived the initial shock to the system and pulled off an A (that was very much EARNED) to boot! I also survived marathon training in what turned out to be a very long, very hot summer. My hubby had a gallbladder meltdown that is still in the process of being fixed. My oldest son and DIL moved to Japan for three years. Lots and lots of ups and downs with kids that are in between being kids and being grown ups. I could go on. Let's just say there were roadblocks that may have caused a stumble or two, but aren't excuses as to why I didn't meet my goals for 2014. I didn't meet my goals for 2014 because I simply didn't work at them all the time.

BUT...I feel like 2014 was a really great year! It had challenges galore, but it was full of rewards too. I feel like I made courageous choices. I feel like I appreciated a slower pace of life most of the time. I feel like I maximized my free time and did what I wanted to do instead of what everyone else wanted me to do. I proved that I was capable of more than I thought I was ever capable of by training for and completing a marathon. And I finally took a really big step towards accomplishing an education goal. And on top of all that, I was an active part of Team SunRype through Active Ambassadors including being invited to apply again for the 2015 team!

So really, me and 2014...we are ending on good terms. We are square and I think I'm finally ready to think about what 2015 has to offer!