Goals for the New Year

New Year's Resolutions have never really worked for me. The idea of New Year's resolutions is great, but hard to follow through with. Keeping those goals top of mind throughout the year when regular life stuff, work and other distractions take precedence isn't easy to do.

Over the last few months, the one thing that's popped into my head is that I'm often apologizing for being me or not being confident in the decisions I've made. I don't necessarily make apologies verbally, but often in my head thinking "Man, I should really be dressing this way, or making that much money, or doing this for work, or seeing my friends more, or going to these events or volunteering/running/cooking/learning more..." The list goes on.

So the goal for 2012 (among other things), is to be bold and stay true to what I want and who I am. Apologizing and feeling sorry for not being how others might expect you to be (or how others are) doesn't work. And beating yourself up for not being superhuman isn't helpful either. But that's part of the growing process - realizing that you are great for who you are and how the universe made you. And we all benefit by being our authentic selves.

Photo thanks to Mom during breakfast at Besaw's in Portland, OR last weekend. So delicious!

How will I do this? Honestly, I don't have all the answers. My goal is to focus on the little things I can do to work toward the bigger goals in my life. After all, saying "I want to be able to run a marathon tomorrow." is less motivating than saying "Tomorrow I'm going to run 5 miles and build from there."

Baby steps...

Do you have a goal or focus for 2012? It feels like 2011 flew by. I wouldn't mind if 2012 slowed down juuust a tad.


2010 Recap Maybe I should do a recap of 2011?

Comments

Amber said…
Amazing goal. I love it! Mine is similar, I want to really work on following my heart in 2012, going with the flow and just enjoying life. NOT doing things because I think I should be doing them.
Amber, those are some great goals! I'm not good at going with the flow, but the manfriend really helps me balance my Type A tendencies with just chilling out and enjoying the moment. :)
I posted my goals this am. :)

I think that is a great goal for 2012. For whatever reason, I feel like women tend to sort of apologize for the people we are. Or we use self-deprecating humor to sort of laugh off qualities we have. I do this in terms of my inability to stay out late (and lack of interest in going out) or about my type A personality, at times. But I have gotten better at just owning the fact that I prefer a night in with friends or a dinner out than going to the bar. And I try to embrace the fact that I am really type A instead of making fun of that aspect of my personality.

Here is to a wonderful 2012. I can't wait to see what the year holds for both of us! And hopefully I will find some way to see you again! :)
I think that's a great resolution! Resolutions have always been tough for me too, so I decided to make a to-do list for 2012 instead. Maybe turning your resolution into something more quantitative would help? For instance, you could wear something once a month that you love, splurge on a purchase two times in 2012 to treat yourself for how hard you work, etc. Good luck!
J said…
I like it! I don't really do resolutions either - things change through out the year. I just use the new year as a new start to tracking running mileage. I hope 2012 slows down too but I have a feeling it wont! The calender is already filling up!
Lindsey said…
I don't do resolutions either, but I think I have a few goals for this year. I think the most important one for me is to work on my stress level. I know I stress about too much and I need to work on it. I tend to apologize for being me as well. I think your goal is great.
Raquelita said…
My life isn't really what I thought it would be a few years ago and for the most part that's okay. I will be working toward a number of goals in 2012 and look forward to continuing to follow you on your adventures of various sorts. Have a great time at the Rose Bowl!
I love this post :) You gotta "do you" - it's hard, I think especially at our age when people can be in such varying stages of life. I think there are a lot of things waiting for you, not too far from your grasp. Cheers to 2012!

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