Wednesday, January 10, 2018

It's Not To Late to Resolve Great Things for This Year



It's still January and if you haven't made formal resolutions it's not too late to use a new year as a fresh start or to jump start better habits.  I'm not, by nature, a goal driven person so I have had to find several ways to increase my productivity during Resolution Season. Here are a few tricks I'm using for 2018.


Let's start with this. I'm not giving anything up. Lent is right around the corner if you want to do that. The new year needs to start on a softer note. It's cold and everyone's cranky about going back to school and work. Is this really the best time of year to try to get your family to give up carbs?



Resolutions: Okay, y'all. I struggle with this. I am tracking my fitness this year using the Plum Paper Planner Fitness Pages in their planner. My husband and I joined our local rec center mainly so I can find a yoga class and he can use the weight room. If you know how cheap I am you'll see that spending the money on this will pretty much guarantee I'll make it to class. So is fitness my resolution? Maybe. In the end I still love directions and intentions more than resolutions.


Choosing a word for the year: I do like this and it's a much more fluid option. Last year my word was creativity and it really did inspire a burst in creative thinking and activities all year. The word for 2018 is nourish. While I'm focusing on specifically nourishing my body with good food, plenty of water, and exercise, I can also nourish my mind with good books and podcasts. I can nourish my relationships. I can continue to nourish my creativity. I could even think of cleaning and organizing the house as nourishing my home.


One New Thing: My all time favorite thing to choose for the new year. Last year I chose two things, knitting and hand lettering. I ended the year by knitting my son a scarf for Christmas and if you've been keeping up on Instagram you've seen plenty of hand lettering projects. Then I decided to learn to make soap in the fall as a response to a need my boss had. I'm still working on perfecting that so I'll probably say this year is making soap, but a goal for the year is also to make beeswax candles if the bees have a good year.

 I have always wanted to learn Morse Code. I know. Weird, right? But what if I'm ever held hostage or taken prisoner? Won't I want to be able to tap out a message with my tin cup on the wall? But Morse Code might be for another year.

I feel like the new thing for this year should be to focus on video. Maybe even Facebook Live. I might make the goal of putting out a video a week. Oh my that sounds scary and extreme. Would it be annoying? Do people really care if my bees swarm or I'm organizing my cabinets?


Choosing a Color: Have you heard of this one? I got this idea from Gretchen Rubin the author of The Happiness Project. In one of her podcasts she talked about choosing a color for the year and then noticing it all year long. When you see your color it creates a little moment of mindfulness in your day. Easy Peasy. My color is yellow, of course. It's a little reminder out in the world to notice, breathe, and appreciate. Those would all be great words of the year! Also if you can't figure out why you seem unable to stick with goals check out Gretchen's book, The Four Tendencies.

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering. ” — Yoda

Choosing a phrase, Bible verse, or quote: This can be anything that inspires, reminds, challenges or comforts you. You can pick a quote from your favorite author, book, or movie. Something from a sacred text. Or the two fonts of all wisdom, Star Wars and Steel Magnolias.

Bonus Round!  




Journal: When you don't know what else to do-write. Get it all out of your head and onto paper or a computer screen so you can clear up some thinking space.  Remember how calm I was at my daughter's wedding? It was because I had processed all the emotions through writing first. Like in this Dispatch from Wedding Central in 2011.

So there ya go! January wants to be your friend, I promise. Look at the bare trees outlined and think of possibilities.

2 comments:

  1. I like you idea of Morse code. It show a mind with curiosity... As to resolutions me and Mrs. T are pretty much at the age where if we haven't gotten rid of any bad habits by now... it's to late. :)

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    1. LOL Well, Troutbirder, there are plenty of bad habits I'm not quite willing to give up no matter how late it gets. And yes, curiosity is something I have never been short on.

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