It’s a new year! Last year I got back into doing New Year’s resolutions, and it went well enough that I’ve decided to give it another go. Just like in previous years, I’ve got a hearty list. And also just like in previous years, I’ll be grading myself with letter grades rather than pass-fail. That was I celebrate progress rather than wallow in failure. Here’s the list:
- Publish my 3rd book: This is a leftover from last year. I’d finished my drafting at the tail end of 2023 and thought I’d get my publishing done int he first half of 2024. But that didn’t happen as I again dropped the ball on editing. This is the #1 priority for 2025!
- Complete a rough first draft of my 4th book: This was on last year’s list, but of course I made zero progress since I didn’t even finish book #3.
- Visit Museums: This was a big success from last year, but I didn’t hit anywhere near all of the museums I’d hoped to visit. So I am repeating this one. Miminum goal: 10 museums. Realistic goal: 15 museums. 20 museums would be freakin’ awesome, 24+ and I’m a total museum superstar. (Last year I did 16)
- Prepare estate documents (etcetera): This is my most important resolution, so it shares the #1 priority spot with publishing my book. I had this one titled “prepare for death,” but that sounds morbid. Anyway, it’s about dang time I have some estate documents drafted just in case anything happens to me. I’m thinking the standard will, power of attorney, and advanced medical directive. Plus body donation arrangements, and general instructions for my loved ones.
- Focus on health: A few years back I had a midlife crisis and started focusing on my health more. I’ve made huge strides by doing stuff like “actually going to the doctor for stuff” and “getting in shape.” I have one lingering health issue for which I never made it to the doctor, so health priority #1 is getting that one finally checked out (and hopefully resolved.) I also want to continue routine visits to other doctors (I’m very bad at scheduling stuff like this).
- Return to food tracking: Two years ago I did a weight loss challenge that included meticulously tracking my food intake. It was, at times, thoroughly irritating. But for the most part is was fine once I got into a routine. Most importantly, I found it super helpful, and it got me paying attention to my nutrition. I fell out of the habit after some travel, but I’m looking to get back into it. I won’t be as super-focused on precision as I was during the weightloss challenge, but hopefully I’ll be close enough.
- Focus on budget: I haven’t paid enough attention to where/how I spend my money. My husband, on the other hand, is meticulous about it. My goal is to get back into using Mint to track everything I spend.
- Read 30 books: This is a throw-away resolution to give me an even 10. Because I like round numbers. And Goodreads already tracks my progress.
- House Stuff: We’ve been in our house for 3 years now, and there’s probably a bunch of responsible home owner type stuff we should be doing but haven’t yet. Time to catch up! We’ve had our HVAC system checked already (wahoo!), but I also want to call out an arborist, and do an energy efficiency check (or whatever those things are called.) Plus some DIY stuff like installing our address sign, probably rebuilding our gate, and finding the right art for our 2 big walls.
- Focus on fitness: I’ve been doing well with fitness recently. In an ideal world, I would do strength training 3x a week, yoga 2x a week, run 3x a week, and volleyball 100x a week. But that’s not realistic, so I hope to continue my current pattern of strength 2x, yoga 1x, run 3x, and volleyball 1-2x. I am starting the year with the BackyardBRRR challenge again, with a target of 100 miles run. That would be a big record for me, so not the most realistic, but a girl can dream. That being said… 2 days ago we impromptu signed up to foster a dog, and it’s already thrown my training regiment out of whack! Doh! Such is life! Anyway, still, I hope to do the best I can in January with the BRRR and the food tracking, then can set a new goal in February. I keep toying with the idea of signing up for a 10 mile or maybe even half marathon race to give me a running goal, but am not sure. Every time I break a distance record it’s in the late afternoon or evening, and I really really REALLY hate morning running. But all races are morning runs (except the Ragnar when you run at midnight! Hell’s yeah!) I’m also registered for a new Ragnar in the summer. So far on my relay races I feel like I’m trained for 2 loops, and the 3rd loop is always a survival walk. My hope/goal is to feel like I’m actually trained for all 3 loops.
Helga without the H 