First and foremost, I need to keep my head up and look around. It's so easy for me to become micro focused on the current crisis or deadline that I don't see what else is going on around me and in front of me. A monthly review would be great and it's something I've tried in the past but it always seems to get pushed aside because honestly, it's no fun. Next year goal: figure out a way to make a monthly review fun without turning it into another project that will seem overwhelming and not get done.
I’d love to finally start budget effectively and feel like an adult. Ugh. I hate that word: budget. In my dream world in my head, I’ve already got a well planned, effective budget that I stick to every month. In reality, I can’t even face reality enough to figure out a realistic budget. And don't even get me started on talking to hubby about this. Money is such a difficult topic to talk about! And as I've probably said before, I’m not good at difficult. Unless it's what I'm not supposed to do. But that's a whole other topic. Next year goal: hell if I know. I've tried YNAB and quicken and I think I've done a modified envelope system before. I may just have to bite the bullet on this one and just do it. I can totally see me pushing this off and off and off and being in the exact same situation next year. Will somebody buy me a trip as a reward for budgeting? That might motivate me.
The next thing that pops into my mind makes me realize why New Years resolutions or whatever you care to call them can get so depressing. We're picking out all of our short comings and trying to change them. It's just another 'I'm not good enough" statement running through my head. And those are bull. I AM good enough. For me. For my family. For my husband. And if that's all, then that’s enough. That being said, I feel better when I exercise - especially outside. But it’s something with which I have a total love hate relationship (there a whole list of those by the way). I love the way it makes me feel but I hate that it takes a gigantic amount of motivation to get me to do it. It seems to be engrained in me to want to get out side at the end of the year though so I might as well take advantage of it. So far this week we’ve been outside pretty much every day and we walked to the library and the playground so I suppose that’s a start. I’m definitely going to try to work exercise back into my routine this year. I don’t have a plan. I know I should. Maybe I can work that into my fun planning session.
I have a friend that I went to high school with that made a resolution to eat more ice cream last year. And I thought that was the most brilliant resolution that I had ever heard. It was fun and easy and did I mention fun? I think that’s my next area of focus. Fun. I find myself defaulting to ‘stern mommy’ and ‘serious mommy’ WAY more often than I’d like these days. I don’t see the fun and humor in things like I used to and I want to. I don’t just want to be ‘the fun mom’, I want to have fun! I want to be fun. I want to continue to find ways to enjoy my life, my family, my husband and laugh with them. More laughter is always a good thing so next year, more laughing, less scowling and head shaking.
My biggest goal next year is to begin writing consistently. I've spent a year with my blog and I've done very little with it. But I want to and I know what I need to do. I’ll be moving to a wordpress address shortly and working on building my blog content and features over the next year. Promotion will have to be a part of that too. So more time writing. Less time worrying/stressing/maybe even cleaning! Ha ha!
I’m not sure if any or all of these will keep me from being slapped in the face again next year when 2016 rolls around but I’m pretty sure they will help me to have a great 2015. Cheers to you and yours on a happy and healthy new year to come!
