**I accidentally posted this to the wrong blog--so surprising, right?--so I am reposting it here for my own journalling purposes.
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I've said it before and I'll say it again and again and again :-) I enjoy setting goals. I do get annoyed when I don't meet them the way I plan to, but can take pride in "Working Toward" rather than simply "Did It" and that's the spirit in which I shall report on 2010 and lay out my goals for 2011.
1--Lose 5 pounds --um. . . not only did I not lose five pounds, I gained ten. I am at my highest non-pregnancy weight of my adult life.
How do I feel about that?
I'm not even going to embarrass myself by answering. How does anyone woman feel about having 10 extra pounds?
Next...
2--Run a 10K --I did not run a 10K, but I DID run a half marathon, which had been a 2009 goal I hadn't met that year.
How do I feel about that?
Stinkin' Awesome! I continued to have knee problems, but I resolved them. In March of 2010 I signed up for a triathlon and a 1/2 marathon spur of the moment . . . then ended up with major surgery in July that made both events impossible. But my sister, Crystal, ran a half and watching her do it kept my fire lit. Following surgery I was able to train for a November race and and not only did I complete the marathon, but I ran the whole thing. My final time was 2:22 and I could not be more pleased with that time. It was a fabulous, wonderful, confidence boosting experience.
3--Love better --I really made it a focus to love the people around me, and learn more about love. I discovered that when I'm judging people, I can't love them. So, the root of love was not being so dang judgmental. And this lended itself toward judging myself as well and therefore loving myself better.
How do I feel about that?
Really good. I'm very proud of myself for working on this--it didn't just happen. It took focus, it took prayer, and it took working through some very hard emotional baggage that was getting in the way of my ability to truly trust people, which is a big part of love for me. Not only do I feel good about what I accomplished, I am so very grateful for having set it as a goal in the first place. It was a little ambiguous a goal to set and yet the results are solid and life changing. I still have distance to cover, but I made some profound discoveries and feel good about that.
4--Read 50 books. --I did not read 50 books. I was probably closer to 35.
How do I feel about that?
Disappointed. I really wanted to read more this year and instead I think I read less than I did last year. I'm only counting books I finish, and I bet I started 15 books that simply didn't hold my interest. That's disappointing, and yet I read some wonderful books that I really enjoyed. For instance, I discovered Kate Morton, who has a beautiful way with words. I read Train to Potevka which was wonderful, and The Message which was also very good. So, while I didn't meet my goal of 50 books, I'm still glad I set it and worked toward it.
5--Cook dinner. --I had hoped to cook dinner 4-5 times a week. I didn't do this consistently and probably averaged 2-3, which is more than it was in 2009 but not what I was shooting for.
How do I feel about that?
Frustrated. I love to cook and I love food and I love to eat with my family, so not fulfilling this goal means I missed out on three things I love. I am glad I improved and that's encouraging but I had hoped to make it more of a priority and I didn't do that.
6--Write at least 1 hour a day, 6 days a week. --HA--I did not even get close to this one. I started out strong, but it completely fell apart come March. Everything this year felt rushed and my writing was no different. I ended up doing most of my writing in chunks of time I had to carve out of regular life. Daily writing hasn't happened for me in months.
How do I feel about that?
Angry. Not sure why that's the one word answer, but that's how I feel. It should not be THAT hard for me to find 1 hour a day to write, and I know from experience that when I write this way I am much more calm and focused on my writing. I'm angry that I didn't make more time...and yet, this was a really tough year in a lot of ways and I did complete two novels and make good progress on another one. The result, therefore, was still good, but I would have liked a better process.
So, what's in store for 2011:
1--Love my body. Though I gained weight this year, and I'm not thrilled about that, I had several experiences this year that made me realize how unappreciative I am for the body I have. Both in regard to health and appearance, I am blessed and have not been kind to myself about that. This year, I'm not going to focus on weight, but instead am going to work on my fitness and my feelings toward the body I have, which is a gift from my Father in Heaven and deserves to be treated as such.
2--Run a 1/2 marathon in 2:10. That would be 12 minutes off my time, which would be almost a minute per mile faster than I did the one this year.
3--Complete 3 novels. I'm almost half way in one, another is started and another is only a pipe dream, but I want to finish them all by the end of the year.
4--52 Thank you cards. I often have the thought to send a thank you card to people, I have lots of thoughts, but I don't send many because the process to do so takes more time than I can find. I've recently started using an online greeting card company that sends real cards and it makes it so easy that I can take that thought and make it into an action without too much trouble. I have so many wonderful people in my life that I'm excited to do a better job at showing them. One thank you card a week shouldn't be that hard to do. (I also learned that Melanie Jacobsen is working on a book with this title, which is super awesome.)
5--Keep a better house. I've really let myself and my family fall into bad habits of not cleaning up after ourselves but I have pushed it to the back burner because it's not the most important thing I've needed to deal with. However, I feel better when my house is picked up and I feel that I have the ability and the commitment to do better this year.
6--Develop and follow a menu plan. I need to organize my dinner plans and have things on hand so I can make meals without having to take a trip to the store.
7--Expand and keep up on my freelance work. I have been able to develop my writing abilities through freelance work in the past, and I really enjoy it--both the challenge and the security of knowing I can write in a variety of ways. I didn't do much in 2010 and want to keep it fresh this year. I'd like to submit 4 articles in 2011 and keep my eyes open for other opportunities.
I think that will do it--if I can make progress on all of these things, I will consider 2011 a success!
11 comments:
And like I already said on the other blog . . . I'm all about the 52 Thank Yous since that's the name of my nearly complete work-in-progress. I think it's such a life-changing concept, and yet it's such a simple thing to do. And of course, in my version of things, it includes girls with great shoes, lots of jokes, and a hot guy. But maybe instead of making up a story about it, I should actually do it in real life. As in, I have my hot guy, great shoes, and lots of jokes. Now I should start showing intentional gratitude for those and all of my blessings.
I really enjoyed reading your year in review & what you'd like to accomplish this next year. I'm not very good at setting and keeping New Year's goals, but I think I'll sit down and see if I can choose 3-5 things and actually work towards them.
As for your weight, I think you're gorgeous, Josi. I do understand your frustration about gaining weight and how it's sometimes hard to love how you look. I've struggled with that this past year, too. I'm trying to get back to my previous attitude that no matter what I weigh, I'm just gorgeous and sexy. But, uh, it's taking some time. But I'm getting there. =)
Happy New Year, Josi!
I don't really set resolutions because of the way we feel when we don't accomplish them. Here's to 2011!
You know, as far as the writing one goes - everyone in my neck of the woods is stunned at how fast you're cranking out the Sadie books. You've published 4 in the last 2 years! That's astounding!
Sometimes a fresh perspective can also help a lot - you rock, so don't forget that!
You say you're disappointed about some of the goals you didn't quite hit ... but you accomplished so much! Take pride (righteously, of course) in what you did get done!
Great goals, both accomplished and newly made. I like the Thank You card idea. I'm not nearly outwardly grateful enough! I need to jot some resolutions down. You're an awesome example, Josi. Don't be too hard on yourself. Have a amazing year!
I'm a little late replying to this post, but I wanted to thank you for putting it out there. I've been inspired by your goals and a lot of them fit with things I've been wanting to improve in my own life.
Happy 2011!
Shanda :)
Your goals are totally inspiring. Except the half-marathon one. I'll totally leave that one to you. Some of those others though, I'm totally going to snatch for myself.
My goal this year is to be a little bit more like Josi Kilpack.
I loved this post. Wow, three novels this year. That is amazing!
This year on my blog I'm trying something new to help me follow through with my goals better. Instead of just seeing how I did at the end of 2011, I'm checking in with my readers every month. Hopefully it helps!
What a fabulous post. Very inspiring! Thanks!
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