5 GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR

With most of January (already) under our belt, it’s safe to say its officially 2017! The New Year always makes me really excited for a fresh start, to reflect on the previous year (both achievements & struggles) and set new goals focusing on things I want to improve on moving forward. 2016 was definitely a complicated year, but I learned a whole lot and I feel like I have a much better understanding of myself, my business and what I need to do in order to succeed.

This year I’m ready to set BIG goals; health goals, work goals, overall wellness goals, travel goals, family goals, goals to grow my blog and business .. what I’ve come to learn (and not the easiest way, might I add) is that in order to do big things, to really harness you’re true potential you must first conquer your mind. It all boils down to your mindset and how you go about your day-to-day. Little achievements made daily add up to much greater results shortly down the road. All that being said, one thing I want to master this year is balance. It’s so easy to get caught up in everything that’s going on around us and we try so hard to balance it all, that we end up not doing much balancing at all and who wants to live like that? This year I’m determined to live on purpose. So to put my learnings to the test I’ve come up with the following 5 goals for this year, read on below:

1. KEEP ACTIVE: I am typically pretty good about keeping active throughout the year. I’m not one of those people who just decide that this is the month I will be active and then fall off the face of the earth, never to be found in a gym again. I’ve been fairly athletic my whole life and as I get older I am learning more and more about the importance of keeping active not only to avoid health problems later in life but to also sharpen my mindset. Being active is so crucial to so many aspects of my life. When I’m working out regularly it forces me to drink more water, to get more sleep (which also becomes more restful sleep), to make smarter choices when it comes to feeding myself and my husband, it has even helped to clear my skin. Studies have shown that just 30 minutes of activity, 3 days a week positively affect almost every aspect of your life. It’s probably the easiest thing to get tossed to the side when executing your goals, but I’m telling you it’s probably the most important one.
2. BE PRESENT: this gets back to mindset. Feeling overwhelmed or scatter-brained isn’t something any of us want but we create a lot of this ourselves subconsciously. I’m making a huge point to really feel and be present throughout the day. That also means setting aside my phone at 5pm to soak up all the quality time I can in the evenings with my husband (and soon our puppy!!… more on that later). Usually at 5pm I retreat from my home office, and plug my phone into the charger on my nightstand in our bedroom. It doesn’t always go perfectly, but that way my phone is out of sight so I can relax and enjoy each evening.
3. MAINTAIN HEALTHY DIET: Last year we did a massive overhaul of how we were eating so this one should be pretty simple and straight forward this year. We moved away from eating too much processed foods and incorporated A LOT more greens and white fish into our diet. I usually juice at least once a day after working out to tie me over until our next meal or have a protein smoothy. This year I am going to start sharing more plant-based, nutritional meal ideas on my blog since I’ve pinned so many on my Pinterest and would love to make them available to you here. It’s also a great way for me to do my meal planning and so you can see what were trying and making at home.
4. TIME MANAGEMENT: This ones a big one. We’re all guilty of it, running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get it all done when in reality were just becoming overwhelmed, thus not getting much done at all. Do you feel me? What I’ve started doing recently is blocking out my time, in order of priority. I started setting specific time aside to work on specific projects, respond to emails, tidy the house, go workout …. I’ve notice a huge difference in feeling like I tackled the day as efficiently as possible.
5. KEEP A TIDY, HAPPY HOME: I don’t know about you, but I can’t get much of anything done until my home is neat and tidy as can be! It just drives me nuts. Since we moved into our condo three years ago, to be honest I hadn’t done too much in terms of finishing the decor. We made the most of it, but things were looking a little dull around here so I set aside a (very) small budget to refresh our space, added some new bookshelves, updated our gallery wall (finally!), fresh linens and flowers and it finally feels more like our home. Keeping this home tidy should be interesting come Friday when we go to pick up our pup….. wish me luck!