Good morning everyone! I'm up and at is bright and early today so I figured I would write to you all before my work day begins. I had planned extra time to shovel the snow off of my car this morning but when I awoke and found that we didn't get much more than an inch or two in Portland, I decided shoveling wasn't really necessary. I hope that all of you who celebrate Christmas had a nice relaxing few days with friends and family and those of you who don't celebrate, well, I hope you at least got in some good end-of-year rest and rejeuvanation! My holiday was relatively low-key, just the usual Christmas day spent with family who luckily live close-by. Yesterday I travelled to Masachusetts to visit some other family for the day and now I can happily say its all over! All of the temptations toward spending, over-eating, and gym-slacking are past and I am so ready to take on the new year with a recharged mindset.
I've been thinking a lot about my 2014 goals. As you know I detest the word "resolution" as that conjures up thoughts of swiftly abandoned diets and other good intentions. To be honest, I don't really have any specific goals. 2013 did not pan out in remotely the manner in which I had foreseen at the start of the year and I'm not in the mood to set myself up for any more disapointments in the year ahead. I guess one lesson that seems to have been driven into my head over the past 12 months is to "expect the unexpected". I'll just leave it at that.
I have however come up with two separate lifestyle changes that I plan to make more of an effort to live by going forward:
1. To live more peacefully. To take a deep breath before responding to things in a totally freaked-out manner. To close my eyes and force my heart rate to slow down a few notches before sending myself into an anxiety-fueled tizzy over the tiniest inconvenience. I seem to respond similarly whether a nightmare happens at work, my car breaks down and requires the third $1,000+ un-warranteed repair in a month's time, or whether someone simply steps in front of me in the gym mirrors when I'm trying to balance 1-legged on a bosu! I usually internalize my frustration which in some circumstances is best while in others it just builds up the anxiety until I blow. This goal is certainly not one that I can set-out clear steps to achieve but instead will have to be something I constantly remind myself of. Stress has such a detrimental impact on one's health and as a bona fide health nut I'd hate to end up with serious health issues over something that I should be able to change. Stress-induced zits are about all I can handle LOL!
2. To live more simply. This is more of a financial goal than anything. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am about the most money conscious person you will ever meet. Okay, borderline cheap at times, but when you grow up feeling that you need to keep what you call a "Fuck You Stash" of 100 dollar bills hidden in your bedroom for "emergency situations" you tend to be rather careful what you spend your hard-earned money on as an adult. That being said, while I don't tend to spend my money on small frivolous items, I do tend to spend it on large "investments" that seem to have slowly cranked up my personal debt this year. Debt is another major stress-causer of mine. I realize that I probably don't have as much as most Americans but owning someone anything gives me a queasy feeling in my stomach. Thus I am forking over a large sum of my savings next week (the start of January) to fully pay off my BMW and Visa which has grown exponentially due to vehicle repair costs, competing expenses, and last-minute unsuccessful trips south this year. The thought of spending all of this cash at once is already making my heart race but I know that come February when I don't have to pay either bill, I will feel so much better! Back to my goal though, going forward I am going to make every effort to pay for everything in cash. I may not have as big of an "FU stash" for a while but at least it's one less thing to have to worry about.
As far as fitness goals go, I just plan to continue to eat clean, drink sparingly, build muscle and not take on another show until I feel 100% ready. I'm already getting antsy to start a new cutting plan but I must fight the urge LOL! I've been researching 2014 shows and which organization I may want to compete it. I found a couple that have shows in Italy and France; how fun would that be to do a show and then spend the next week on a European vacation?! Uh-oh...here I go again with the unnecesary large purchases! Maybe that will have to wait for 2015 LOL. Come January 15th when my month of track-less dieting ends I will probably start up a new highly structured plan but it won't involve any cutting just yet. I just feel better when I have a set routine to stick to. Anyway, that's all I can think of for personal goals for 2014. I just feel like making lifestyle changes is going to be more beneficial to my long-term health and happiness than small goals with specific end dates. What about you? Do you make resolutions, goals, or lifestyle changes when a new year starts?
I've been thinking a lot about my 2014 goals. As you know I detest the word "resolution" as that conjures up thoughts of swiftly abandoned diets and other good intentions. To be honest, I don't really have any specific goals. 2013 did not pan out in remotely the manner in which I had foreseen at the start of the year and I'm not in the mood to set myself up for any more disapointments in the year ahead. I guess one lesson that seems to have been driven into my head over the past 12 months is to "expect the unexpected". I'll just leave it at that.
I have however come up with two separate lifestyle changes that I plan to make more of an effort to live by going forward:
1. To live more peacefully. To take a deep breath before responding to things in a totally freaked-out manner. To close my eyes and force my heart rate to slow down a few notches before sending myself into an anxiety-fueled tizzy over the tiniest inconvenience. I seem to respond similarly whether a nightmare happens at work, my car breaks down and requires the third $1,000+ un-warranteed repair in a month's time, or whether someone simply steps in front of me in the gym mirrors when I'm trying to balance 1-legged on a bosu! I usually internalize my frustration which in some circumstances is best while in others it just builds up the anxiety until I blow. This goal is certainly not one that I can set-out clear steps to achieve but instead will have to be something I constantly remind myself of. Stress has such a detrimental impact on one's health and as a bona fide health nut I'd hate to end up with serious health issues over something that I should be able to change. Stress-induced zits are about all I can handle LOL!
2. To live more simply. This is more of a financial goal than anything. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am about the most money conscious person you will ever meet. Okay, borderline cheap at times, but when you grow up feeling that you need to keep what you call a "Fuck You Stash" of 100 dollar bills hidden in your bedroom for "emergency situations" you tend to be rather careful what you spend your hard-earned money on as an adult. That being said, while I don't tend to spend my money on small frivolous items, I do tend to spend it on large "investments" that seem to have slowly cranked up my personal debt this year. Debt is another major stress-causer of mine. I realize that I probably don't have as much as most Americans but owning someone anything gives me a queasy feeling in my stomach. Thus I am forking over a large sum of my savings next week (the start of January) to fully pay off my BMW and Visa which has grown exponentially due to vehicle repair costs, competing expenses, and last-minute unsuccessful trips south this year. The thought of spending all of this cash at once is already making my heart race but I know that come February when I don't have to pay either bill, I will feel so much better! Back to my goal though, going forward I am going to make every effort to pay for everything in cash. I may not have as big of an "FU stash" for a while but at least it's one less thing to have to worry about.
As far as fitness goals go, I just plan to continue to eat clean, drink sparingly, build muscle and not take on another show until I feel 100% ready. I'm already getting antsy to start a new cutting plan but I must fight the urge LOL! I've been researching 2014 shows and which organization I may want to compete it. I found a couple that have shows in Italy and France; how fun would that be to do a show and then spend the next week on a European vacation?! Uh-oh...here I go again with the unnecesary large purchases! Maybe that will have to wait for 2015 LOL. Come January 15th when my month of track-less dieting ends I will probably start up a new highly structured plan but it won't involve any cutting just yet. I just feel better when I have a set routine to stick to. Anyway, that's all I can think of for personal goals for 2014. I just feel like making lifestyle changes is going to be more beneficial to my long-term health and happiness than small goals with specific end dates. What about you? Do you make resolutions, goals, or lifestyle changes when a new year starts?
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