At the start of every new year, I find myself wondering how the heck a year has already passed by me again. I swear it gets faster every year. Somewhere, Father Time is laughing at me.
As with every new year, I find it therapeutic to review my previous years goals and set some new ones. It keeps me on the right track all year, gives me some sort of purpose throughout the year so that I don’t reach the end of it and feel useless. So what do I hope to achieve in 2015? Let’s see…
Get closer to God. 2014 brought a lot of brokenness to me, brokenness that wasn’t even my own. My heart was heavy for too many of my loved ones, for too much of the year, and the only way I found myself able to deal with it was through prayer. I had bought a new notebook this year from Not of This World, with the intention of filling it with new words toward a novel, but what it ended up becoming was a prayer journal. Something I could review to make sure I’d included everyone in my prayers and also reflect on when I was feeling extra broken and find comfort in updating the list with answered prayer requests. I absolutely intend on keeping up this prayer journal this year. I also want to get back into devotionals daily. Back in the day, I used to get a lot out of reading a devotional on a daily basis. It’s a good way for me to stay dedicated to spending time with God daily and just good for my soul. I got a new Joyce Meyer one for Christmas and if it’s anything like the last one I read, I’m sure it will be beneficial in my walk with God. I also plan to commit to specific church duties this year, namely running the soup kitchen quarterly with my grandmother. I think there’s something really rewarding about giving to people in need and it’s even more so when it’s done in God’s name.
Time Management. This is really something I always feel like I’m trying to do and failing at. In 2013, I vowed to do all the things and it kicked my butt. In 2014, I vowed to not kill myself like the year before and somehow I managed kill myself even more instead. I’m not suggesting I need a lazier life, but I do need one that allows for small breaks on a consistent basis. I can’t go another 6 month stint of overtime at my day job and side job without ever stopping to relax. I got sick 3 times in just the last 2.5 months and I never get sick, but I’m positive it’s my body’s way of telling me to slow down. The problem is, I live a busy life. That will probably never change. And I’m okay with that, but I hope to spread out the busy a little better this year. To say no when I’m feeling overwhelmed and keep a better schedule so I’m not constantly pulled in all directions.
Get healthy. I know this goal pops up on my resolution every year, but I’ve yet to really get to the healthy level I’m actually satisfied with. Maybe I never will be, maybe it’s always a work-in-progress, but I like setting this resolution to really keep me focused on it. It takes a lot of effort to be healthy in this world, because it’s far easier to just not care, but as I age, I’m finding myself regretting that “easy” life and wishing I’d built a better foundation for success earlier on in life. I don’t want to believe it’s too late. I really want to have before and after photos to be proud of one day, evidence that will never let me slide back into the unhealthy category again.
Try to get Published. I say try because I can’t just decide I’ll be published. I’m not going the self-pub route and so really my future lies in someone else’s hands where publication is concerned. But I need to make the effort. I need to give my MS a final polish, I need to find the right agents to send it to, I need to stay on top of shopping it around whether I receive rejections or not. I can’t just wish for publication and cross my fingers. There’s a lot to be done to make this dream a reality and I need to get busy.
Pay down debt. I know this was technically sort of on last years resolution list, too, but if I end up not having a long period of overtime this year, putting money aside for the debt pay down will be harder. I don’t want to give up, though. If I could put a similar amount towards my debt this year as last, I could potentially being buying a house by 2016. That would be amazing and I want to give it my all to make it happen.
So just five resolutions this year… seems totally doable, right? 😉 What do you hope to achieve in 2015?