Happy New Year! The last couple of years I’ve chosen a word to focus on for the year. Last year I had two words, home and simplify. I tried to keep both of those words in mind throughout 2017. For 2018, I chose the word intention.
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| Photo by Hope House Press on Unsplash |
The word intention came to me as I was thinking about what I wanted to do in 2018 and what I wanted the year to be like. I’m pretty great at starting projects, but not so hot at finishing them. This year, I want to be intentional about the things I choose to do, and put my time into things that are meaningful and things I’m willing to see through to the end. I hate to waste time as it is, but I want 2018 to be even more focused and purpose-driven.
Before I talk about how I plan to work intention into my January goals, here are a few wins from December.
{december wins}
– Enjoyed Christmas with my family. We visited Aaron’s side of the family, about two hours from us, right before Christmas and had a great time with them. The kids got thoroughly spoiled and loved playing with their cousins. We got home in time to go to Christmas Eve service at our church, and we spent Christmas morning at home and the afternoon with family that lives nearby. Violet could take it or leave it, but seeing the joy on Jona’s face when he woke up Christmas morning was the best. What a memorable Christmas!
– Packed away all the Christmas decorations. I love Christmas decor, but I’m ready for it to go by the time Christmas is over.
– Completed (most of) the Live Your Best Holiday Life challenge with Alexandra. I lost steam right before Christmas and stopped doing every prompt, but I’m still counting this as a win because I did complete most of the month, and had a blast doing it.
– Hosted an Advent Calendar and Holiday Traditions linkup, also with Alexandra. This was a fun way to share the Advent calendar I created, and I loved seeing all the holiday-themed posts!
– Set up a “family command center” in our entryway. I still need to add the finishing touches, but as of yesterday we have a calendar, message board, hanging file/mail organizer, and a book case. I hope that having this dedicated space will help keep our paper clutter under control.
{january goals}
Inspired by Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project, which I read last month, I decided to create a “happiness project” of my own to do this year. Each month I’m going to choose a different topic to focus on and base my monthly goals around that topic. For January, as cliche as it is, my topic is health. Here are my health-focused goals.
– Move more: take regular walking breaks. I’ve mentioned before that my job is very sedentary; I sit at a desk all day. I’d like to get into the habit of taking a walking break, at least once a day. I plan to listen to an audiobook as I walk; I’m hoping that will motivate me to keep up the habit.
– Cut back on sugar. I eat way too much sugar. I’m not about to give up my ice cream, but I think I can take steps to significantly reduce my sugar intake each day. I’m going to try to gradually cut back on the amount of sugar I put in my coffee, as well as reduce the amount of small, sweet treats I eat throughout the day.
– Eat a fruit or vegetable with every meal. This may sound like a no brainer for lots of people, but while we’re pretty good about having fruits and veggies with dinner, fresh produce is often lacking from my lunch. Any way I can up my fruit and veggie (especially veggie!) intake will be helpful.
– Read a health-related book. I’m a bit stumped here. I hope to read a book to go along with each month’s topic, but I don’t really have one in mind this month. I do plan to read Present Over Perfect because it seems like a good year-starting book, but it’s not exactly health-related. Any suggestions for me?
Do you have a word for the new year? What do you hope to accomplish this month?
