Now I’m not usually one to make New Year’s resolutions. A year is just such a big chunk of time, and with that perspective it’s hard to stick to any new endeavor consistently for that long.
I am, however, a big fan of monthly resolutions (or 6-week goals, 2-week goals… you get the idea). Personally, I feel like these are much MUCH more achievable, measurable and flexible. Now I don’t necessarily start new goals every single month – in fact it’s been a while – but I do love to come back to them as I see results and truly enjoy these little month-long challenges for myself. I even used to make monthly videos on my personal vlog channel a while back.
So try these out for yourself! Doesn’t a “January” goal sound much less daunting than a “2015” goal? This doesn’t mean you stop working towards something come February – it just means you have a checkpoint where you can evaluate what you’ve accomplished and then either enter the next phase of the same goal, or start a brand new one. Keeps things fresh and fun!
So here are my January goals! I usually stick to 3, but I sorta have 4 this month:
- Fitness – I’m doing the 30-Day ab workout challenge from Cassie Ho over at Blogilates. If you’ve never heard of Blogilates, check it out! I love Cassie’s enthusiasm and have really been able to enjoy pilates through her workout calendars and exercise videos. This month is all about working out the core! And I’ll be accompanied by my boyfriend Ross – it’s always fun to have a workout buddy 🙂
- Cleaning – This one is two-fold and will also involve both Ross and I. We’re trying a new thing where we pick one room in the apartment to do a deep cleaning on every week (so this week is our bathrooms, next week is the living room, then our bedrooms, then the kitchen etc). The other part of this is a simple daily action: we don’t go to bed until all dishes are accounted for – either in the dishwasher, on the drying mat, or put away, but no dirty dishes sitting in the sink. I have some cheap gold star stickers and am sticking one up on our calendar every day when we complete this – just a little extra motivation.
- Career – This one’s a little personal and I’d rather not share too much, but there are definitely some things I’d like to work towards with my job. This will just be once-a-week actions, but truth be told this is the goal I’m the least looking forward to. Need to just power through it!
- Self improvement – May not be the right title, and it’s not exactly a measurable goal with any specific actions. But I am making a concerted effort to treat myself a little better. Lately I’ve been letting the stresses of daily life get to me, and my natural reaction is to be hard on myself. I’ve committed to start being nicer to myself, to spend more time relaxing and giving thanks, and to start having more fun (and more healthy, wholesome fun at that!)
I’d love to hear what your goals are! My plan is to be back in February recapping how it went and planning the new goals 🙂
And as a little extra content… here is a glance at my Christmas holidays this year!
My uncle came to visit for a couple of days from Belgium! We were delighted to have him
Exploring the Christmas lights around the neighborhoods has always been a tradition for us
We always have the fancy dinner on Christmas Eve. Prepping the decorations…
And prepping the food! This isn’t a Belgian tradition, just a family tradition: croquettes!
And what would a fancy dinner be without some wine?
First course: Smoked salmon served on a bed of greens with lemon juice and buttered bread
Main course: Cheese croquettes with a simple balsamic vinaigrette salad
And for dessert: The homemade Yule log (or as we call it, bûche de Noël)! With Nutella no less~
Then on Christmas day… time for exchanging presents!
Our tree in all its splendor!
My mom’s birthday is on the 26th – poor thing never gets much of a celebration! But we were determined to make it special for her this year and ended up probably having an even better time than Christmas. For starters, I made this pesto gnocchi for dinner! Pretty tasty if I do say so myself…
My mom was the one who made the cake but ohhh it was amazing. Moist apple deliciousness!
We surprised her with singing and gifts. Such a lovely night!
It was an awesome time and I’m looking forward to 2015!!
Quirky Life 