No Resolutions, Setting Goals in 2018

Is making New Year resolutions still a thing? I can’t remember the last time I made an actual resolution. Like most people, I don’t stick to them! We all know new year, new me sets our asses up for failure every time! But, lately, life has been shifting gears. I think now is a better time than any for some reflection, setting goals, and making plans.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot and asking myself: WTF do I REALLY want out of life? Like, really want. Picture yourself in 5-10 years living the perfect day, what does that day look like? What are your goals? Are you doing what you need to be doing now, for that day to happen? If so, kudos. If not, what changes need to be made? These are loaded question that I think we don’t ask ourselves enough. If we did, I think many of us would realize we aren’t doing what we need to do to live how we want.

This is the head space I have been in the last few years. A few times a year I like to sit in quiet reflection. A couple of years ago, I stumbled across this 6 phase guided meditation on the Omvana Meditation App. It’s a 20-minute relaxation and visualization meditation. I personally love a good guided meditation. On this guided meditation, it has you look 3-5 years out and visualize what joy, accomplishments, and family would look like. It has you visualize your perfect day and what you would need to do to get it. I like to use little things like this to just check in with myself and my goals, a little personal accountability to see if I am on the right track to hit my goals.

I’m a planning person. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good random adventure, but, when it comes to my goals, I need a plan. I like to treat my goals the same way I would outline a business plan; I tackle them like I am in a strategic planning meeting! In my opinion, life is way too short to spend it doing a bunch of shit you don’t like, with people you probably don’t like either, day in and day out!

So in my reflection for 2018, the theme of Growth sat with me. Over the last few years, I feel like I have been planting seeds, watering them, and now it is finally time to throw some fertilizer in the mix and watch things grow. In fact, my motto for the upcoming year is Growth in 2018. These are some of my goals and areas I want to see growth:

Execution, the follow through!

I always have the best intentions on getting things done, emphasis on intentions. This year, I would like to do better organizing and seeing things through! In the past, I would make a schedule for myself and I need to revisit this. When you have a billion things on your plate that need to get done, that shit can get overwhelming! But like I tell my students, if you outline a schedule that specifically says I’m going to spend this much time, working on this task, at this time, it makes things less overwhelming.

For me: I have to make a weekly schedule that says, I am going to run at 5am, get Charm off to school at 6am, work from 830-430, and so on. Having and using a schedule helps me with the follow through. Otherwise I spend half my day on IG forwarding memes to my friends and avoiding work!

Professional and Academic Goals

This semester is my last semester of classes for my doctoral program. It has been three long years of coursework! This is a really important semester for me with some major milestones that I need to hit to progress to the next steps of my program. Which means, more so now than any semester, I am really going to be depending on execution and follow through; procrastination is not my friend in 2018!

This PhD program has been opening my eyes to new roads I would like to travel down professionally! I have been working in higher education for years now, but I cannot say that I will stay in higher education! Currently, I love what I do because I love working with the students. I am very passionate about working with young people, and I know that even if I don’t stay in higher education, my degree is going to make me better professionally. I love the feeling of wondering what’s to come as I finish this program up!

Parenting Goals

Ah, parenting goals! Charm has only 5 short months left of elementary school before she makes that leap to being a middle schooler, still letting that soak in. She’s growing up, I can’t stop stunt the process, believe me I’ve tried. I’m realizing there are some things I want to teach Charm and things I want to do to help set her up for success in her future. In 2018:

I want Charm to open her own savings account, not one I have in my name for her. With that, I am looking for her to learn the value of earning, spending, and saving her own money.
I want her to use some of her own money to invest in stock in the companies that create products she would like to own. So if she wants an iPhone, she needs to invest in Apple first.
I want her to pursue her creative ideas in her free time. She wants a VLOG so I want her to put the effort into figuring out what all goes into starting her own YouTube channel, how to record her videos, and how to manage her channel.

Living in the Breeze Goals

I have a lot of goals for Living in the Breeze that I’m not going to outline too much here. Subscribe and join our tribe to be a part of our growth. I will say that working on this blog, sharing our journey, and telling our stories has truly helped me realize a lot this year about what brings me joy and what I am passionate about in life and that has a lot to do with helping other people.

The Long Game

I am looking at growth as the long game, which is why resolutions for the new year are meaningless to me. In my opinion, resolutions set limits and put boundaries on how great things can be. Don’t just say, in 2018, I am going to cook more and eat less fast food. Drop the in 2018 and just say, “I am going to eat healthier” and outline an action plan to hit whatever your goals are. Personally, I want to make bold life statements, not this is what I am going to do this year statements.

Also, I find that I am much more accountable to my goals when I have told a couple of friends about my plans to help hold me accountable (like blogging about it). Sharing my dreams with people close to me is important. Their motivation and support helps me get things done!

No Room for Insecurities

In 2017, one of my big goals was letting go of self-doubt and insecurities. This year I came to terms with letting go of the status quo and the things I thought I “should” be doing. I started doing more of the things that genuinely make me happy. It was important for me to stop being my own biggest critic and start being my biggest fan. I am looking forward to more of that in 2018, growing into the changes that are taking place in my desires – professionally, in parenting, and in my personal life.

In the past, I used to fear the idea of change and the unknown. I was a habit person, a follow the beaten path person. In the new year, I want to step out more on the path less traveled, embracing change, new adventures, and finding more time to do the things that genuinely make me happy. I think the worst box we could put ourselves in is a box 100% designed by someone else. This year = Mission continue breaking out of the mold!

As for Running Goals

I worked really hard in 2017 to become a better runner. After finishing my first marathon at the beginning of the year, I knew I found my new addiction. I fell in love with the idea of competing against myself to get better, faster, and stronger. The second half of the year has been spent training to do just that.

I look forward to kicking off 2018 with my second Marathon, and a couple of other races for the Walt Disney World Dopey Challenge! Also, I will be training for the Flying Pig Marathon (May 6^th) and Chicago Marathon (Oct 7^th), and continuing my journey toward the goal to run 50 marathons in 50 states. My first marathon training attempt was so horrible that this second training cycle is really where the foundation has been laid.

I am looking forward to learning how to become an even better runner, but, more than anything, I want to continue to just enjoy how running makes me feel! The burnout is real! Some days I feel like my job is running and everything else is my free time. I never want running to feel like a task on a to do list. I have 15-20 races on my calendar, so far, for 2018!

Disney Dopey Challenge — Walt Disney 2018 Dopey Challenge

Ultimate Goal: Laugh More Stress Less

Yall with all this talk of goals and action plans, my number one goal is to laugh often! It is so easy to point out a billion opportunities for stress, FUCK THAT! What makes adulting tolerable is finding opportunities for random adventures, spending time laughing with my child, and sometimes doing absolutely nothing!

The seeds have been planted, now it’s time to start cultivating and watching things grow! I believe 2018 is going to be a year of changes. I am excited to see what the year brings. Here’s to Growth and Execution in 2018!!! Chase your goals people!