Another month gone by, which means another update on my New Years Resolutions! How are you doing with your resolutions? Studies show that by now over 80% of people have already given up on their resolutions.As a way to keep myself out of the 80% I will be keeping up with these monthly check-ins since they help to keep me accountable.
Read about how I was doing at the end of January.
The main theme of my 2016 resolutions was “Don’t be afraid to Try”….
- to train for a marathon: I haven’t started officially training for this, as I am currently 3 weeks into training for my 3rd half marathon on May 1st. But once that is complete, then my focus will shift to marathon training.
- to find my true purpose in my career– This will continue to be a work in progress, but I have downloaded a book The Quit Alternative:The Blueprint for Creating the Job you love WITHOUT quitting By Ben Fanning (currently $.99 on Kindle download) which I plan to read in March or April. Also during a 1:1 meeting with my boss, I admitted that some day I would like to be a Director or Administrator. My boss’s response was “if you want to be, you will be”. I do enjoy WHERE I am working now but know I am not in my ‘forever’ position. I know there is a lot still to learn and I am anxious to learn it, but it’s evident that I enjoy teaching others, which is one of the reasons I coach, so I’d like to find a way to incorporate that may into my full time job.
- to treat others better and think before I speak– when sharing my opinions on things I been myself catching myself and wondering how it will come across to someone based on their life experiences, especially at work. Its still a work in progress, but just taking a moment to stop and think, especially when I am venting has hopefully helped me to try not to offend the person I am talking to or say some I’d regret.
- to do things outside my comfort zone– I took some steps in this category this month. I reached out to someone I went to high school but didn’t really know to see if they wanted to carpool to work with me. Although the carpooling didn’t work out, I did step outside my comfort zone to also ask to meet up at a Happy Hour in the city we work in, it went well, and now I have a new friend. (Yes, only a friend K.S 😉 ) But I was proud of myself for not chickening out. Something else I did, was ask my boss whether my recently completed MBA had any impact on my compensation, she did answer no, since it was considered when I was hired; but I had been waiting to ask for months, and finally ripped off the band-aid. Never know unless you ask right?
- to make time to read more books– After nearly 8 weeks off from tv shows due to their mid-season breaks, I realized I wasn’t as interested in a few more shows anymore, so canceled the recordings on my DVR without second guessing, and you know what’s, I haven’t missed them! That step has also helped me with reducing clutter in my life (see below). Besides less tv opening up time, I am currently reading 4 different books- 1 (soon to be 2) for a work related discussion, 2 that I read during lunch rotating depending on my mood & 1 at bedtime. I know if I read one it would go faster but having a book at work, at home and in my phone (kindle) allows me to read whenever I want and not have to remember to bring a book with me.
- to reduce clutter in my life: Earlier this month, I took some time and cleaned out emails that have been sitting in my inbox for months, and some even years. I left emails in an inbox thinking that if they were there I would eventually make the recipes, complete the workouts, share the quotes, etc. But if I haven’t gotten to them now, I figured I didn’t need to keep looking at them, so I archived or deleted emails. With fewer emails cluttering my inbox I don’t feel like there is always something I should be doing or reading, I already have enough to try to fit into my schedule! Plus if I need a recipe I can go to the folder I sorted it in and if I wanted to mix up my workouts I can just goggle a new one! As I heard in a recent podcast, that’s what search functions are for whether it’s in your email or the Internet. After I finished this purging of about 10-15 emails in each inbox I have,school, work, home, I felt much better, lighter, and it inspired me to keep going with other items in my life. With that in mind, my bag of ‘clothes to donate’ has continued to grow. If it doesn’t “bring me joy”, and if I wouldn’t buy it if I saw it in the store now, it has been taken out of my closet and dressers!
- to eliminate excuses and procrastination– Although last month I felt like I was doing pretty well with this, this month it was more of struggle. There are still some days, that are better than others and it depends on the task. Though I suppose some of the above could be considered progressing in this category. But it is something I am more aware of, but no specific examples on my success in achieving this goal this month. I hope to be able to have a better report next month.
What do you find is your biggest struggle with it comes to sticking with your resolutions? Have you changed them since January 1st?
Sarah Chasing Life 