I know February isn't really a normal time to be talking about New Year's resolutions, but January sped by and here it is mid-February and, well, I'm just going to talk about them.
This year I decided that, instead of making a few resolutions that would last the whole year, I would try having one new resolution every month. I'm hoping these good habits will snowball and by the end of the year I'll have 12 good new habits. But, I've only committed to each of these for a month, so if I find that I'm falling off the bandwagon, I can always restart with a new idea a few weeks later. I felt like this would be more doable. Can I try a new meal every week? Probably for 4 weeks. Can I save a specified amount? I can be a more dedicated penny counter for a month. This seemed like a way to have more success overall.
Here is my rough plan:
- January: post something to Craigslist every day (okay, I really dropped the ball here, but I think I sold 4 things...)
- February: Sort, print, and then put in albums the remaining photos I have from 2013. (Honestly, I'm probably a bit behind on this...but I can make it close!)
- March: Read the Bible every day instead of doing my Bible study homework twice a week.
- April: Try a new main course dish once a week.
- May: No electronics after 9pm.
- June: Go for a walk every day (when I told my husband this one, he was aghast, that's 30 walks!...I have every confidence we can do this one).
- July: Eat a veggie with every meal.
- August: In bed, no electronics by 10pm.
- September: Save $___ (I view saving as a sort of competition with myself, it's a really exciting thing to do).
- October: Go on 2 dates (I hadn't noticed I had this right after saving...hmmm).
- November: Go through all closets and basement for Fall clean up.
- December: Focus on Christ and Christmas for this month (sing carols, read the Bible story, really focus on Christ every day).
Unfinished Photo Album
One thing I really like about this type of a plan is that it can cover so many areas of my life. It covers spiritual change, monetary change, eating change, physical change, electronic change, cleaning change and on and on. It's fun to have time set aside to focus on all of those different areas.
This is my plan for the year, and, looking it over again really helps me be excited about all of the fun things I'm going to try this year. It is nice to know that even though I've had a rough start, I have plenty of other things I can strive for.
I want to encourage you, you still have ten brand new months in which to try something new. Resolutions, goals, aims, they are for us. Not for bondage. So, regardless of how your year has started, there’s always time to start something new.
Until next time,
Jonelle
