2014 Goals

Hooray for a new year! 2013 was a huge year of change for us, and although 2014 will involve some changes (like a summer internship. . .somewhere), I don’t think it’ll be quite as life-altering as 2013. At least, that’s what I’m hoping.

In 2013, Bart labeled it “The Year of Big Goals.”

When we sat down a couple of nights ago to hash out what we wanted from 2014, I determined that 2014 would be the year I focused on Consistency, Balance, and Productivity.

I also have tried not to set too many goals, instead focusing on the things I REALLY want to do, not things that are kind of cool or semi-interesting to me.

Here are some of my biggest ones for the year:

  • Start a walking group. In Texas, there was a group of women in our apartment complex that did a 4 mile route twice a week. We pushed our kids in strollers and it was a really fantastic part of our routine. I loved getting outside, spending some time being social, and the exercise. I’ve missed it desperately, so I asked a couple of women in my neighborhood if they’d be interested. I can’t wait to start up next week.
  • Read 150 books. Last year, I didn’t set a reading goal because I felt like it was pushing me to read books just to hit numbers. But this year, I read so much less because I wasn’t making it a priority. I’ll talk more about some of the ways I plan to fit in more reading later. And I want to write more about books here this year. I’ve loved branching out in the last couple of years, but I still want books to be a core part of my blog (which, you know, requires me to actually read some).
  • No Desserts Monday thru Thursday.  I started doing this a month or two ago and it’s been really successful for me. I like it better than two desserts a week because I don’t have to make decisions every. single. time. If it’s M-Th, I just know I’m not going to eat any. And if it’s the weekend, I can. Bart is doing this with me, which is really helpful. I’m also taking dessert to mean most sugars (in the past, I’ve not eaten “dessert” but loaded up on chocolate chip banana bread. . .). Holidays are an exception, but not the week of the holiday or the whole month of the holiday. The day only. Or, in some cases, the day we’re celebrating.
  • Start a couple’s bookclub. This is something I’ve wanted to do for ages and now that I’m missing my stellar bookclub in Texas, this seems like the time to do it. I am REALLY excited. (My mom, Merrick, Landen, and I are also doing a bookclub of our own).
  • Take one night a week off. I’m something of a workaholic and I love the work that I do, but it’s easy for it to eat up every moment of my free time. I try not to work on weekends, but with Bart doing homework most weeknights, it’s easy for me to work during preschool, then naps, then all evening after the girls go to bed and never have time to do any non-computer projects. This year, I’m dedicating one at-home weeknight to doing whatever I feel like doing, whether it’s reading, sewing, watching a show on my own, going to bed early, or making a giant mess with glitter.
  • Go on one six great dates this year. Bart and I are kind of boring (I know, what a surprise), so we’re making an effort to do more fun things together this year, outside of the normal dinner/movie routine.

You can see my goals from 2013201220112010, and 2009 here.

P.S. If you’ve written a post about your 2014 goals, please leave me a link – I’d love to check them out!

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26 Comments

  1. LOVE these goals. I just wrote about mine today on my blog, but yours have inspired me to do a few more. I wrote about "collaborating more" and your walking group (wish I lived a little closer!) and your book club went right on my list.

  2. Oh, the no-desserts M-Th idea is BRILLIANT. I want to cut back on the amount of sugar I eat this year, but I really didn't have any good ideas for making that happen. I will likely be stealing this.

  3. You know what really helps you cut down on desserts? Not having a car and having to do all your grocery shopping on foot. That really makes you reevaluate what you actually need (at least, if you're me, and don't like grocery shopping so will do as few trips as possible).

    1. Ha! I so remember those multiple-shopping-trips-a-week years when everything was planned around the weight-to-walking-distance dilemma!

      xox

  4. I remember your goals post from last year, and I remember our work-at-home status seemed to align. I went with a word instead of a goal this year, but I think it's going to be a good thing.

  5. So regarding the no desserts/sweets rule, what makes the cut and what doesn't? I am rather morbidly interested in this topic. I have seriously cut back on our sugar. My goal is the 6-9 tsp/50 grams a day of added sugar. That means that I have some very lightly sweetened oatmeal in the morning and then something in the evening in the form of a muffin (again with reduced sugar). Any other sugar comes in the form of fruit.

    Love all the other goals too…especially the walking group.

  6. These are great goals!

    I am hopping into the no sweets M-Th guideline. It is just perfect for me. Thanks for sharing!

  7. These are so great! Great ideas for me too 😉
    I have one main goal this year, and a few simple other ones!

    writteninthemidst.blogspot.com

  8. I love reading about other people's goals! I'm a nerd that way. 🙂 I love the idea of a book club, but don't really know of any around here. Last year, my sister and I did a book challenge together. We each made a list of 10 books. Then we traded lists and challenged ourselves to read at least 5. I think I ended up reading 7 of her books. That was only a fraction of the books I read all year, but it challenged me to choose books I might not have picked up on my own.

    I haven't finalized my goals for 2014 yet, but this evening I posted my recap of last year's goals. http://from-my-life.blogspot.com/2014/01/making-list-and-checking-it-twice.html

  9. I'm intrigued about your six great dates! Excited to hear about decision-making and execution on those.

    I'm still mulling over my actions for 2014 but expect to post those next week.

  10. I really like your goals, I've been working on mine the last few days and haven't finalized them yet, but will by next week! (Procrastination is not something I'm trying to work on this year. Ha!)

    xox

  11. Great goals, and I'm really interested to hear how you're able to read so many books while keeping you kids entertained, keeping up your blog and blog reading, cooking all sorts of delicious foods, and looking fabulous. I read 28 books in 2013 and that was already like, staying up past 2am reading, listening to audiobooks at 2x speed in the car, and pretty much using any opportunity I had to read more, yet I still can barely put a dent in the volume of books that you are able to finish! I need your secrets 🙂

  12. Babies definitely make reading trickier. I read a lot when Clara was born and her first year, but the older she gets the harder it is. I think it's definitely time to pull out the iPod for audio books, as that is how I got a lot of them done. I love all your goals. Kudos for the no-dessert one; it seems really mindful and balanced. I can't do that as I have learned from experience that there is no holding me back on the weekends and I undo all the good I amounted to throughout the week. Oops!

  13. These are some great goals! One of my goals this year is to start reading more again. I've started watching more Netflix and read less in 2013, oops. One of my other main goals in 2014 is to start running again and hopefully run a marathon. I wrote about my goals at my blog @ berrymerryendorphins.blogspot.com 🙂

  14. I really like your goals, especially reading more books. I was wondering how you find a great book club. I live in Austin, and I've been struggling to find one that works for me. I never thought I would say this, but I really miss the discussions in my college literature classes!

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