A few things I resolve to do.

I had ever intention of posting this on January 2nd.  And now almost a week later I am happy to say that not only agree that all these are still good resolutions, but I have made at least a tiny bit of effort at achieving them.  I am not expecting overnight results.  I am not expecting to change everything at once.  Just a little more effort a few days a week that hopefully turn into some long term habits.  Oh yea but then I got hit with this nasty cold virus turned Bronchitis and I have pretty much spent the past week trying not to die.  Was that too dramatic?

I am certainly not an advocate for sleeping late on the weekends.  As much as it’s nice to catch a few extra hours of sleep, I know it doesn’t make up for staying up late during the week, and I hate the idea that I wasted half the day with my eyes shut.  I guess the only exception I can make for this is New Year’s Day because hey, when you are awake until 3am maybe you shouldn’t pop out of bed only a few hours later just to get work done on the house.

Another thing I don’t normally do – or didn’t do for most of my life – was make New Year’s resolutions.  I mean I like the idea of a fresh start, being a better person, and setting some goals more than anything, but I guess I am more of a “make goals as the mood strikes” kind of person and not so much the “make goals because today is January 1st” type.  But since there seem to be a lot of things I want to work on lately that I haven’t really made much of an effort on, now is as good a time as any to put them down in writing and commit to the wide world of the internet to make some progress.

Work on being more patient.  Many a thing I am good at, being patient has never been on that list.  For anything.  When I order something online? I track that package like you wouldn’t believe until the second it arrives on my doorstep and then count down the minutes until I can go home and retrieve it.  Holidays? Forget it.  Constantly counting down days wanting everything to just hurry up and get here.  And one of my worst offences? losing my patience when things go wrong and having more than a few little meltdowns.  I get really annoyed at little things and start sputtering off curse words a mile a minute.  Bad Habit.   I am not proud of any of those moments.   So this year, I vow to make a conscious effort to get better at waiting.

Relax more.  Here’s the thing about not being patient – always thinking 2938507 steps ahead, always feeling rushed, always feeling anxious, getting stressed that things are getting done fast enough (that one is definitely in reference to the house) just plain not good for me.  I want to take more time to slow down and just enjoy little moments.  Hopefully being more relaxed = being more patient and I can kill two birds with one stone.  And just be a more enjoyable person in general.

Check my phone less.  Because let’s be serious, no one all that important is going to call me.  Or text me.  Or email me.  There is nothing urgent to attend to.  I just check it out of boredom   And then I get mad when there hasn’t been a new Us Weekly update in thirty minutes or no one has posted any good food pix on hipstergram.  I have enough issues concentrating as it is, I don’t need the added distraction of constantly checking my phone.  In the past I have combated this with just leaving my phone in my desk drawer, or on a shelf out of eye sight.  But when I use my phone to play music, and the music is the distraction from everything else that allows me to get more work done, it’s going to be a little more of a challenge.  But I’m up for it.

Spend more time standing at my desk at work. With the exception of this week while I am sick (that whole fluid in the chest thing? apparently you’re supposed to rest a lot…) I really need to make more of an effort to stand at work.  My desk is designed to be a standing desk, high desk chair and all, mostly because a lot of the time we are standing and measuring garments, or fitting them on a dress form etc.  But more often than I would like to admit I can get really lazy and do minimal standing and maxim sitting.  Sooooo bad for my posture.  Seriously sometimes I just realize how hunched over I am sitting and I think “how does this happen”?  So in review, stand more, sit less.  Done.

Go to bed earlier on weeknights.  Aka – stop falling asleep on the couch. Another thing I am really bad at.  Ralph and I get sucked into whatever TV show we are currently obsessed with (right now it’s BONES on Netflix) and I pull the whole “one more episode, even though it’s already 11pm” and then 15 minutes later I am promptly passed out on my side of the couch.  The reason I don’t like doing this? Once I fall asleep I can barely drag myself upstairs and brush my teeth before crawling into bed.  There is something to be said for the relaxation that the pre-bedtime routine provides and I think I am really missing it.   Think about it, you wake up to the jolt of an alarm, haphazardly fall asleep on the couch to be jolted awake again (aka Ralph telling me to go to bed) and groggily get to bed.  I never really feel like I have time to decompress in the same way I do when we take time to shut the TV off early, get ready for bed, and then spend 10 or 15 minutes reading before turning in for the night.  Sometimes it’s just the little things that make the biggest difference.

You might notice there is nothing health or fitness related on that whole list.  No “go to the gym four times a week”, or, “eat more veggies”, and definitely not, “loose 10 pounds”.  Right now I feel like I really need to focus on the mental health and well being side of my life and I’m pretty sure all these things are more than achievable.

What about you guys? Any good resolutions?

xx Sara

Tagged as: Goals, Resolutions