With every new year there is always buzz about New Year Resolutions. Often what comes with that is speculation and doubt clouding many people’s resolutions. Being someone who is extremely into New Year Resolutions, I’ve had my fair share of people telling me that I shouldn’t even bother and that I’m setting myself up for failure. But, being someone who has now set and achieved New Year Resolutions for the past couple years successfully, people are starting to keep their negativity to themselves now.
My past successful resolutions included become vegetarian (which I kept for 10 years), buying no new clothes, maintain a 4.0, run a half marathon, run a marathon, and last year’s do not consume any alcohol. Each has provided their own challenges but with each challenge I seemed to thrive. My personality is one that builds on self competition and challenging myself; I constantly am trying to be the best I can be and prove to myself that I am capable of anything I set my mind to. This year when deciding on my New Year Resolution I had a lot to consider. This year I have some huge life events happening that will pose their own unique challenges in and of themselves. To start, I am beginning this year with a torn knee ligament that has sidelined me from running and really any form of cardio with the possibility of two months recovery time. This has prevented me from considering any type of running streak as my resolution. As well, I am moving out into my own apartment for the first time in my life in a country I’ve never lived in nor even visited before with lots of unknowns and four full days straight of travelling and airports.
With this in mind, some of the resolution ideas that crossed my mind included restricting my dietary routine (becoming paleo, vegan, etc.), reading a set number of pages or books, finding a new blog to read every week, not buying any new clothes (again), doing push-ups everyday… the list goes on.
When I decide on my New Year Resolution it almost always follows a deeper theme that I want in my life. When I went vegetarian it was because I wanted to find healthy eating, when I didn’t buy any clothes it was because I wanted to simplify my life and use what I already had, and when I made a running goal it was because I wanted to have a healthier, fitter, and happier life and I knew running could provide that for me.
This year, while I want to hold on to all of the past themes, I want to focus on expanding my horizons and learning new things. I’ve decided to post a blog post every week at least and start reading some other blogs. Some of my posts may just be “spent the whole day on an airplane” while others may be more in depth about my struggles, successes, and new experiences. I believe this goal will help me realize just how great the opportunities I have in my life are and allow myself to think a little deeper.
Another little “side” resolution I am making for 2014 is to plank everyday. A minimum of 30s and an unlimited maximum. It seems like such a small part of each day but I know that if I stick with this goal, then at the end of the year I will see some great progress.
For 2014, I also want to keep track of my mileage that I run. Starting the New Year with an injury, I have decided not to put a specific target on myself but instead just keep track and see if I can surprise myself with what I can do.
I hope that in a year I will look back and see success. I hope that through this I can connect with new and encouraging people. And I hope that you reading this right now aren’t discouraged by some of the New Years Resolution haters but are motivated to set your own goals.
365 Days of Blogging 