Goals | Linked

That's right- GOALS, NOT "resolutions"!

Personally, I can not stand the phrase "making a resolution". Why?

There are such negative connotations with the word. For example:

In a few months when momentum has subsided, will power gone by the wayside, life has gotten in the way and you have nothing to show for your "resolution", what does that say? That you lost resolve? That you failed? That you're a wimp who couldn't hack it?

No thank you- I am NOT a loser!

I love goals! Goals are specific, attainable and most importantly- goals can be modified and adjusted! If you don't happen to fulfill your goal, you did not lose, "wimp out", or fail. You simply take stock of where you are currently at, congratulate yourself on the progress you've made thus-far, reevaluate your goal, and then revamp and restate it accordingly.

If you want more info on better ways to set goals, check out this blog post by Jordan at "Fun, Cheap or Free"- I absolutely LOVE her blog. (If you're not a subscriber to her blog, you should be!)

So, to get this party started, I made some goals for myself and my family for this year- and let me tell you, these are SO much better than any "plan" or "resolution" we've made in past years!

1. Obtain a more finite handle on finances. 

While my husband gets paid every other week, I get paid 3 times a year... when spring financial aid hits, when the tax returns come in, and when fall financial aid posts. (Ok, so it's not really getting paid, but you get the idea of where we're at right now.)

Instead of being ruled by, and playing the "we just have to get by until financial aid comes in" game, we're taking charge and using tools like Mint.com and dividing up finances into several accounts instead of the single account we currently use. Again, I can thank Jordan for these tidbits. You can read more about Jordan's "multiple account method" here.

2. Complete the "Christmas Savings" Challenge.

We originally started the year off doing the "52 Week Challenge", but let's face it, there will come a time when the weekly amount gets to be too much for us to take out of our budget & set aside. The regular weekly savings is a much more consistent and attainable method for us.

(If you'd like to take the challenge, you can find great info here at the Creative Savings blog.)

3. Treat myself better.

No, this is not committing to a fad or insanity diet or spending hours upon hours at the gym.

Being a full-time nursing student with two kids, a husband, a dog and a house to take care of means...

(In case you missed it, this lady gained immediate fame for her statement in 2012 after evacuating her apartment during a fire. Story here.)

Back to the goal... this simply means taking time to be better about food and portions (a subject in which my talents grew drastically the last few months of 2013), finding time to move around other than being on my feet non-stop during clinical days, spending more time playing/rough-housing with the kids (because we all love the chaos and insanity that ensues from physical play) and last, but not least, and certainly the most important by far... stop being so darn mean to myself! For Pete's sake!- Marilyn Monroe was a size 14 and she was sexy! Why the heck do I need to be stick-thin, no curves, make-up caked and starving to be attractive? What a load of bologna!

My husband thinks I'm sexy and I know who he comes home to each night. As long as I'm trying to be better for my health, that's good enough... for now.

4. Find humor in the little things.

This was something I was working on the last few months of 2013 as well.  Evidence? Didn't you see what I did in goal #3? I can see the look on your face right now...

Or you're doing this...

Anywho... enough of that.

5. Continue busting my hump in school. (Do I really have to define this one?)

6. Ignore the crap people do that I have no control over.  They want to treat me second-class, judge me or exclude me while they do for everyone BUT me when they don't know who I am or what's going on in my life... they can go ahead and waste their energy. I have better things to spend myself on.

And finally... #7

IF I HEAR A FAMILIAR METAL GRINDING SOUND ACCOMPANIED BY THE APPEARANCE OF POLICE BOX AND A MAN WITH A SONIC SCREWDRIVER STEPS OUT, I'M OUTTA HERE! (...with the contingency that when we're done traveling through out all space and time, he returns me to exactly 1 minute after I left so as to not disrupt my current timeline.)

That's right... if you don't know what a fan I am, then you don't know me well at all and you REALLY need to educate yourself on wibbly, wobbly, timey, wimey stuff here.

For more ideas on goals, you can view my Mom's blog at: The D's and the Dogs 

and Melissa's blog at: Growing Like Weeds.

Happy New Year!