Wednesday, January 2, 2013

2013 Resolutions

Interestingly, I've never made New Year's Resolutions before. I don't know why. Perhaps it has to do with setting myself up for failure.  Many people set goals, and then feel very badly when they fail. Of course, often those goals were unrealistic to begin with, so failure was a high probability.  I don't know about you, but I don't like failure.  As an adult with ADHD, I know far too much about failure to follow through (look - a bunny!) I often take on more than I can handle - get frustrated, and quit rather than completing the task below the stated goal.  It ends up becoming an all or nothing proposition. Either I achieve the goal - winning on every count - or quit, because I can't stand to put in the effort and come up short. (If I fail to meet the goal because I didn't make the effort, it's a different story.)

My intention is to try and make realistic goals, so I can actually achieve them without feeling defeated before I begin.  If I find these goals to be too much I will revise them, but for now, this is what I'm taking on for 2013:

  1. Walk 30 minutes every day. 
  2. Budget $100 per week for food/groceries - and stick to it. This includes eating out. It does not include dog food or chicken food. It does not include cleaning supplies.
  3. Create a more structured daily schedule - and follow it.  Too often, I float through the day, not accomplishing the things I set out to do, because I'm not following a schedule. I'm hoping more structure will make me feel more productive, efficient, and effective. 
  4. Crochet - 1 square a week, plus other projects. (Finish the mixed stripe blanket, etc.) 
  5. Blog - once a week minimum. More is good. 
  6. Read again. I miss reading for fun. I used to do it all the time. Goal - at least one hour of "extra-curricular" reading each week. Reading tied to specific work projects doesn't count.
  7. De-clutter my house and my life. Remove 1 big bag of stuff each week.  It can be donated, recycled, or trashed, but it has to go. I have a terrible habit of accumulating stuff that "might be useful."  My husband and Thing One are bad about this, too.  Maybe I can get Thing Two to help..... she's ruthless about tossing things out. 
  8. Garden more efficiently and effectively this summer. We didn't produce much in the way of veggies last year, and this needs to change - especially with my food budget goal in place. (I will not count the cost of gardening in my food budget.) 
  9. Less television. Less Facebook and Pinterest. Not sure what goals I want to establish around this yet, but I know I want less of them in 2013.  Perhaps the parameters need to be built around accomplishing the other goals first? 
  10. When I fail, don't give up. I'm sure there are days I will not walk, and weeks I will not crochet a square, throw out a bag of stuff, or stick to the food budget. It's okay; I have permission to fail - but not to give up. There is always time to start again. 
What are your goals this year?


No comments:

Post a Comment