I know, I know. It’s almost February and I’m just posting my goals for the new year. But I’m still having trouble to remember to write “2012” instead of “2011” on all of our checks and I’m finally just now feeling settled in the new year.
I already did a post about how I want the theme/word of the year to be “quiet.” You can read that here.
When I created my list of goals, I thought of things that I want to do, things I need to do and things that I can do to help my family and me.
1. Read through the Bible. TC and I are doing this together and so far we’re both on track. I’m really enjoying it. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and have just been intimidated. Since TC is doing it with me, I have accountability and we can discuss it. And we do discuss it most nights.
2. Stick to a spending limit of buying one clothing item (or fewer) for myself per month. And pretty much stop buying crap. No more purchases unless it’s a necessity. This will obviously help me stop bringing useless, wasteful things into our home and it will help us save money.
3. Log my calories daily using My Fitness Pal. And gosh darn it. Lose 25 pounds in 2012. For real.
4. Wake up at 6:00 a.m. on weekdays to complete my Bible reading assignment for the day and my Jesus Calling devotional. Use whatever time is left before the boys wake up at 7:30 a.m. to blog and respond to emails.
5. Read at least 25 books in 2012. I read 20 books in 2011 and really slowed down when Hayes was born. I am much more relaxed when I’m reading. Watch minimal TV and unplug more.
6. Meal plan weekly. Stay current with chores daily and maintain an organized home. We spend so much less money on food when I stick to a good meal plan. And the laundry mound is much more manageable when I do a little bit every day.
7. Don’t eat fast food! Well… except for Chick-fi-A on Wednesdays after school. Hudson’s weekly “treat” is to eat Chick-fil-A after school on Wednesdays and we love the Christian Chicken. So that’s when we’ll break the “no fast food” goal.
8. Don’t drink Diet Coke. I didn’t quit cold turkey, but I’ve only had about five total Diet Cokes since the start of 2012. Not too bad. I know eventually I’ll stop wanting it. Maybe? Hopefully.
What are your goals for the new year?
Great goals Erin! I share the meal planning one and am trying to make more time to be organized this year. Thanks for sharing.
Adrienne
I have started morning Bible reading too and am loving it. I had done devotional books for so many years that I had gotten away from reading the actual Word!
I also am striving to be more relaxed/calm. It is so hard (as you well know) with 2 toddlers who know which buttons to push (even though they can be SO stinkin’ cute!). I don’t want to stay in a tizzy when I am at home with them so I am striving to stay more calm when handling the tantrums.
Our financial goal is to continue with Dave Ramsey until we get my vehicle paid. We paid my husbands truck off in 6 months so I know we can do it if we stick to it!
Great resolutions, Erin. Happy New Year!
Great list Erin! I’ve been trying to do more meal planning as well. I started a recipie binder so I can have a nice place to put all the ideas I find in magazines and such. I am trying to get up a little earlier and add some of my morning routine to my wind down routine (set out clothes, pack my lunch, prep breakfast etc) so I’m not so rushed in the morning. Thank you for sharing, I enjoy your posts!
These are good goals! I want to lose 20 pounds or so, quit drinking so much Coke (I hate diet, so it is such empty calories!!!), and pay down debt and save save save. We are saving to pay cash for a car…hopefully we can have a lot saved this year because it goes hand and hand with when we feel we will be financially ready for a baby (and I want a baby bad!)
Erin….those goals sound so manageable!! Good for you!! I am reading through the Bible also. I have been using the One Year Chronological Bible and participating on an online study via Proverbs31.org (Wendy Pope). She does a vlog daily on the day’s reading. I also want to read more this year. I’m anxiously awaiting your 2012 reading list!!! Happy (belated) New Year!!
I’m trying to same thing with Diet Coke! Its really alarming how hard it is to stop drinking it. I just love having a cold diet coke with lunch or a big fountain soda while running errands. Oh well…good luck to you!
Love your goals! I’m also striving to wake up around 6:00 every morning to do my quiet time and spend time in the Word…. but, I have a 4 month old who sometimes decides not to sleep through the night which makes it so so so hard to wake up at 6:00. I also want to read more. It’s so relaxing and enjoyable. =) And I need to be more active and get out more… playing with my 3 year old, running errands, and just getting out of the house. Thanks for sharing your goals and reminding me of mine. =)
Good goals! My big goal is to memorize the book of James. I am doing it with two other ladies so I actually do it.
-Ashley
http://pencilleddaydream.wordpress.com
Love that so many of your goals revolve around Jesus! That’s one of my big ones for this year too…diving in to my bible more! I am sooooo bad about it! I can find just about ANY excuse to NOT read it!
Those are great goals. I have started using one of the chronological Bible reading plans and I am enjoying it so far.
Awesome goals and I have to agree I couldnt resist Chick-Fil-A either:)
i gave up coke (not a diet coke fan) this past summer and i’ll be honest I still think it sounds good every once in a while but i don’t really miss it! i started slow by limiting myself to one a week and then so on and so forth! you can do it! i love the bible challenge, and I think its awesome that you’re waking up early so you can focus solely on that. it will be truly rewarding!
I’ve not finished making my goals this year yet. Time keeps slipping. My mom taught me to make goals in the 4 areas of life. Mental, Spiritual, Physical, and Social/Emotional. I make 1-2 goals in each area. Here are some goals I’m wanting to do in 2012.
-Read 125 books in 2012. Reading keeps me sane.
-Lose 50 lbs. I have no idea how long this is going to take, but I seriously need to lose some weight.
-Study scriptures daily/pray daily
-Save money so we can visit my family in America and my in-laws in Portugal. We miss them more than I can say. We live in Scotland.
-Spend less money. Period.
I have other smaller goals that I’m making a list of like a to-do list but to be completed quarterly. Hopefully I’ll get everything done. I was a slacker in 2011.
Well, duh. You can’t cut out chick-fil-a. That would be a tragedy 😉
I gave up diet coke a few months ago cold turkey. I’m so glad I did. You’ll get there 🙂 And 25lbs? Girl you can do that 😉 (Although you do look great, but I know that *you* know your body better than anyone else). And all the books you’re going to read? I’m jealous. I so wish I was a reader. I’m not. I just don’t/can’t get into books and I feel sad about it. Boo. And I love the 1 item a month rule, but omggggg I can’t do thattttttt. (My husband would LOVE IT though. HA).
I’m with you on the diet coke and the only fast food that is on our approved list is CFA!
I am such a slacker when it comes to reading which is completely uncharacterisitc of me. I have always been a big reader, but lately I feel so caught up in everything else. I think I need to set a goal so I that I will really make time for it. I need to go back and take a look at your past reading lists to get some ideas for new books to read!
Also, Allen and I read the Bible together every morning and it has become a time I really cherish. It makes for a great start to the day.
Great goals for the New Year 🙂
Sounds like some good goals. Mine primarily revolve around working out and eating better. One of the biggest that is not about that is not worrying so much about my daughter being “behind.”
http://kymommy.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-year-goals.html
I LOVE Jesus Calling! So motivational! It took me a long time, but I finally did stop craving soda. It’s always going to taste better than water, at least to me, but it does get better! And Chick-Fil-A is supposed to be the healthiest fast food restaurant- so that’s good!
Love you goals! I wish my baby would sleep until 7.30am every morning! Wow.. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself heh! I think I need to do a post on my goals. Good thinking 🙂
You’ll definitely stop wanting the Diet Cokes. I quit drinking sodas altogether just before I got pregnant and those cravings went away. Until I got the stinking flu and NOTHING tasted good. So I started drinking them again then because they tasted the least bad of everything. Bummer. Now I’m hooked again and trying to find the courage to start over. Dr. Pepper is my vice. =(
I love your goals! I am trying to save money too, so am also trying to limit myself to one clothing purchase per month. This isn’t an easy change for a person who loves clothes and loves to shop, but it would make a big difference in my life. As of tomorrow,for the first time in ages, I will have come to the end of a pay period WITH MONEY LEFT IN MY CHECKING ACCOUNT!! It is a great feeling, and it is because over the past two weeks, I didn’t buy a bunch of crap that I didn’t need anyway. Hopefully, this goal will work out for both of us 🙂 Good luck to everyone with their plans for 2012!
Typically I would have goals very similiar to all the ones listed, but this year I am going to take on the mode of survival and that might just be enough for my family. I am pregnant with our second child and our first is turing one on Sunday. We recently sold our house (praise the LORD), but haven’t found a new house yet, so we are surviving in a small rental house until we find our ‘dream’ home. So taking care of our family, finding a new house and finding energy and time to do all the ‘normal’ day to day chores are on my list this year!
What great goals! I am trying to go to bed earlier and get up earlier so I can be more organized for my day. Also trying to do more meal planning. Many blessings for you and yours in 2012!
Our goals are so similar! I guess both being Christian, stay-home moms of two young ones (although mine are girls and they are 6 and 3 now), (and I’m considerably older than you, I think–33), it would make sense that we’d have similar goals. What’s sad about that is the weight loss goal. . .since you had a baby last year, you have a really, really good reason to need to lose a few pounds. The fact that my “baby” turned three a few weeks ago? Yeah. I should not still need to lose that weight. Oh, and where you need to lose 25, I need to lose 45. Woo hoo.
But we also have the scripture reading goal–although for us it’s a goal to read the whole thing as a family, from a really good children’s version. Our girls are old enough to sit and listen really well, and it’s time to have them know the scripture stories as well as they know the Francis stories, Thomas stories, Peter and Lotta stories, etc. We’ve been doing pretty well on it so far, just slipping in the scriptures before we do the other books in the bedtime routine.
Diet Coke. . .usually when I’m being really super good I allow myself one per week, on the weekend. But I haven’t had one in 10 days right now, so I’m feeling really good about that!
And ditto on all of the menu planning and home keeping stuff. The menu planning is honestly made exponentially harder by the weight loss goal, because when I need to lose weight I actually have to eat way, way differently from my family in order to lose. I have to do basically no carbs and almost all raw foods (except chicken and fish), and I’m certainly not going to subject my family to that just because I have an incredibly difficult metabolism. We eat really healthy already, with tons of fresh fruits and veggies. But when I’m dieting I have to do two completely separate meal plans, and then cook separate meals. It’s tough! So time consuming, not to mention tempting when I want to eat what I’ve made for *them* instead of what I’ve made for myself. One day at a time, right?
I’ll look forward to being inspired by the progress you’re making. 🙂
Your 2012 goals sound great and also manageable! Keep us posted on how the whole Diet Coke thing is going. I occasionally try to kick the habit, but it’s just soo good that I never last more than 5 days.
Are you reading the bible following one of the chronological reading plans? Reading the entire bible is one of my big goals this year too, but I’m struggling with choosing which way to read it. My other big goal is getting through the adoption process…my husband and I are adopting a baby so it should be quite an adventure!