Did you set a New Years resolution?
I heard this from a few different people that only 8% of people who sets goals for themselves in a new year succeed. When you think of how many people set goals each year that is not many.
I feel I can say with a large amount of confidence, that people have the best of intentions and truly want to make there change that will impact their lives for the better. Why do you think it is, that people have the best of intentions starting a new year and then they fail?
For me it comes down to fear. Whether it be fear of change, fear that someone will judge you, fear you will fail or fear of the unknown. Feeling fear is enough to completely stop anyone from reaching their goals.
I know even myself, I am feeling fear right now as I type this this post. Wondering if this will resinate with anyone. Will someone make fun of me. How many people will judge me because of all the errors I am sure are in this post. I mean I did score high on writing test when I was in high school but that was years ago.
I am choosing to push through this fear. 1. Because I truly do enjoy writing (especially on my new computer) and 2. Because I feel like their is someone out there who needs to hear this message right now. Fear can either hold you back or drive you to be stronger. I am choosing to use it to fuel me to be in that 8% of people that reach their goals in 2020.
My girl, Rachel Hollis, says you can only focus on one dream at a time. While I 100% believe in that, I do have a few things I am focusing on right now and why I think I can make it all work it 2020.
Some of the things I vision for 2020 are this:
- Training for my half marathon
- Drinking more water
- Getting more sleep
- Eating all the veggies
- Completing craft projects
- Reading 1 book a month
- Keeping my house clean
- Saving money
- Paying off debt
- Writing my book (side note, this is very scary for me to even put in this post to share with the world)
Here is why I feel this is not too ambitious for me, some of these items go together. I have run a half marathon before and since I have worked out 6 days a week for a while I have already built the fitness habit. This does not mean it is not challenging, it is completely challenging adding running in, trying to get the right amount of training miles done and improve. I have a ways to go but I do have until the end of April so I will get there.
My half marathon, as I said above is in April. That means I only have that for about 3-4 months of 2020. I will continue fitness and running but less miles. Adding items is a little easier for me then removing. I have increased my water and try to make sure at every meal I have a serving of veggies. They are both health related and how I stay motivated to do this is because I feel so much better when I do.
I am crazy about sleep. I aim to get 7.5 hours of sleep every night. Since I get up around 4:30am weekday mornings that does sometimes mean by 7:30-8:00pm I am in bed sleeping. Now I know some week nights I do not get that accomplished. This week some unexpected things came up and since it was bible study week, which is a priority for me, I didn’t get to bed early that night either. It is just all about balance and if I get to bed early most nights of the week, when I go to bet a little later a night here or there it is still manageable. I do try to sleep in on the weekends, but usually my fur babies have my awake by 5:30am if I am lucky. I have transitioned to a morning person over the years so for the most part I do not mind.
The paying off debt and savings kind of go together. I have medical issues so I know my medical bills will cost a lot each year so putting that money in savings right away helps a ton. I do need to cut back on the shopping, but I do also save a lot of money too. My husband and I have a budget for the bills and that also allows us to focus on one bill and pay extra. Some times unexpected bills come up and they extra money goes to that but that is okay. I am just so grateful we have both the money to pay for those unexpected things and for my medical bills out of pocket. It is sad to me sometimes to know my savings is just for that but that is just what I have to expect. Being a person with medical issues it is better to be prepared that way and plan for.
The reading, cleaning and crafting I am putting into the “self care” category so to me that is a easy goal to work on. I have my cleaning that I have to do nightly, with 3 cats in the house and 1 outside they need food and litter boxes scooped daily. I am talking some of the deep cleaning you only get to maybe once a year if your lucky. That I plan to set a side 1-2 nights a week to work on one of them. So some nights it will be I clean something when I have a spare hour, the next night I plan to craft and so on. I also have been taking my crafting with when my husband shoots pool (yep I crochet in a bar lol). This way, I still get to spend quality time with my husband, we tend to make it a date and usually get food before/after and then he practices while I work on my hobby. It actually has been working out great doing and helped me to get some crafting done and not feeling guilty because I should be cleaning. I also only have a couple projects with true “deadlines” which means I can take my time and just enjoy the activity that is relaxing to me.
This is also how I plan to write my book, okay so maybe not taking my laptop with while he shoots pool. Although, that thought has crossed my mind. It has helped that I have a functional laptop again and can take it places if I choose too. I will also set aside time in the mornings or evening during the week and weekends to write. I have a goal to get it finished this year. I still need to work out the logistics of editing and publishing, but if I don’t write the book there will be no need for those items. Once I have a book that is when I will worry about that.
That got long so let me recap really quick. Fear can either hold you back or move you forward. I am choosing, this year to Embrace (my word for this year) fear and have it move me forward. I believe with planning and building habits anything is possible. My gaol list may look long but many of this items work together and I know when I drink my water, eat all the veggies and get all the sleep I have energy to do all of the things. It actually makes me feel like I have more time in my day!
I hope you are having a great 2020 so far and I want you to be in that 8% of people who reach their goals this year!
Embrace Fear!
Kimberly Van Iperen 