2012: Waking is Better Than Sleeping

It’s probably a little late for New Year’s resolutions, but I wanted to record mine here so that I can remember when I’m further down this road. None of my goals this year have anything to do with work, but I feel that this will be a productive year, nonetheless.

Last year I worked too hard and had more than a few stress-induced melt downs. I’m learning better boundaries and moving into a new time. Finding a balance at work hinges entirely on getting your insides in order. Otherwise you’re just like a hamster in an ever-spinning wheel, waiting to get out. It leaves you feeling like nothing has any significance.

2012: Quietness, Contentment, Devotion.

This year I am taking more time to do non-work-related things every day. Already I am having a better year spending more time with my husband, not answering emails after hours, not letting everyone else’s emergencies become my own.

Last year nearly every night before I went to bed, I wanted to cry. I always felt so far behind on everything I had intended to do. I’m not going to live like that this year. Thank God for a husband who was able to see the bigger picture and helped me find a better way.

Yoga 21 Day Challenge

I’ve been participating in the 21 Day Yoga Challenge, which basically involves completing 1 yoga practice per day, eating 1 vegetarian meal per day and spending at least 15 minutes in meditation. I’m not sure the reason for the vegetarian meal but I already gravitate towards fruits, grains, and dairy in general so that’s not hard.

Yoga has been a valuable help to my goal of de-stressing this year. It also helps you to be more aware of your body, decrease unhealthy impulses, and improve posture. It’s something I can do every day no matter the weather and sometimes I combine it with P90X (since my husband is doing that) to get more cardio. I’ll post a review of some of the yoga videos I’ve tried in case anyone is looking for recommendations.

2012 Goals:

A few of the less-personal and non-work goals I’m aiming for:

Giving: I want to use the skills I already have to help support the ministries of people who are hands-on in the dark corners of the world. I think that will help to make my work more meaningful. This is a start and there’s more that I want to organize but I don’t have it all worked out yet. My mother-in-law gave me a really good little book for my birthday called “Orphans, Widows, the Poor and Oppressed” by Derek Prince that has tons of verses in it for discovering God’s heart for the needy. I want to find a more strategic way of giving this year.

Reading: There’s a long list of books I want to read this year but never seem to have time to get to. As with most things, I think the best way is to just start giving a few minutes each day.

Getting Up Early: While usually more of a night person, I’ve found that the few days I do get up before 7am, there seems to be so much more time. So this year I’d like to explore the benefits of rising early and see where that goes. Maybe I’ll document that here for accountability’s sake. 😉

Drink More Water: This is kind of silly one but really necessary, because I never drink enough water and it’s really good for your organs, skin and general health.

Make More Things with Pretty Pixels: I want more time to design this year – logos, backgrounds, websites, more time to play with typography. I’m hoping to be able to set aside at least 4 days per month when I can get lost in colors and fonts.

Too much inspiration and no execution drives me mad. That’s something I hope to change this year. What are your new year’s resolutions? I’d love to know. 🙂 Staying accountable on these types of things really seems to boost motivation.