My New Year's Resolutions

The New Year is upon us. I love this time of year. As much as I love getting cozy and creative for Christmas, I am always eager to clear out the tree, take down the holiday decorations and have an uncluttered space both physically and emotionally. I love dwelling in possibility, planning, and being intentional about the kind of year I want to have. 

(Side note: I often think about how unpredictable and fragile life is, how everything could change in an instant and my life could be completely derailed, but I tap into the fear and the worry to find the energy to face forward and live the life I've always imagined while I have the opportunity to do so.)

I start the process of looking forward by actually look backward. Here were some of the highlights of 2015:

• Hosting a Reflection & Rejuvenation Party for a group of wonderful women
• Hosting a concert in our living room
• Traveling to the AMI Montessori Refresher Course
• Hosting a ton of visitors at our school for SXSWedu
• Traveling to the AMS Montessori conference
• Traveling to San Diego with my family for Spring Break
• Traveling to the Yale School of Management education reform conference
• Taking a Britney Spears dance class
• Traveling to Lake Tahoe with family
• Attending the Montessori Unconference
• Hosting a Reflection & Rejuvenation Retreat
• Traveling to Puerto Rico with just Matt
• Traveling to Florida for my grandparents' anniversary party
• Hosting two Backyard Movie Nights
• Taking Henry on a canoe trip with our school to see bats under the bridge
• Lots of date nights to the Alamo Draft House
• Joining our school camping trip for the afternoon
• Traveling to the Pacific Northwest for Fall Break
• Hosting a Halloween Party
• Finishing my Purposeful Parenthood Course

My goal for this year was "Balance." I definitely feel like I took major steps toward finding more balance in my life. My life is no longer just all work and mothering.

This year, I want to focus on "Health & Wellness." I want to get into the best shape of my life and figure out how to sustain it for the rest of my life. Here are my specific, measurable goals:

1. Start the year with the 21-day cleanse from Clean and work through a book about breaking the emotional eating habit. 
2. Eat more salads with dinner. 
3. Drink at least 80 ounces of water each day.
4. Run once on the weekend and once during the week. 
5. Go to yoga once a week. 
6. Do 15 minutes of strength building once a week (either MommaStrong or my back exercises). 
7. Cultivate a daily meditation and gratitude practice.
8. Publish five books. 
9. Clean and organize our house before the boys go to bed each night. 
10. Track our expenses in Mint.com daily so that we are able to hit our saving goals. 
11. Invite friends over monthly. 
12. Use my work time in the evening to clear out my inbox and do bigger-picture planning. Try to move all projects into slots during the work day.  
13. Reflect each month about how I'm doing toward these goals.

I know the research shows that New Year's Resolutions last about five minutes, but I think it's incredibly powerful to set them anyway. I went back to my journal from eight years ago, and this is the vision I wrote for my future:

1. We live in a beautiful house. It’s beautiful because it is surrounded by green and it is washed in natural light. And we have a very pleasing aesthetic sense. And it’s full of comfortable spots. Our home is our sanctuary and our inspiration and the center of our entertaining life.
2. We have friends over for ugly sweater parties and scavenger hunts and fondue and Scrabble and dance parties. We entertain outside with Christmas lights.
3. We have a garden. We grow food for ourselves. And lots of herbs.
4. I have time for projects during the weekends. I am not consumed with work.
5. I can work at home a few hours every day.
6. I have significant time for vacation.
7. I am passionate about my work. It does not feel like work. It feels like breathing.

The trick, I think, is to revisit these goals throughout the year. I want to get back into my monthly reflection posts. It helps me a lot!

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Join us for the upcoming Purposeful Parenthood course! We'll be reflecting on the kind of family we are and the kind of family we want to become. Learn more...Register now! We start next Monday!

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