Smart, realistic, and attainable goals for the year 2011

...because when I call them "New Year's resolutions," it never works out.

(Photo credit: Your Digital Space)

In no particular order, here are the things I want to focus on over the next year:

1. Keep up with this blog. In my opinion, I've been doing a great job at updating regularly and staying involved on Blogger during the month of December. I've written a ton, made some new friends, gained followers, and found tons of new blogs that quickly became daily must-reads for me. I haven't been this involved with my blog since back in July, when I first started!

If you'll notice, it seems like the only times I am a "good blogger" are those months that aren't completely swallowed up by classes. I want to make sure this doesn't become a recurring pattern in my blogging. Even though eight and a half months of 2011 will be consumed by school, I plan on putting aside enough extra time and energy to update regularly and stay in touch with all of my fellow bloggers. These past six months on Blogger have been wonderful and I don't want to lose touch with that this coming year.

2. Plan a budget regularly, and STICK TO IT. Let's be honest here... I have never been the smartest person when it comes to money. I've gotten a little better at planning and budgeting my income since I started college and was forced to become more independent, but I still have my moments where I make silly purchases and end up kissing the better part of my paycheck good-bye. I seem to think I don't need to be as frugal because I work so much, but I often forget that I have a $85-a-month phone bill to keep up with, or that I'm in charge of buying my own groceries, toilet paper, toiletries, etc. now that I have my own apartment. I've set goals in the past dealing with money management, but (obviously) nothing has worked out just yet. So this year I'm getting a little more specific with my goal. Instead of just saying, "I'll be smarter with my purchases," I plan on physically writing out lists every month of how much money I have, how much will be put back into savings, and how much will be allotted to things such as groceries, bills, and "fun stuff."

3. Lose 25 pounds. Yeah, it's actually happening this year. I've done a pretty good job at getting into shape and losing a little bit of weight since I started college (take that, Freshman Fifteen!!!) but I have yet to lose the substantial amount of weight that I've been vowing to shed since I was in my early teens. Getting rid of 2.08 pounds a month is totally doable, so there's no excuse if this time next year rolls around and I'm still unhappy with the way I look. If I lose more than that- great! But 25 is my goal for this year, just to prove to myself that it can be done.

4. Read two new novels a month. This sounds like such a silly goal for someone who's been a bookworm since the age of three. Unfortunately, college life and my work schedule have really gotten in the way of my "fun reading" time, and I absolutely hate that. I used to go through books like they were oxygen (or some other necessity that is essential to living) but this past year or so, I just haven't had time. I want to change that this year by resolving to read at least two new novels per month. I emphasize the word "new" because I'm very prone to pulling out my beat-up Harry Potter books and going through the series for the 32nd time. Re-reading my favorite books of all time is definitely not a bad thing, but I really want to make the time to expose myself to new material, as well.

5. (Successfully) participate in NaNoWriMo. I've started works for National Novel Writing Month the past two years in a row, but I never finished either. I started out great in 2009, but halfway through the month my computer crashed and I lost everything. In 2010, I started out not-so-hot and everything just went downhill from there... I would love it if 2011 were to become the year I finally win NaNoWriMo!

(If you've never heard of National Novel Writing Month, please please please check out their website for more info. Better yet- make an account and give it a shot this coming year! It's crazy and time-consuming, but loads of fun.)

6. Read through the Bible in a year. As with most everything on my list so far, this is something I've attempted in the past with less-than-satisfactory results. I've started out the past few years with a reading chart to help track my progress through the Bible but I always get discouraged and give up after missing a few days. Ideally, it shouldn't take more than 25 minutes a day to go through the Bible in year (the schedule I'm following says 30 minutes a day, but I've always been an extremely fast reader). With a simple increase in time management skills and a decrease in procrastination, I should have no problem checking this goal off my list once 2012 rolls around.

Of all the goals I'm setting for myself, I know that this one is the most important. My relationship with Christ has been on a roller coaster journey this past year, full of lots of spiritual highs interspersed with periods where I just feel so distant from Him. Simply reading my Bible every day won't fix this problem completely, but I know that by immersing myself in the Word, I will be more equipped and ready to spend my year honoring God and growing spiritually.

7. Drink more water. This one really is a no-brainer. I always say I'm trying to drink more water and less Sprite, but it just never happens... and I don't know why! I don't dislike the taste of water; it's actually one of my top beverages of choice. I know from experience that my skin clears up like magic when I rid my diet of pop, and that I feel better when I've been drinking water more than anything else... so why do I not opt for the H2O over Sprite or Tazo tea from Starbucks? Your guess is as good as mine. This will definitely be changing in 2011.

8. De-clutter my life, in a literal sense. Not all at once, because that would be one heck of a job. I have so much stuff! However, I would love to take things one category at a time- clothes, accessories, shoes, make-up, lotions and body sprays, all my random stuff in storage- and just start selling and donating everything. My friend Rachael jokingly refers to me as a hoarder, and although my case is nowhere near as severe as those featured on the TV show, I would be lying if I said I didn't have a problem. I have trouble getting rid of things, so I just keep everything! If I could focus on clearing out one section every couple of months, I feel like I could really make a dent in all of the "stuff" I have lying around. Who knows? I may even man up and sell some of my hundreds of precious books... although, if we're being honest here, I have to point out that parting with my books would be a long shot.

(Photo credit: Drawing to an End)

9. Finish crocheting Amber's birthday blanket. At the beginning of 2010, I went on a crocheting kick. Starting towards the end of February I decided that I wanted to crochet a blanket for each of my sisters: two baby blankets for Maddie and Kellie, and a full-sized blanket for Amber. Their birthdays all fall between March 25th and April 6th, so these were meant to be birthday presents.

Well... I finished the baby blankets in time. The pink one pictured above is Maddie's, and Kelly got an identical yellow one. As for Amber's, I got a pretty decent start on it but soon gave up as soon as I realized there was no way it would be done in time for her birthday on April 5th. I made a new goal, to finish the blanket by the end of the school year. That didn't happen. So I moved the goal to the end of summer. That didn't happen, either. Since this past spring, I think I've finished maybe three more rows on Amber's blanket. Other than that, it hasn't been touched! I would love to find the time to either finish that work in progress or start on a brand new one. I promised Amber a blanket, made by me, and by golly, she's gonna get one!

10. Stop caring so much... about being single, that is. It astounds me when I step back and realize just how much of my time, energy, thoughts, emotions, hope, and tears were wasted on silly boy situations over the past year and a half. If I had a quarter for every time I went through the whole schpeal of getting my hopes up, being let down, and suffering the consequences (in most cases, dealing with the same individual), I'd... well, I don't know what I'd do, but item number two would be crossed off of this list for sure. I would love to be able to just have fun and enjoy life without worrying about what he thinks or what he's doing or how he feels about me. Unfortunately this is much easier said than done, but I have a feeling that with the help of God and some very wonderful best friends, it's totally attainable. Just look all the goals I'm setting for myself over the next year: who has time to worry about the opposite sex, anyhow?

11. Successfully complete Project 365. I almost didn't include this one, because I just wrote about Project 365 on Tuesday (see here), but I gave it about 2 seconds of thought and decided otherwise. This challenge is something I hope to take pretty seriously during 2011, so it definitely falls under the category of "smart, realistic, and attainable goals for the year 2011." I won't say much more than that, though- just read Tuesday's blog entry for more info!

12. Have at least one "au naturale" day per week. I am aware that to some people, "au naturale" translates to "naked" or "nude." But don't worry; you can rest assured that I will not be going nakey on a weekly basis. I will, however, avoid all make-up and hair styling products at least once awake, going throughout my day with a fresh face and natural hair. I'm not a huge fan of not blow-drying or straightening my hair, and I can't say I feel 100% confident going out in public without a drop of make-up on, but in my opinion that's all the more reason to set this goal. Besides, it'll be good to give my skin and hair a rest every once in awhile. I don't always treat them the best.

Sans make-up. Air-dried, unbrushed hair. I may not feel my prettiest like this, but there's no denying how much of a relief it is to not spend an hour applying cosmetics to my face and heat to my hair.

12. Get enough sleep. If I want to be even the slightest bit successful in my endeavors for this year, I absolutely cannot stay up all night and sleep the day away whenever I'm given the chance. I know I'll maintain a normal, healthy sleeping schedule throughout the week during this upcoming semester, because I have early classes every day and my days will be jam-packed, but I would rather not slack off and turn into a night owl on weekends and breaks. This year will be all about time management for me, and improving my time management skills just isn't realistic when I'm sleeping odd hours.

13. Put the phone down every once in awhile. Cell phones are fabulous. I'm sure nearly anyone would agree with that statement. However, that doesn't mean it's acceptable to be texting and/or surfing the Web via one's cell phone during every spare second of the day. I've noticed lately that my cell phone is either in my hand, on my lap, or sitting somewhere within a two-foot radius of my body at all times. Why is that?! Nothing horrible will happen if I don't reply to that text message within five seconds of receiving it. Nobody will die if I miss a call every now and then. The world isn't going to explode if I don't check my Facebook 23,048,134 times a day. Honestly.

14. Give back. Like number six, this is another big one. I'm not a total stranger to volunteer work and charitable organizations, but I really want to put forth some extra effort to get more involved and give back during 2011. I've been blessed out the wazoo this past year and it seems downright selfish to not try and pay that forward. I know of a few organizations that I would love to work with this year (look for blog posts concerning those in the near future!), but if you have any extra suggestions, please let me know.

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Thus concludes my monster list of goals for 2011. You may be thinking, "Wow, Megan. That's a lot of tasks that you've set for yourself." And to that, I say: "Yeah... I know. Crap."

But in all seriousness, although I know I'll have a lot on my plate even without blogging and reading and taking pictures and writing novels and crocheting blankets and going to the gym, I'm super excited for the upcoming year. God blessed me immensely this past year, and I can't even imagine what He has in store for me over the next twelve months.

If you've set any new, unique, or exciting goals for yourself for the upcoming year, I'd love to hear them! If you haven't given it a lot of thought, or if you've just got some random ideas bouncing around in your head, I highly recommend that you take a few minutes to write them all down. Even a simple list will do; you don't have to go all out and write a novel like I just did. Putting your goals down on paper (or on the computer), along with a brief reason why you set that goal, will serve as motivation and encouragement for you as you set out to achieve them. I wish you all nothing but the best in 2011! God bless.