This is a time of year that's centered on making resolutions and I've seen many bloggers resolving to focus on themselves and their needs more than in the past. It seems like for many of us 2012 was a time for trying new things, testing the limits and stretching in new ways. I love the idea that 2013 could be a time to become more intentional and discerning with our time and energy. That's certainly a skill that I'm working on myself!
Last year I made resolutions on top of resolutions, and when I looked back at the list I made there were only a handful of things from that giant list that were a real part of my year. On top of that, my resolutions were all about [rad-hl]change[/rad-hl] and [rad-hl]doing[/rad-hl], and when life popped up (like buying a home & moving studios!) it immediately toppled my plans for how life was going to look.
This year I'm taking a different approach that shifts my focus to [rad-hl]being[/rad-hl] different in my daily life. I've set priorities for 2013 and am scheduling goals each month that line up with those priorities. I'm being more kind to myself and gentler with the people around me. I'm taking on fewer projects so what I take on will get all of my focus and energy. I'm looking forward to feeling the difference!
These are the five priorities I set for this year:
- Take care of myself emotionally & physically
- Create meaningful, high quality work
- Nourish my relationships with friends & family
- Make space for opportunity and possibility
- Have more fun, ease and rest in my way of being in the world
The way that I'm living these out (that's hippie talk for scheduling!) in January are…
- Get up early to read & move around on most mornings– For me, moving around means yoga, pilates or a long walk. This is going to give me a lot to look forward to every day!
- Blog at least once per week – I'm aiming for twice or three times, but am starting slow.
- Stop working in the evenings and on the weekends – Unless it's an emergency I've realized that I have to cut back on my work hours so I can be as positive, energized and creative as possible when I'm with clients and the people I work with. (This is going to be a mega hard one for me to stick with! Deep breaths…)
- Keep track of my accomplishments so I can celebrate them – I'm learning to savor what goes well when it happens and after it's happened.
- Take a weekend retreat that's just for me, to plan, rest & reconnect! – This month I'm traveling to San Francisco with Stratejoy's amazing Elevate Mastermind program to meet the other women in the group and get started on a year of inspiration & change! I can't wait for the adventure and the clarity I have on the other side of this program, or to meet the amazing women who will be there. I have goosebumps already!
Do you make resolutions or goals at this time of year?
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LAST UPDATED ON: January 10th, 2013
CATEGORY: All Business & Blogging Posts Content Marketing Strategy
yes and more yes girl! resolutions are flying left and right plus i really sense an evolution of spirit for so many peeps going into 2013. it’s been quite a rush from the start i’d have to say.
i think it’s great how you took your break, re-mastered your mix and now have a heavy duty spin burning like spirited wildfire. self development and learning our deal breakers; what works, what doesn’t is key as we get older and hopefully wiser. these goals are something i aspire to reach also. the words you’ve used like care, create, nourish, ease make my mind and soul feel restful just reading about them.
happy “ess eff” trip!!! sounds all kinds of amazing. i was there for my 1st time in Sept and loved every single second. it’s an awesome bomb that never ends. cheers + charms to a fab 20XIII Kyla. may it be everything and more for your sweet heart to be infused with goodness!
Thank you so much Lynn, what a sweet comment to wake up to! I’m getting the same sense of possibility and hope from all the blogs I’ve been reading. It’s so exciting to see all the ideas and positivity swirling around.
I hope that your 2013 is off to a great start and is also (love your words here!) an awesome bomb that never ends :)
I love this post!! Great goals, I like how you’re focusing on “being” instead of “changing”. Can’t wait to see how 2013 plays out for you : )
Love it! And how fun you are heading to California this week :) Great goals and look forward to seeing how they play out as 2013 progresses for you.
I love your new blog design Kyla! I don’t know how *new* it is but anyway it’s awesome :)
You have some great goals/intentions. I like that you’re getting back to blogging- I missed you around here! Look forward to seeing more from you in coming weeks as you get back into it.
Thank you Melissa! I’ve been having lots of fun with it. There are still some changes I’d like to make, but fiddling with the dials is half the fun :)
AH resolutions and short term goals! Hopefully will have to finish up my post on my 2013 goals tonight.
Not working outside of business hours should be on my goal list but it’s not!
xo
I like the “keep track of my accomplishments” goal – it’s always so easy to forget about the awesome things we’ve done when we get bogged down with other stuff. Happy moving around :)
These monthly goals look great! I created a massive list of resolutions for 2013 and I know I won’t achieve all of them, but they give me a good basis of what I want to focus on this year. And I’m creating monthly intentions that will help me achieve those massive goals – little by little. :)
Great intentions for this month and glad to see your posts popping up in my Reader again.
Oh, I wish you lived near me and we could go out and get some tea and talk about the challenges and joys of the work we do!
Not working at night is a DREAM, but with a toddler at home, I feel like it’s a necessary evil (unless I want to pay for child care…). Alas. It’s the price for a great job! :)
Oh my goodness, Ashley I would LOVE to do that, we should try via the magic of Skype! If you every have the time please let me know, it would make my whole week :)
I love to make goals and resolutions but I tend to make them mid-January as I wait for my birthday to be out the way first.
I like the mindufulness in your goals. I might sneak a few of those into mine, including getting up earlier!
x
I love that you have some high level resolutions for the year that you’re going to implement through monthly goals. Nice! Last year, I did the annual resolutions for the first time in a long time … and was sort of sick of thinking about them by the time October rolled around. This year, I ditched the annual goals in favor of monthly intentions. We’ll see how it goes…
I did monthly goals last year but I completely forgot about them by the end of March. Whoops! This year I set a few BIG goals (running a 10k, starting my own business, and saving as much money as I can!) – I think I can be more flexible (and less stressed!) that way, especially with a new baby coming in March. The Stratejoy Mastermind program sounds exciting!
I love how you organized your goals into monthly intentions… I imagine it makes them a lot easier to accomplish!! Good luck with all your goals! :)
Thanks Dayna- it definitely makes it all feel more possible :)
I love your goals, lady and yes! I love making my own. Right now I’m mainly focusing on my word of the month which is Accomplish, along with my goals. So far we’ve decluttered (I ordered a dumpster and we got rid of everything junky, like boxes gifts were sent in, old papers, etc.), I found Jen a good psychiatrist and a regular family doctor, found a lawyer for myself so I can battle my SSDI denial, am working on finding us a care manager, moved a lot of bloggers from GReader into Bloglovin’, updated my blog layouts and sent some interview q’s to my Blogger of The Month. PHEW!!!
I know pushing myself isn’t very good, but sometimes, I need to. Than in Feb, I will have SO much done!!!
I love how you’ve mapped out your main goals, and how that will look this month. It makes it really live-able, you know? Good luck, I know you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to!
These are all so great and achievable! I love that you’re shaping the year so each month can be stand alone yet still go along with everything! (If that made sense). And “that’s hippie talk for scheduling” – LOVE!
I need to make my goals for the year (still have to listen to that last Stratejoy call) but my theme for the year is shimmer which is definitely more introspective for me!
Monthly goals sounds very doable! I like that idea. You could always continue your goals from one month to the next as well.
Definitely, that’s a great point Melissa. I actually have a big worksheet of the ways I want to act out these intentions and I’m using it as a jumping off point. Some are projects that I’ll work toward, others are monthly, weekly or daily habits that I’m trying to have catch on in my life. No matter what, this is the opposite of what I did last year (forgetting them lol) so I’m looking forward to seeing a change in the outcome.
My only resolution is to take care of me.
Ooh, lovely. I’m starting to think that’s all the resolution any of us needs.
Lovely post, it is inspirational goals and projets!
Happy 2013!
Olive xox
Happy 2013 to you too, Olive! xo
Hi Kyla! I fell into the same thing last year of making too many goals. Looking back at my resolutions made me sad because I didn’t even remember what they were to begin with. Good idea with making daily intentions. Good luck with this month’s! I’m sure you’ll rock ’em!
I made some of my own and just posted them. I tried to think of tasks as well instead of just making general goals. I think I need to make monthly intentions and go a step further. Thanks for the inspiration.
I’m glad these sparked something for you, Joanna. That’s always so neat to hear about! I didn’t remember my 2012 goals either- I found them in a GIANT TWO PAGE SPREAD in a notebook I keep and was blown away by how much I’d packed into the pages and then forgotten. No matter how I keep them as touchstones, I’m resolved to keep them more present this year. I’m going to post my intentions each month along with my goals and am going to re-read my whole giant list every other week so I don’t forget it.
Such great goals! It’s so hard to keep yourself from working too much. I would like to spend more time doing things I enjoy. I spent a lot of time last year building business relationships and this year, I’d like to focus more on myself.
Those sound like fabulous goals! The biggest help I’ve found so far is scheduling what I want to get done into my calendar. I have a slew of reoccurring reminders that are keeping me on track. How are you keeping your goals in mind?
Great goals! I’m with you on the not working evenings or weekends thing, but it’s sooooo hard!
I posted all my resolutions here: http://eef-etc.com/2013-resolutions/
It is really hard, isn’t it Erin? I find that when I do it, by Friday I have no gas in my tank and it’s hard to give when I’m running on empty. I’ll head over to see yours later this morning- thanks for the link!