New Year's Resolutions...

In all honesty, I have never made a New Year's Resolution. Not one. I am a firm believer in goals and have always had long and midterm goals. For the last three years (I have a three year old), I have had great success with short term goals - often of the "living through the bedtime routine without killing anyone" variety. But a New Year's resolution feels like a goal doomed to failure from the moment of its making.
   After much thought, I believe most of them fail because they are too grand or too vague or too much out of our control. For instance, "I will be healthier" or "I will be a better parent" or "I will lose 20 lbs." What does healthier really mean? Better parent? How do you succeed at something you can hardly even define. Lose 20 lbs - This may seem like an infinitely reasonable resolution, but for those of you who have made it, and failed at it, could it not be because  the loss of weight isn't the root of the problem? The loss of weight will come if, for instance, you make your short term goals to be things more reasonable and controllable, i.e. portion control, no more coca cola, an apple instead of chips, etc.
   Also- a resolution for a whole year? I may have a better attention span than a three year old, and I may not be the queen of procrastination anymore, but a year is a flipping long time to wait to judge success. So why not have small, doable, measurable, controllable goals and re-evaluate every month? Why not have these in all the large grandiose vague areas of our lives in which we sense we need improvement?
   This is what I propose to do. I am going to set several goals every month. Simple things like - I will do 50 crunches everyday in January. I will institute more routine in my children’s lives by adding these four activities to our day. The idea being that in February, I will have built a habit of doing 50 crunches. Chances are high I will have found a space in my current routine for them. So in February I can add “Walk for 20 min on treadmill” and do 75 crunches. Also my kids will be accustomed to the four small activities I have added to our routine and the addition of a few more will be no big deal.
    Now at this stage, it is helpful to have some big, lofty goals to help inform what your small monthly tidbits will be. Those might be the picture or words you write on your bathroom mirror to inspire and encourage you on the days you fail (there will be days you fail). But I’m hoping with monthly check-ins with myself, there will be more accountability, more small successes to breed bigger ones. Also, should a single month completely get away from you, you don’t have to wait for next January to start over. Just jump back in on the first of the next month.

   Here are my January goals (no judging - we all have different areas to improve)

1. Fifty crunches a day. 25 Leg lifts with son as weight (You laugh but, my word, I’ve done it for three days and I am SORE). 15 min on treadmill- 5x/week. 
2. Daily take 2 Mito2max and 2 Omegas. Also take three triease gels per week to keep sinuses in check (Mon - Wed - Fri.). 
3. Reduce Dr. Pepper intake. Increase water intake. (This is vague - I know.)
1. I currently drink a can of dr. pepper a day. (sometimes two.)
2. I currently drink a glass of water a day
4. Add Routine to our daily lives in the form of daily doing :
1. Monkey bars with CG and RM - 3x/day
2. Word cards with CG
3. Catechism with both
4. Bible verse with Roe
5. Phonics activity with Roe
5. Pointed prayer and bible study with accountability partner. Touch base at least four times a week. 
6. Spend at least 15 min of any simultaneous rest time my kids give me cleaning.
7. At least one, kid free date opportunity with Hubby. 
8. Write at least one more blog during the month of January.
9. Schedule and plan at least one oils class.