Last year I only made two goals. That was because I was so desperate to improve my health that I was afraid more would distract me. Now that my lifestyle has changed for the better, I’d like to have more variety.
So I decided to set 14 goals for 2014 and have categorized them into three areas of my life. Some of the bigger ones will have a shorter timeframe benchmark so I can attack them in bite-size pieces. Also, I using the SMART goal methodology.
Smart Goals must be specific, measurable attainable, realistic and have a timeframe. Unless otherwise stated the timeframe is by December 31, 2013.
Health
1. Lose 30 pounds in 2014. This is definitely one I’m breaking down by quarter. I will strive to lose 10 pounds in the first quarter.
2. Exercise 5-6 times a week. I track my activity on EveryMove (a free app) where I can earn rewards for exercise so it’s trackable. Friend me if you try it!
3. Track Food 6 out of 7 Days. When I don’t track is when trouble happens with the scale. The reason I said6 days instead of daily is I don’t want to be have failed if one day is missed due to travel or whatever life circumstance. Most days is good enough. It’s when I skip weeks the problems happen.
4. Complete 6 Race Events. I did one organized race event in 2013 and it was at the very end of year. But I liked it so this year I’m going to aim for six. The first one is Saturday.
5. Go 100% Soda-Free. I used to drink 2-3 cans of soda a day and cut back a great deal in 2013. I gave myself permission to have soda at restaurants, etc. and the next thing you know I’m drinking it (although 1 can a day) at home again. This year I don’t have permission to drink it anywhere.
Blogging
1. Start a Blog Carnival. I want to start a health and wellness blog carnival where readers can find contributions from this blog community each week.This is probably the goal I feel is most challenging. What if I start it and no one comes? But failure of an idea doesn’t mean failure so it’s there.
2. Write Every Day in January. I wrote 23 posts in November and that was a month I was on vacation for six days! Last month (with no travel time) I only wrote 12. I want to kick the year off with great habits and will post every day in January.
3. Create an eBook. I’ll share more details once the eBook is done, but I’m actually halfway done so I plan to have this one done by June 30th. It will be a free download for new subscribers.
4. Change Blog Theme. A blog theme (for those that don’t blog) is the design framework. I’ve had the Thesis theme for a few years and find the recent upgrades to have made it more difficult to use. Plus I’m tired of how I’ve designed it and don’t make enough income from this venture to pay someone. So I’m going to buy the Genesis framework in 2014 and refresh Weight Chronicles.
Personal
1. Max Contribution to 401K and IRA. I’m behind (as most in my generation) in retirement savings so have been maxing out both my 401K and IRA contributions the past two years. I’m going to do it again in 2014. The 401K contribution is automatic but I have to save for my IRA contribution so writing it down puts it uppermost in my mind each month.
2. Get Showers Rebuilt. We have three showers in our home but two of them need tiling work before we can use them. Between travels and other higher priority projects we haven’t gotten them fixed quickly so we plan to do it this year. They’ll get started at least in the first quarter.
3. Plan Outing with Someone Quarterly. I’m the worst at asking someone to get together for coffee or an event. Two people did it to me during the past six months and I was thrilled someone wanted to get to know me better. I’m going to make more of an effort. After all, if Denise hadn’t asked me for coffee we might never have become friends.
4. Read Six Books Not for Review. I’m offered books to read all the time for reviews but they’re usually informational. I hadn’t read a single book for pleasure until our two week vacation in October and really enjoyed losing myself in a story.
5. Declutter My Home. I am often donating, selling or giving away items in our home. But somehow they keep accumulating. Don’t get the idea I live in a hoarders situation; far from it. I just like a minimalist look so want to get rid of more stuff. I will tackle a room a month until the house is done…for this year.
- January: Office
- February: Guest Room
- March: Bathrooms
- April: Bedroom
- May: Kitchen
- June: Living/Dining Rooms
These are my goals and personal challenges for this new year. What are you going to accomplish in 2014?
I hope you’ll be able to meet your goals before the year ends. They look doable and realistic enough!
I like that you are breaking down your weight loss goals into quarters. You must have caught the race bug 😉
Oh wow, you have a lot of big blog goals as well, but it looks like you can knock out a couple early on.
Building relationships is something that I am working on this year as well.
Great goals! I would join a carnival if you set one up! 🙂
Hi Stephanie,
Happy New Year! I will come knocking when I get it set up. 🙂
Great goals, Kay Lynn! We share several areas of focus and I hope we can work together to double our chances of success, particularly in the area of decluttering and more frequent posting. My logic here is that if I tell you what my schedule for posting is supposed to be, you can hold me accountable and then I might actually stick with it (although probably not in January because work is just INSANE until mid-February)!
That sounds good. Let me know your schedule and I’ll help you keep on track. I’d be happy to help any way I can with your goals and certainly appreciate the offer to help me.
Those are great goals! It can be hard to write goals that are both realistic and a little bit of a stretch.
One of my main goals for 2014 is to get back to my WW goal weight and to increase my activity to 5 times a week.
I find that for me I do better if I also set monthly – or even weekly – goals. It is much easier to meet those than to really even be thinking about the long-term goals.
Hi Kitty, I just visited your blog and read your list of goals. That’s a great, doable list. I think making the big goals bite size is the only way to be successful.
If you need any tips on organizing, let me know!
Thanks, Sharon. Most of my decluttering is just getting rid of stuff we don’t use anymore.
Great goals!
I’m still working on mine for 2014 (I like to give myself until Epiphany to work it all out), but I’m definitely dealing with a lot of the same issues. It’s kind of nice to know that I’m not the only one, that I’m feeling behind but really I’m just being human.
Joy, I think you’ll be better off making goals when you know what end result you’re looking for and then can figure out what it will take to get there. I saw on your blog you’re participating in a New Year’s Resolution Reading Challenge which is great!
Wow, I love your goals for 2014! And I like how they are broken up quarterly. That was my problem in years past – come January 1 I would say “I’ll lose 20 pounds by my birthday March 19!” Then I would look up, see that it’s the middle of February and I’d only lost 7 and then say “f_ck it” and then eat like crap for weeks before shaking myself off and starting over.
Hugs!
Biz, I have a lot of project management expertise from my day job. These goals are really mini-projects in my mind so breaking them down into tasks with timeframes really helps. Thanks for commenting. I’m a fan of yours!
These are great goals. I’m a retired English teacher, so I’m going to clap loudly for reading a bit more fiction. And the health goals are great, too. I’m cheering you on. Go, Kay Lynn, go! Have a wonderful 2014.
Karen, thank you for commenting without noting any grammatical errors. 🙂 One Christmas my parents gave me a stack of books and I thought it was the best gift ever. The reading goal won’t be a burden at all!