The Ups and Downs with New Years Resolutions

"To live greatly, we must develop the capacity to face trouble with courage, disappointment with cheerfulness, and triumph with humility." ~ Thomas S. Monson

How are you guys doing with your New Years resolutions?

There are some I'm doing okay on and some I'm not.

But that's okay.

Sometimes I feel like I bite off more than I can chew, as the saying goes.  Setting myself up for failure.  But I think goals are important, regardless.  We need to aim for something and keep trying when we fall.

Writing a poem each week is something I've definitely faltered on, so I'm reevaluating that.  Overall I want to increase my writing in multiple writing fields, maybe even get myself published professionally.  That would be amazing.

I've already reached some of my walking goals.  With the Hogwarts Running Club they have the base six medals and a challenge medal at the end of the year that can represent any miles you wish.  Quidditch was a big theme last year, and a year ago this March they did an in house Quidditch match where I walked 60 miles in a week for the Gryffindors.  For the 2017 Challenge medal, in the shape of Quidditch goal hoops, I wanted to repeat this success.  At the end of January I did it, walked 60 miles in a weeks time.  Exhausting!  But all that walking does feel good.

And I'm over 100 miles for my 1000 miles goal, and have lost 6 1/2 pounds since the start of the year.  Not a huge weight loss, but it's something, and I'm refocusing my goals.  I need to get back to walking; I've slacked this last month. 

So don't give up!  Keep trying!

Everyday is a good day to start a new resolution, New Years or not.

New Year's Fresh Starts and Things To Accomplish Before I'm 40

I remember remarking a year or so back that New Year's resolutions are silly and that resolutions should be made all year long.  Though I do agree with this sentiment, partially, there is something nice about a complete fresh start.  The last week in December I've been figuring out how I want to deal with New Year's resolutions for 2018.  Weight loss?  Ah, yes.  Learning new languages? Kinda sidestepped last year, will be better focused this year.  Music goals? Still a ton.

Also during Christmas and News Years I binged the last 2 seasons of Fuller House on Netflix.  Grew up on the show and it's been fun seeing what the Full House gang is up to.  The character DJ pulls out a vision picture board of all the things she wanted to accomplish by 40.  What a cool idea!  And then I realized I'm going to be 40 in 4 1/2 years . . . 0_0

Also a while back I once did a 101 goals in 1001 days.  It was fun, but I accomplished about 15%.  15% is better than 0%!!  Just throwing that out there.  My 40th B-day is a little over 1500 days from now in 2022. 

So now I'm coming up with some goals, my by 40 bucket list.  And every New Years I'll reevaluate and base New Year's goals on where I am each year with my bucket list.

One thing I do want to do this year is write a poem every week starting this week till the end of the year.  I haven't written a poem in over a year!  A poem that's not tied to songs I'm working on.  That part of me needs to come out more.  It wants to; I keep stifling it.

Other things I want to do this year is start tapping again.  As in Tap dancing.  Get a portable tap dance board and follow along with lessons on YouTube.  Highland dance is another thing I need to start taking seriously.  Goal: get a dancing kilt and full outfit by the end of the year.  Then there's learning French, Japanese, and Irish.  I've got Duolingo and book goals with these languages.  Start uploading music on YouTube again.  Haven't done that in a REALLY long time.  And get comfortable composing game songs and jazz songs.

The last major goal, or goals, is to get virtual reality games uploaded on Steam with my siblings.  We're finishing up a game next week, and it takes a few weeks approval from Steam.  (I don't really know what that all means; that's what my brothers have told me.)

Oh!  And I did sign up to do a 1000 mile challenge this year from I Love To Run along with my Gryffindor team at Hogwarts Running Club and Companion Team on Whovian Running Club.  Multiple accountability.  I did 27 miles last week.  And this week I'm aiming for 30.

But mostly I want these goals to be a good variety.  Some easily attainable.  Some beyond my wildest dreams.  Self improvement.  Adventures.  New Skills.  Health.  Etc.

A lot can be done by 2022.

Forming Permanent New Years Resolutions

In the past I've been yin and yang when it comes to New Years resolutions.  On one end I've been like, "Resolutions should happen all year long, don't limit change to the first of the year."  And at other times I'm attempting everything but the kitchen sink on January the first.

This year I'm trying to find the happy medium: Change, but take it bit by bit.  Forgive, move on, and try again.  (And then I hear Yoda in my mind say, "Do or do not, there is no try." -_-;;  Sometimes you have to get through the trying to find yourself in the doing.  It's a process.)

For starters one of my resolutions is to blog more.  I've slacked, but not for a lack of ideas, I've got so many, and so many pictures and experiences and thoughts I want to share.  The last half of this last year went way too fast and there was just a lot going on.  My goal is to blog a minimum of 4 times a week, sometimes more.  That's a good place to start.

But my other goals?  It's really a day to day thing.  I need to develop positive habits.  Develop and strengthen positive habits to replace bad habits.  My brother recommended I buy and read the book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg.  My brother was positively influenced by this book and so I'm going to read it this month.

With my other goals I wrote out a giant list of over 30 items.  It would be an overwhelming list if it wasn't for the fact that I'm not tackling it all at once.  I entered the list in a word document, created spaces for check marks, another space to write in the date, and each day I check what I've done.  It's a way to monitor what I'm doing vs. not doing.  What I can improve upon or get back to.  When I do certain things, or when it's been too long since I've done one of the items.  Really, overall, it's about developing positive daily habits.  A change of life.  Not, "I'll do something for a month or two and then stop."  These are things I want to learn to do naturally, if that makes any sense.

After putting my list together I ventured unto Facebook.  One of my friends shared this anonymous quote: "You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.  The secret of your success is found in your daily routine."  So my New Years resolution is developing and improving my daily routine.

There's so much I want to do with my music and with Talea.  I've got big goals this year, but there's a saying I've got backwards: Can't See the Forest for The Trees.  I have a habit of focusing on the forest, and not seeing the trees at all, but all goals and dreams are a process.  You don't just find yourself at the end.  What would be the worth in that?  Accomplishing goals is a process, a journey, full of ups and downs, heartaches and triumphs.  This year I'm embracing the journey, the path, and the daily doings we must pass through to make dreams possible.

My Simple New Years Resolution . . .

 My Simple New Years Resolution is to . . .

Believe!

("I know it sounds like a cat poster, but it's true.")

Believe in life.

Believe in myself.

Believe I can be successful.

Believe I can learn Japanese and French.

Believe I can become better at composing music.

But really I simply want to Believe.

There's so many articles that pop up around this time of year that explains why New Year resolutions fail, why goals fail, etc, but personally I feel we fail when we stop believing, or even start without believing in our dreams/ambitions in the first place.

We fail when we lose faith.

So Believe!

Believe you can achieve every good thing your heart desires.

And if you misstep, believe you can begin again.

We only run out of chances when we're dead, and sense we're still breathing we can all succeed in our goals.

Believe.

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles." ~ Audrey Hepburn

And on a funny note, I did get some fun New Years resolutions from Zimbio's The Random New Year's Resolution Generator, just in case "believing" wasn't specific enough.

 A great way to get in shape.

 This is honestly a great idea.

 More books!  And no more lamenting at running out of shelf space.

Yup . . .

Exercises for the Snowed In

It snowed last night, and I've found that when it comes to sticking to an exercise routine and going to the gym, snow is one of the first things that stop me, especially at 6 a.m.  Some people don't mind driving in snow and ice, but I'll avoid it if I can.  So I workout at home on days I can't make it to the gym.  Here are some great, free online resources I've found:

For the Family:

Sparks People, at sparkspeople.com, is overall an amazing website for all things health and motivation.  There's a great, friendly community, but also recipes and articles on a variety of subjects.  And of course there is a video section with cardio, pilates, yoga, and ab workouts.  The site itself is a little overwhelming at first, but once you figure out where everything is, the website really is amazing.  It's worth checking out.   

For Guys (though there's good stuff for everyone)

Nerd Fitness: Level up your Life is a blog, but Steve shares some great health information, and he has a Free Resource section where he's put together workouts that have links to YouTube.  A really fun blog, and I love the Lego pics.  Here's a link to the videos.

For the Gals

A lot of Women Health magazines have workouts with videos and articles avaliable for free on their websites. 

Fitness Magazine has a nice variety of videos, and this is one of my favorite places to go.  They even have a short workout video called Cold Play: Your Winter Workout Plan.

Self is probably one of the more well known health magazines.  Here's a link to their workout section.  BTW, they have a lot of prizes and drawings, and it's never a bad idea to enter.  A couple months ago I randomly got a package through FedEx, and inside was a free workout DVD for a contest I forgot I entered.  That was pretty awesome.      

Shape Magazine has some great workouts.  I need to try the Fat-Blasting Rebounding Routine.  I love my mini trampoline, and Rebounding workouts are really good for you.  I know it looks silly, but it really is a great workout.

Youtube

I discovered the Mahalo channel when I was searching for Tap dance videos, where they have a great series.  Honestly, they have series for just about anything you want to learn.  They have a couple Fitness playlists, and here is one of their videos: 

And if you want to dance here's a Tap video (link to all):

There's Hip-Hop as well, if you want to check that out.

Have fun!

Sarah

Hopping on the Resolution Train

(Picture taken last week as a hint to the title of the next Cerulean Jade song)

Last month I declared that I didn't need New Year Resolutions . . . well, that didn't last.  It's all that Holiday Guilt.  I'm not exempt.  Surviving that span between Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years somewhat unscathed is hard.  What's even more tragic is that yesterday I went to Walmart to get New Years Eve stuff, and Valentines was already lining the shelves!  There's no break in the commercialization of Holidays!  At least Groundhog Day hasn't been commercialized.

So, yes, I'm hopping on the whole "Let's Get Healthy" train.  But, unlike past years, I'm changing my attitude towards it.  One of my facebook friends found the 8 Week Weight Loss Challenge on the Six Sisters' Stuff blog.  It's quite brilliant, really.  There's a downloadable chart that's really well put together.  And though there's a weight loss aspect to it, the whole program is all about common sense healthy living, and for each common sense thing you do, you earn points.  I love earning points.  It's even more fun if you do the plan with someone, and you can compare how many points you're earning.

In a couple weeks all those "how to succeed on your resolution" articles will turn into "why resolutions always fail."  I see it every year, and it's not so encouraging for those of us still trying.  Sure, I'm going to mess up here and there.  I may not get all my vegetables in, or drink all 64 oz of water, and then there's chocolate, but if I mess up, do I quit?  I think the problem with resolutions is that sometimes they're too strict.  No carbohydrates!  Exercise six days a week!  Mess up once and it's all over.  That's why I like this 8-week plan; it allows for messups, knowing that you're going to keep at it regardless.  Not all categories are going to be kept perfect, but that's okay.  It's a life style change; losing weight is a happy consequence.

This year I'm making an attitude change, and below is going to be my daily motto, which I will read each night before going to bed.  I've shared this quote before, but it's so fantastic, and worth reading a million times over, that I'm sharing it again:   

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

  

Happy New Years!  And may you be successful in all your plans:0)

Who Needs New Years Resolutions?

 

 Last month I set out to accomplish two things: finish a nanowrimo novel and blog every single day in the month of November.  Both were accomplished, though there were quite a few days I felt really close to giving up.

If you don't know what nanowrimo is, it's a month full of insanity.  For the month of November you commit to writing 50,000 words of a novel, but in the process it's okay if plots change, points of view change, etc, all things are possible as long as you keep writing.  If you finish you're a "winner," and a link to a PDF certificate of completion is provided.  All you have to do is finish.

This is my fifth year attempting nanowrimo, but failed the first three years due to being a college student.  Homework, tests, and class attendance is important after all.  Both last year and this year I pulled off the 50,000 words, though I must admit that the quality of my writing greatly suffered as my typing needed to grow faster to meet deadlines.  Though, regardless, I stumbled upon some great ideas for this sci-fi series I'm working on, and an idea for a third book spin off, which makes me giddy with excitement.  So even though I spent several days writing nothing but garbage, there are gems scattered about that makes it all worth while.

Above is a nanowrimo temporary tattoo that I got a few years ago.  This year I made a pact with myself that if I finished, I'd wear it.  Below is the tattoo pre-application.  It's totally imitating an HP death mark. 

 

 And of course my other goal last month was to post a blog entry every single day.  A couple months back I got pretty close, but I thought it would be cool if I was able to pull off both tasks, and now I have a happy literary/blogging habit.

This got me thinking, who needs New Years resolutions when you can start fresh each month with new goals?  They say that it takes 3 weeks of constant work to turn a bad habit into a good habit, or to simply form new good habits.

So what are my goals for December?  Besides getting the original song finished that Steven and I are working on, I've decided my goal is going to be to finally learn the Japanese kana (katakana and hiragana).  They're the phonetic characters in the Japanese language.  Not learning them is holding me back in my studies in a big way, and I've placed a few learning blocks on myself in the process.  I'm going to blast through those learning blocks! and get back to learning Japanese so I'm not able to just speak the language, but I also what to be able to write original Japanese Pop songs without having to translate English to Japanese.  So that's the goal!  One step at a time.  Anything's possible when you set your mind to it :0)