Game On.

It’s the first day of the new year and as cliché as it is, I always like to think of my goals for the upcoming year and see where I’m at with the intentions I set for the past year. I made some good moves over the past 12 months, but I also made some bad ones. Now is the time for me to reset my intentions and stride into the new year where I want to be.

1) Health & Fitness

I focused on this in 2018 as well and did pretty great in the fitness aspect. I joined Orangetheory Fitness at the end of February and started going anywhere from 4-6 times a week. I love the workouts, and I’m definitely in better cardiovascular shape than I have been in several years. I also love the atmosphere and the people who are there with me. The coaches and staff are incredibly friendly and welcoming, and they’ve made me feel like I actually have a home there. The other members are encouraging and challenging and make working out significantly more enjoyable!

One thing that did slip for me though was my actual nutrition. It doesn’t matter how much I workout, if I don’t take care of myself nutritionally then I never see the results I’m striving for. I’ve had this issue in the past, and I fell into the trap again. This year, my focus is on better fuel for my body and less of the extra crap. I know from previous experience I can change my cravings, it’s just a challenge to do… and I need to do it. Towards the end of the year I started drinking waaaaay more coffee (especially those holiday drinks from Dunkin and Starbucks) and forgoing the necessary water intake I needed. I can feel and see a huge difference when I am and am not getting enough water and my goal is to step that up again. My skin will thank me sooooo much.

The last part of this focus is on cross-training. I stopped going to yoga half way through the year for various reasons – my favorite yoga instructor was in the process of changing studios, and with paying for my OTF membership I was hesitant to also start paying drop-in fees for classes elsewhere. I was thinking “why spend more money for outside classes when I’m already paying for this one?” Well my body didn’t appreciate it. OTF workouts are fantastic, but I need to supplement with some lower impact workouts to keep my joints and limbs happier. My goal is to make it to 1 yoga class weekly, and my husband got me a 10-pack of classes at a local studio to get me started (it’s the one where my fave is). My mom also stepped up her membership at her studio and can now bring a free guest one time a month, so we’re going to start planning monthly yoga dates (which will also help extend my 10-pack a little longer!).

2) Finances

Always the area I suck in. I did meet some awesome financial goals in 2018 and paid off both my car and undergrad student loan. Now my focus needs to be that nasty credit card debt I have and curbing my crazy stupid spending habits! Starting with this first January paycheck, I’ll be back to putting 10% of every paycheck into my savings account (goal is $2000 in my personal one, then start adding to our joint long-term savings account). I’m also going to sit down and figure out the money necessities for our monthly budget then get drastic with the leftovers – I plan on using Dave Ramsey’s snowball method and attacking one card at a time. After finishing off my student loan and car loan, I have an extra $300 to add to my payment PLUS whatever spare change I can dig up in my budget. Goal is to knock out 2 of my cards this year and then hopefully close them. I have 4 (2 low limit ones, 1 store card, and 1 high limit one) and that is way more than I need in my life.

3) Friendships

Again, another focus I had in 2018 that I want to carry forward. I have some great friends and we were there for each other a lot this past year. Downside for me, 90% of those great friends live in another state and the ones that do live here are at least 30+ minutes away. I honestly get pretty lonely and as much as I’ve pushed to do things solo or convinced my husband to join me (he may dislike wine, but he’ll at least go to wineries and try ’em with me!), I miss having female friends close by. My goal this year is to nourish friendships here, but also continue to grow and nourish the far away ones.

4) Career

I didn’t create an intention for this last year, and it’s something I really want to focus on in the new year. I need to figure out where I really want it to take me, and what new certifications I want to pick up or learn about. Last year I did the Rock Blades IASTM cert, which has come in handy at work, but I wasn’t able to go to any other course or conferences. I am definitely making it to the national conference this summer (need those CEUs, plus always great learning and networking opportunities there. And alumni parties!) and was thinking of going for my NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES) or Performance Exercise Specialist (PES) cert. Either one would be beneficial for where I am working and compliment my actual degree and certification (FYI have a Bachelor in Kinesiology – Athletic Training, a Master in Kinesiology, and am an Athletic Trainer, Certified (ATC)… not sure if I ever actually specified what my background is!), I just have to find the funds to pay for it and decide which one I want to do!

5) Experiences

This goal kind of ties into some financial goals I have – choose experiences over material things. I don’t need more STUFF and if I do buy it, I better freaking NEED it. I want to actually DO things and try new things! I/We do already have some fun trips planned for 2019 – ski trip for Ben’s birthday in February (local, the resort is less than 2 hours away); the annual Spring Wine Festival in Norfolk with my mom and older sister in May, the NATA conference in Vegas in June, our annual trip to the Cape Fear 7s tournament in Wilmington in July, and K’s fantasy football draft trip to Nashville in September (the winner of the previous season always hosts the next draft. Always labor day weekend, and always an interestingly fun time).I am also planning a nice hiking trip out to Washington State to visit one of my best friends, we just aren’t sure on the time frame 🙂

Besides all these trips, which seemed like a lot when I was typing them out, I really want to explore the areas closer to us and try out some fun things. On my list are hiking trips, camping, water activities (paddle boarding, rafting kayaking…), and more winery trips

6) Small goals

• Read daily
• Write regularly
• Purge/de-clutter belongings
• Cross 5 more things off my 101 list (timeframe to complete is August 2019!)

I’m excited about the new year, I always am. And as my planner says – TIME TO MAKE THE MAGIC HAPPEN.
(ps if anyone is looking for a new planner, I highly recommend checking out Commit30. Awesome for goals, and they have a few different variations!)