I made some goals and the goal is to keep my goals

Never in my life has goal setting come easy to me. Does it come easy to anyone? On one hand, I’ve always been one to challenge myself and push myself to do hard things but to sit down and write out goals…well, no.

2014 was different though. I set some goals at the beginning of the year and although I wasn’t very diligent in re-evaluating them every couple of weeks or anything, those goals did sit in the back of my mind and slowly but surely I worked on them. As the year was coming to a close I found myself working harder to accomplish all of my goals and sure enough, on December 14, 2014, I fulfilled every single one of the New Year’s goals I had set. I felt an exhilarating sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. I felt like I had actually achieved something in 2014 and it felt really, really good.  As I look back 2014 was one of the best years of my life. Seriously, it rocked.

So with that in mind I’ve decided to see what I can achieve in 2015. I’ve been rolling some goals around in my mind and with a desire of keeping myself a little more accountable, I present to you my 2015 goals. Now a few of them I’m keeping private. I mean, who really wants to know the intricacies of my dating goals? Or exactly how I’m going to lose the 10 lbs. that needs to come off? No one but me J

Here’s the rest:

Travel: Go on one international trip

This is already tentatively planned: I’m doing Iceland with my bestie Whitney.  If anyone wants to tag along, the more the merrier.

Dating: Patience in the process

I guess I can share part of my dating goals: I want to be more patient. Not just patient that I will get married- I’m not worried about not getting married, I’ve always been sure that I would at some point- it’s more the kind of patience that is required as a relationship is blossoming. More often than not I want the initial dating process to go faster. I want to jump in quickly and I’ve found that sometimes I can sabotage things by doing this. So the goal is to enjoy the process. Enjoy the game, enjoy the getting to know one another, enjoy the butterflies that come when the person texts or calls and asks for a date. Enjoy those little things and be patient.

Spiritual: Prepare and plan for Fast Sunday every month

This might be the hardest goal I’ve set for myself. I have never enjoyed fasting and although it’s extremely hard for me I’ve decided to tackle this one head on. My goal is to fast every single month and do so with real purpose. I’m putting it on my calendar. I’m planning ahead. I’m not making excuses. I figure it’s time for me to really live this commandment so I’m taking this one by the horns. It’s a little hard to admit that I struggle with one of the basic commandments so that’s why by the end of 2015 I don’t want to struggle with it anymore. I hope to see and understand the power of fasting by the end of this year.

Financial: Create and save a 3-month emergency fund

I should admit that one of my 2014 goals was to pay off every cent of debt that I had and boy oh boy, did that one feel good at the end of the year.  I can’t stress enough how great it feels to know my extra money will be going straight into my savings account now instead of paying off credit cards. Getting out of the red and into the black was something that I worked extremely hard on for not just one year, but two, and I’m so excited to start 2015 this way. So the next goal is to set aside and save a 3-month emergency fund. I’ve found that there’s no better feeling than having a cushion of money reserved for emergency use.

Intellectual: Read 12 books

I struggled to come up with an intellectual goal for this year. Last year my goal was the same, read 12 books, and I couldn’t decide if I should change that goal to something different. In the end I decided that I really enjoyed having a goal to read and that reading has become really important to me in the last couple of years so I’m keeping it the same. Read twelve books, get lost in them, read books that interest and excite me, and I’m sure somehow the getting-smarter part will come along.

Health/Fitness: lose 10 lbs. healthily, squat 100 lbs. at 10 reps

2014 started off a little rocky after I broke my ankle the day after Christmas and spent the next three months recuperating. However, it turned out to be the biggest blessing in disguise because since I couldn’t do cardio for several months I turned to weight lifting. Since then, weight lifting has become an exercise haven for me and I can’t get enough of it. I’ve found that my body has transformed in ways that I’ve always wanted but have never been able to achieve through running or other cardio. Now I love going to gym several times a week and look forward to it because I love the feel of strengthening my muscles and seeing them become toned. Not just that, I’ve learned that I can lift heavy weights and the heavier I lift, the more I like the results. No, I’m not planning on becoming a body builder. In fact, that’s the biggest myth out there. Instead, my goal is to be able to squat 100 pounds for 10 repetitions. Right now I’m at 65 lbs. and I know that with a little diligence, squatting 100 lbs. 10x won’t be a problem. The plan is to lose 10 lbs. along the way.

Emotional: Eternal optimism

Last but not least, another goal that is being transferred from 2014: maintain the eternal optimism that I have tried to let permeate my life. This is a lesson that I learned from my beloved mission president and one that has served me well since. I believe in eternal optimism. I believe that faith and optimism go hand in hand. I believe that no trial is too large, no challenge too great that we should resort to despair or discouragement. I think that’s why 2014 was so good to me. I believed in faith, I chose to let faith guide me, I didn’t worry about this or that, I believed that the good things I wanted would come in God’s timing. And you know what? Heavenly Father hasn’t let me down yet.

Here’s to a rockin’ 2015!