New Years Resolutions... I don’t know why but this phrase has always rubbed me the wrong way. If you’ve been following along with me for a bit now, you’ll know that I am a HUGE fan of goals. I try to give myself a small goal to hit each weak. I find that if I give myself something to strive for, even the smallest thing, then I work harder and will push myself so much more. Even if that goal is to put jeans on once that week ;)
Instead of setting myself a New Years Resolution (that I will more than likely give up on in about 30 days), I set myself some New Year Goals to reach for. These goals are usually bigger picture than my weekly goals. These goals are things that I can use my weekly goals to build towards.
For example, one of my goals for 2019 was to squat with the barbell, more than what I weigh. See this time last year, I was strictly lifting in the women’s weight room and was terrified to even step foot out into the main gym area. I thought I‘d be looked at and judged for not knowing what I was doing out there. SO when I was doing squats, I was just using dumbells in the women’s weight room, which is great! But, I wanted to see more results, I wanted to push myself a little harder. So goal #1 was to Squat with the Barbell, more than what I weigh. I had to start off small, and each week would set myself a smaller goal to achieve the bigger one. I remember just starting with the barbell, which is 45 pounds on it’s own and thinking that I would never be able to add any weight to it. But! About three months into lifting in the main gym area I was putting 45 pound platers on each side of the barbell! I had reached my goal faster than what I had expected! Looking back at this goal, I am so proud of myself for pushing out of the comfort zone. I now lift mostly full time out in the main gym area and am working on not feeling as self concious as I used to. This one goal I had set, opened up so many other areas that I now want to set goals for. And this is why I love setting Goals vs. Resolutions. I feel like with a goal you can build upon them, once you reach that one goal you can keep building on top of it. After I reached that goal, I pushed myself to try new machines and different excercises I’d only ever done at home or hidden in the women’s weight room.
The reason I chose to tell you about this one goal, is because I felt like it opened up so many other doors for myself. It pushed me out of my comfort zone, it kept me accountable to myself, it made me reach for other goals I didn’t even know I wanted. Setting goals help me deal with some of my stress and anxiety and the domino effect they have on your life can be so transforming. I hope that sharing this small story with you helps you think of a big goal you can reach for in 2020. Maybe it‘s as small as walking a mile without stopping, or running a 5k. It doesn’t have to be fitness related either!
One of my other goals for 2019 was to be more positive throughout life in general. To try to take any situation and find the good. While this was not an easy goal for myself, it helped me to realize what a blessed life we have. This past year has been such a whirlwind for my little family. We officially bought two different houses, one in Nebraska and then six month laters sold it and bought one in Illinois! We have been blessed with a healthy family, beautiful home, great careers and my list could go on and on. We’ve had our losses, and sadness this year as well, but as I said before... focusing on the good has been a change for the better. I can’t wait to see what the year 2020 has in store for us. I know that whatever happens God is with us and always in our corner.
I am currently working on Goals for 2020 and I can’t wait to share them with you all! Do you set New Year Resolutions or Goals? Let me know! I love hearing other people’s stories. Enjoy your last few days 2019 friends!
xoxo,
Kaelyn