Resolutions Progress

I thought this would be a good time to bring up my New Year's Resolutions again and see how I am doing so far.  Part of remaining accountable is periodically checking in to see how things are going.

I read an article that said one third of the people who have made resolutions will have broken them by the end of January.  This jumps to over half by July.  One strategy the author recommends is self-monitoring, keeping track of your progress, on a frequent basis.  Whether your goal was to lose weight, learn a new language or, like me you had a couple resolutions in mind, the important thing is to periodically check in to see how you're doing.

The article also recommends that you "outsource self-control."  This means you get friends and family, social media, or in my case anyone reading this blog, involved in your resolution.  If you share your progress with other people, you're more likely to stick with it.  If you keep it to yourself, you're more likely to let it lapse since you are only letting one person down, as opposed to many.

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For the purpose of reminding myself what I'm hoping to accomplish, I'll paste them here:

Goals for 2012

Run a 10K

Improve my physical strength

Volunteer/Donate my time to a cause I believe in

Write every day

Learn to paint - paint something I would be willing to display in my house

Improve my photography

Make time to read daily

Make a career change

Learn French

Spend more time outdoors (but take better care of my skin!)

Become a better friend/daughter/sister/wife

Explore and share my passions and knowledge with others:  food, wine, health, wellness

Travel somewhere new(destination TBD)

So how are things going so far?  Well, I am happy to report that I've registered for an 8K!  I'm not ready for a 10K but this will be my FIRST organized race and I am well into my training.  Things are going really well so far: I've increased my distance and my speed but I still have more work to do before race day.

Improve my physical strength:  I have also been working on my physical strength, adding 3 days of conditioning every week.  Today was chest and triceps and MAN OH MAN, I was toast by the end.  I am already feeling improvements in my ability to do more push-ups.  I still haven't seen any physical changes in my body but I know it's not going to happen overnight.

Volunteer/Donate my time for a cause I believe in:  Still haven't picked the right opportunity yet.  Will keep you posted when I do.  I really want to find something that I'm passionate about.

Write Every Day:  I am doing better, but still not finding the time every day.  I am writing about 3 or 4 days a week (better than the 0 to 1 days before I made my resolutions), but I am sure I could do better.  

Learn to paint:  Nope.  Still no Picasso.

Improve my photography:  I am working on paying more attention to my photography composition, lighting and just improving my familiarity with the camera and its settings.  It doesn't come easily, so I have a LOT more work to do here.

Make time to read daily:  Still not finding the time to read (for pleasure) on a daily basis, but I finally finished What to Eat (whoohoo!) and I have moved on to a book I got for Christmas.  I'm reading about 3 or 4 days a week.  

Make a Career Change:  Nope.

Learn French:  Nope.  But I have a lead on getting free computer software for a basic French language course. 

Spend time outdoors, take care of my skin:  Yes and No.  Today I noticed tan lines above my ankles from my sneakers and below my knees from my running tights (from running outside).  It helps that the weather here has been GOR-GEOUS lately.  Unfortunately, I haven't been wearing sunscreen except on my face.  Bad Julia, Bad BAD Julia.

Be a better friend/daughter/sister/wife: This will always be a goal, I have good days and bad days.  Sometimes I'm a complete beyotch, other days sweet as pie.  Hoping to decrease the number of bitchy days.

Explore and share my passions/knowledge (nutrition, health/wellness, wine, food):  That's where this blog comes in.  I'm trying to share more and learn more.  I think I'm slowly getting better at adding bits and pieces of things I know, I just don't want to sound preachy.  It's a fine balance, I think.

Travel somewhere new:  This is in the works.  I don't want to mention where we're hoping to travel this year yet because if it falls through (and it surely could) I don't want to disappoint anyone.  Either way, we will be going somewhere new, whether it's near or far.  

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Overall, I think I'm doing OK.  Certain areas need some more attention (volunteering, painting, learning French) and other areas are coming along pretty well.  Reflecting on my goals every so often helps to keep them in mind.  A resolution is only as good as your willingness to stick to it.  Let's not forget why we made the resolutions in the first place.

I hope you guys do a self-inventory on your resolutions if you made any this year.  Share your progress on facebook or twitter, or if that's too public for you maybe pick one person to be your accountability-buddy.  It's OK if you have lapsed, it's not too late to pick back up again.  Just remind yourself WHY you made that resolution in the first place, forgive yourself for falling off-course, and try again.

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