Setting Goals for 2015: 6 Questions to Ask Yourself First.

Setting new goals at the beginning of a new year is one of my favorite things. It can be really intimidating, but it can also be incredibly inspiring and motivational. 

If setting goals for your year scares you, or if you just don't know where to start because, hello, you want to change everything, then these questions are an easy starting point.

1. What is one thing in my control that I want to be different next year?

There are probably a lot of things you'd like to be different next year, but all of them are most likely not things you can control. Focus on the things that are in your control, and pick your top one of those.

My answer: I'm still working on this answer...it's a tough one!

2. What is one thing I want to learn in the next 365 days?

This could be a skill, a virtue, a language, a hobby...anything that you want to be able to point to next New Year's Eve and say, "Hey, I learned that this year."

My answer: I really want to learn how to use the sewing machine that I got for my birthday last year. I also want to learn how to crochet for real. I realize this is two answers, but I feel like they kind of go together.

3. If there were three things I could magically change about my life, what would they be?

If you woke up tomorrow and there was a magic wand on your pillow that you could point at three things to change, what would you use it on? Your answer probably points in the same direction that your goals for this year should.

My answer: 

1. My house would always be clean.

2. I would be in amazing shape.

3. I would have a best-selling book out.

But really...who can I talk to about this magic wand thing?

4. What's one way I want to be different by this time next year?

If you're anything like me, you're going to have a hard time picking just one answer to this. But it's better to change one thing than no things, and trying to change a bunch at one time is a great way to set yourself up for failure.

My answer: I want to say yes more. It's something I've been working on, but I really want to focus on it this year.

I'm a worrier and a list maker, so sometimes when an opportunity arises, I mentally list the pros and cons and start to worry about all the things that could happen if I take it. I fret over how much sleep I may lose or how much it's going to cost or if I'm going to regret it, when really, if I would have just said yes, it would have been a much smaller ordeal.

I want to say yes to more because I want to experience more, I want to go more places, I want to learn more things, and I want to become the best version of myself. And I don't think you discover the best version of yourself by saying no to everything that comes your way.

5. What is one thing I will regret if I don't do this year?

My answer: Enjoy life more.  I want be the kind of person who enjoys life more and doesn't get so caught up on the little stuff. There are going to be things I really just don't enjoy: car troubles and sneaky bills and weeks where my husband has to work nights. But life is short, and it is good, so I want to become the kind of person who doesn't let those things make me enjoy life any less. I think that not choosing to enjoy life this year could definitely lead to regret.

6. What is a characteristic or a word that describes how I want to live this next year of my life?

I picked a word for my year last New Year's, which is something I've never done before, but I loved it. All the decisions I made, all the things I did, I thought of that word. And it really helped me accomplish what I wanted to in 2014. Pick a word that takes what you want out of 2015 and boils it down to it's most simplistic form.

My answer: Alive. 

I want to live every single day of 2015 with every part of me totally and completely alive.

"I hope that you spend your days, but they all add up. And when the sun goes down, I hope you raise your cup...

I hope when the moment comes, you'll say, I did it all, I did it all. I owned every second that this world could give, saw so many places and things that I did, with every broken bone, I swear I lived.