Who Do You Want to Be This Year?

Now that we've all had some time to think about//change//give up on//re-do our 2016 resolutions and goals, I have another question for you. Who do you want to be this year? Not what, who. When it comes to making new year's resolutions and goals, we tend to stick to a set of generalized questions that don't vary too much from each other. And that's not bad! I'm a big believer in asking those types of questions, and I do it every year. I think the problem is that we stop with those, and we don't go any deeper.

When we don't personalize things, we end up with goals that aren't personal to us. We decide we want to work out more, want to organize our closet, want a promotion at work, and call it a day. Those are all good goals, they just aren't personal. And it can be hard to feel passionate about goals that don't seem personal to you.

So I want to ask you a question: Who do you want to be this year? Don't ask yourself what kind of person you want to be, figure out what kind of you you want to be. At the end of the day, you know yourself. You know the good and the bad. You know your favorite parts and the parts you need to change. So you know the goals and resolutions that best fit you.

The thing is, once February rolls around and the newness of the year wears off, a goal like "keep the house clean" doesn't seem exciting, or even doable. But a goal that's personal to you, like, "I want to be a writer this year, so I'm going to keep the house clean so I can focus on writing in the evenings instead of cleaning up" can mean a lot.

Don't let this year be another one of generalized checklists, let it be a year of personal achievement, of becoming the best version of yourself, of becoming exactly who you want to be.

So: Who do you want to be in 2016? 

Ps: Please understand I may be a bit slow in getting back to you as I'm either about to have a baby//currently having a baby//have just had a baby. I wanted to keep things going on my blog, but it may take a bit to get back into the swing of things since I'm, you know, bringing a human into the world and all. xo

One Big Thing I've Learned This Year: Getting the Most out of Life.

This year was the first time I sat down and really thought about what I wanted to get out of the year.  Instead of just making goals, I tried to focus on lessons, experiences, fullness.

I'll never go back to just setting goals.

Having these things in my mind and written down where I can see them has helped guide my year.  It's helped me make decisions, both big and little.  It's made me choose things I wouldn't have normally chose and do things with a different attitude.

On January first, I made a list of what I wanted this year.  I wanted to be brave and adventurous.  I wanted fullness of life and new experiences.  I wanted to hustle my backside off and be proud of myself at the end of each day.  I wanted to live and breathe all things creative.

I have succeeded and failed in these areas many times already, and it's only July.  But there is way more bravery, experience, hard work, and creativity in my life at this moment than there would have been if I would have simply sat down on January first and decided that I wanted to lose five pounds and clean out my closet in 2014.

Goals are fantastic, but they can go beyond a project that you can begin and end.  For me, that's scary.  I don't like it.  I can clearly begin and end a 30-day workout, but at what point does "be brave and take risks" get crossed off the list?  Probably never.  And that's probably one of the greatest things that's happened to my life.

So if you feel like maybe you're not getting all you wanted to get out of this year, I really think you should try this.  Focus on how you want to feel and what you want your life to look like at this time next year.  Make some goals that you may never be able to cross off your list.  There's no time like January first, and there's no time like July fifteenth.

What are some things you'd like to get out of life this year?