New years resolutions can be such a let down. You make promises to yourself that you keep for maybe a month and then you see that hamburger you just cannot resist. The guilt you feel as you wipe away the greased evidence from your cheek and suddenly you hate yourself. Yeah, I am NOT about that life. But I am all about TRYING to become a better person and setting positive goals for yourself. So, instead of just making one new years resolution, I came up with 5 goals for myself for 2019. Feel free to find inspiration or adopt some of these for yourself 😊
Pursuing my passions and dreams
I started this blog last year after moving and becoming pregnant with the intention of documenting our new lives for friends and family. Then life got busy and I drifted away from it. I’ve picked it back up over the last couple of months and realized I seriously love it! I love writing and I have found a new love for photography. These are my passions. I have always been creative and love expressing myself through art and writing. In the new year I want to continue my creative self-expression. I hope to inspire and connect with others through this blog, especially mamas. If something ever comes of it, great. But if it just stays in small circles, I’m okay with that too.
Becoming debt free
Okay, so I will admit, I never thought this would really be a goal of mine. I thought living in debt with school loans, car loans and credit cards was just normal life. Well, then I married my dear husband. He is a money conscious, excel spreadsheet loving nerd. Myself, on the other hand, is what Dave Ramsey would call a “free spirit”. I thrive off of living in the moment and never thought too much about saving money. In college I literally lived paycheck to paycheck. I was raised by women who buried themselves in debt. Thankfully, Brendan (my husband), is saving me from this way of living. He introduced me to Dave Ramsey, a financial guru, and we have just started Financial Peace University. We will hopefully become debt free or close to it by the end of the year. It is going to be brutally hard, especially for my target loving, coffee drinking soul. But, it will be so worth it in the end. I’ve thought about sharing this financial journey on the blog because I am sure so many of you can relate to money struggles. If this is something anyone is interested in reading more about during the process, let me know! I understand finances are kind of “no-no” to discuss but it’s the real world and maybe if we talked about it more there wouldn’t be so many people in debt!
Volunteering and donating
Aside from the few bucks we give to the church every Sunday, we don’t do a whole lot of donating. And while we don’t have a bunch of money to give away, we realize there are other ways to donate. Whether it be a couple cans of food, old clothing or just donating our time. Our goal for this year is to reach out to our local community and to other organizations that are important to us. I’ve been talking about helping out at the soup kitchen for years or looking up local nursing homes to visit…but I have never taken action. I feel like a bad person for admitting this, but sometimes we are human and get wrapped up in our own busyness that we forget about those who are struggling more than us. We are innately selfish beings and my hope for this year is to try to pull myself away from that habit by becoming more selfless and giving. And hopefully we will not only humble ourselves, but teach our daughter that there is darkness in the world that can be made a little brighter if you lend a helping hand.
Making my marriage a priority
I have a great marriage. At least in many people’s eyes, including my own. But, it is far from perfect. I’ve never heard of such thing as a perfect marriage. We got pregnant one month after getting hitched, and ever since then the last year and half has been kind of a whirlwind. Between pregnancy hormones, labor pains, delivering a baby, poopy diapers, moving twice and many, MANY sleepless nights, I have found that parts of our marriage have taken a backseat. Yes, we have grown closer in so many ways by becoming parents, but we skipped the newlywed and honeymoon stage and went straight to the “honey it’s your turn to change the diaper” stage. This year I hope to restart the romance engine and hop on the passion train with my husband again. Whether that means fitting date nights into our monthly budget or just writing each other random love letters. It’s easy to take someone for granted that you live with and see every day. You get consumed by the hustle and bustle of daily life. I want to make sure my husband feels loved this year and every year, because he IS my priority. Without him I wouldn’t have this wonderful life that I have now.
Having self confidence
Last, but certainly not least, I want this year to be focused on increasing my self-confidence. Confidence as a mom, a wife, a nurse, a writer, a creator and a woman. I find myself constantly comparing my life to others. It’s easy to get caught up in the comparisons when social media allows us to look into other peoples lives whenever we want. And I love this part of social media because it helps us feel like we aren’t alone when we read or watch other people’s similar life experiences. But, it can also make us feel empty at times and envious. I have had many moments in my life when I don’t feel good enough or competent enough. Constantly having to google parenting advice and getting discouraged because those methods aren’t working for me. Constantly worrying if I’m smart enough to do this nursing thing. Constantly feeling guilty for having the house a mess when Brendan gets home from work because it was just one of those days. Constantly wondering if I should stay home with my daughter or contribute more to our finances. I need to be more confident in my choices and my abilities. To remain confident even if I have moments of failure. I know this sometimes comes with experience and time, but I hope this year involves self growth and the realization that I’ve got this!
This past year has been amazing and has taught me so much, but I can’t wait to see what this next year has in store.
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One of my personal goals is to also volunteer more! Great post, it’d mean a lot if you checked out mine too xx
Thank you!. Will do!
Hi! I have very similar goals as you! My husband and I are also going to be targeting our debt with the Dave Ramsey method. We too are going to try hard to spend more time together as the little ones have consumed our lives and energy the past few years. We can do this mama! Keep up the great blog 🙂
Thank you so much for reading! Good luck! ❤
Hey Lauren, I was thinking you might enjoy this blog: http://likemotherlikedaughter.org/popular-posts/
I wish I had discovered it when I was first starting out. I’ve learned so much from it about raising kids, keeping house, and even the faith. The woman who writes it has raised 7 kids and now has 12 grandkids, so she’s a font of knowledge.
Great, I will definitely check it out! Thank you!