I’m not big on resolutions really. Mostly because I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to wait or set dates or to plan really at all. In other, and far less flattering words, I’m very impatient. My husband is the patient planner and I’m the DO IT NOWer, which admittedly leads to certain conflicts, but mostly makes us a stronger team unit because we pull from each other’s strengths and accept our own weaknesses. If I have an idea or want to do something, I just do it immediately {or as soon as I can} after I have the idea.
But the other night I got to thinking that maybe that kind of quick on the draw action keeps other, larger goals at bay, so I thought I’d sit down, try to plan a little, and write a list of deeper goals for an overall more fulfilled life and peaceful mind.
a snow capped tree in our yard… there is such beauty here.
1. Strive for Excellence. This is actually a direct quote from Jay-Z when he was on Oprah Presents Master Class. I watched this last year and fell even more in love with Jay-Z as a person than I already was with his music. He was so quiet, soft-spoken, smart, and insightful. I was surprised at how similar my own thoughts were to this man I had never met and who grew up in such a different way than I had. His was my most favorite of the Master Class interviews on OWN. I’ve watched it a few times since and gained more with each viewing. See a few clips & read an article on excellence here.
2. Enjoy more moments. This is simple really, and something I think we’d all like to encompass and work towards in between our hectic schedules. I think part of our reasoning for moving out of LA was to really aim at enjoying our moments in time, our moments together, and just “being”, rather than caught up in a race for some undetermined status.
3. Read one book a month. I’ve never been an avid reader, but I’ve had periods in my life where I did read more than others. I guess this is probably common… but since I started my blog, my reading of books and patience for long-winded articles even, has dwindled. Last year I vowed to read more books, and I read and finished one in January and not another for the entire year. I wrote a book last year, but that doesn’t count. I figure if I give myself a one book a month goal, I may actually follow through with it. Sometimes if I break big goals down into smaller pieces, they are far more attainable. “Read more” probably will never happen, but “read one book a month” is totally doable.
4. Cook more and ENJOY IT. It’s not that I can’t cook, per se, it’s that I don’t like to. I haven’t found my creativity in cooking and I just don’t care enough about food to have honed my skills. I’m very lazy when it comes to food and would rather just eat something and get it over with {and more importantly, get to the dessert} than spend so much time and energy on something that will be devoured in minutes. {It’s not like a painting or a DIY I can enjoy forever, ya know?} But now that we are living in the mountains, we have been cooking more. The husband has been cooking A LOT and I’ve found that when we cook a meal together, it’s not only enjoyable for me, but it’s really great quality time with the husband, and that’s a huge bonus.
5. Be my own truth. This is something I remind myself of when I get caught up in feeling like I’m failing at something. Because of said impatience {in opening paragraph}, I also get frustrated quickly and occasionally, in those moments of doubt, compare myself to others and feel like I’m failing. I’m not really the jealous type, but I turn on myself when I think I’m inadequate and not living up to my own very high expectations. I have to remind myself that we are all on different paths and make different choices about the way we live our lives and the way we handle our careers. What is right for one person, may not be for another. I am often motivated by successful people rather than jealous of them, but sometimes ruts happen. I’d like to just be my own truth without having to remind myself so often that I already am.
6. Take quality time away from work and make more quality work time. Being your own boss is fantastic, but there are some quirks and cons to it as well. It means that you never really have a day off or a free weekend, even if you tell yourself you do. The mind wants to spend every minute on what it’s passionate about, which is great, but doesn’t leave any openings for new creativity to flow in. I would like to choose quality time overall, in everything that I do and relax without feeling guilty about it or feeling like I “should” be doing something else more productive.
7. Evolve. I spent much of my late teens and early twenties asking questions, trying to find reasons why we exist and on a painstakingly committed search to discover who I was and what was real. I read countless books and aimed at living in the moment, aware and awake and open to all things. I took much of what I learned and moved forward, creating my own identity within myself. And then life happened and I immersed myself in it and got lost in it along the way. But I enjoyed that early search and I enjoyed that state of peace and being when I was engulfed in it. And while I have almost as many years behind me now as I did when I began my first search, there is always room for growth and re-evaluation and I’d like to direct some of my focus towards that again.
