january 2017 goals

Happy 2017! I am thinking about how to live better and make healthier choices this year. I'm sure many of you are, too. I sat down earlier this week and looked over my goals from last year and realized that I'd like to stick to (and expand on) most of them. As you may know, I set big, overarching goals for the year; and with those goals in mind, I then set smaller, actionable goals for the month; and then finally, I set even smaller, actionable goals for the week/day. I have blogged about my goal-setting method in the past:

Related: Goal-Setting: 2016

I'm sharing my list of goals for this year below. They are almost exactly like last year's goals.

(Pictured: Sugar Paper planner for Target, Printable Pineapple 2017 calendar, Elise Cripe printable, daily tracker, Elise Cripe "Just Start" rubber stamp)

But first... my goals for January:

• Make plans with friends
• Go hiking
• No mindless social media browsing before noon
• and no social media browsing before bed

Overarching goals/projects/resolutions for the year:

• Read at least 15 min. a day
• This is my third year aiming to read for at least 15 minutes a day. I've used Elise's daily tracker to track my reading for the year. (I'm happy she offered her tracker as a freebie to her newsletter subscribers this year). Reading daily has become habitual for me. There are days when I don't get to read, but I allow myself to make up the time by reading any other day in as many 15 minute increments as I'd like. I'm hoping to stick with this goal again this year. 

• Exercise 5x a week/incorporate strength, interval training 3x a week || Reach 10k steps a day
• I lost weight last year (10 pounds) though I didn't stick with this goal as much as I would have liked. I had success losing weight using Jillian Michael's DVDs some years ago. 25-30 minutes of effective exercise is appealing to a busy mom like me. I really like Jillian Michaels' kettlebell Shred-It with Weights workout. The first level is on Youtube if you want to give it a shot before you buy the DVD. This year I aim to incorporate interval training 3x a week and any other form of exercise appealing to me that week twice a week. (I've been going to a Zumba class lately). I also plan to go mall walking (it is an actual thing!) and hiking this year. 
• I am super motivated by my Fitbit, which I've been using for more than a year now. I feel so accomplished when I reach 10k steps a day. 

• Document our memories
• I fell off of the Project Life bandwagon this past year, but I plan to pick it up again this year. I need to simplify my process. (I may go back and document 2016, but for now, I'm just starting fresh with 2017). I think I get daunted by how much time it takes, but it shouldn't take all that long. I can invest only what I'm willing to invest. In the past, I've used a 12x12" book for most of the year and 2 smaller 8 1/2x11" books for my summer book and for my December Daily. That has worked for me before, but I may need to rethink my system for this year. I don't want to be overwhelmed by scrapbooking this year. I want to enjoy it as I have in the past. 

• Declutter/minimize the junk in our home ||  "redecorrange"
• Last year I completed this "4 Weeks to a More Organized Home" challenge. I'm hoping to declutter seasonally (inspired by my friend Denise). It would also be nice to refresh our home from time to time by rearranging furniture and repurposing spaces in our home.
• This is the layout of the front of our home.

• Eat more greens + vegetables
• I will be having green smoothies often...
• and sandwiches with plenty of vegetables. 

• Eat healthy desserts
• I can never ever ever give up dessert. I have a major sweet tooth, but I can have healthy versions of my favorite desserts. (I plan to complete my Greek yogurt 52 ways project this year. The point of that project was to research and try new healthy, dessert recipes).

• Drink more water
• I still want this stamp for tracking water consumption.

• Stick with my morning routine and afternoon/evening routine
• I highly recommend considering what things you want to incorporate into your everyday life and figuring out how to fit them into your schedule. Routines are powerful ways of improving the quality of your days and including life-enriching activities into your life.
• I'm aiming to have my girls stick to their morning/afternoon/evening routines, as well.
• Blog often
• Blogging is one of my favorite hobbies. I took an unintentional, long break this past year. I hope to be more consistent about blogging this year. 

What are some of your goals this year? Hope you have a good one!