As a type A, enneagram 1 kind of gal, I LOVE making New Year's resolutions. There’s just something about a fresh start (moving to a new city, the beginning of a new week, first day of school kinda thing) that gets me so excited. Every year I sit down and set goals for what I hope to accomplish in the new year. I don’t know that I’ve ever actually 100% obtained these goals (365 days is a long time to stick to something!!!) because, admittedly, I am always a little overambitious and like setting more than just one goal. This year my list consisted of a few words that I hoped would encompass what I hoped to achieve:
TRAIN – for myself, I wanted to run more and try to increase the number of consecutive miles I can run, but also this word was meant to encourage me to be more intentional and diligent about training our crazy Maisy dood
READ – I set a goal of reading 50 books this year
ORGANIZE – I hoped to organize both our home and my mind (by writing things down rather than laying in bed trying to fall asleep at night with my to-do list running through my head)
I thought through some actionable steps for these goals and admittedly the last 2 have been going much better than the first. I haven’t been as diligent about running as I had hoped, but I’m a gal that thrives on structure and COVID-19 has definitely gotten rid of any structure my life had before! And in regards to training Maisy...well...I need to get back into that.
I've had a lot of success with my second goal, however! I downloaded an app called “Goodreads” after a recommendation from a friend on Instagram and I cannot recommend it enough! It's an app where you can track which books you're reading and which books you want to read, you can follow your friends to see what they're reading and loving, and you get recommendations on books based on what genres you like!
Another app I’ve loved for reading is "Libby"! Once you download the app, you type in your library card number and check out books electronically! I download them to the kindle app on my iPad and this was incredible during COVID-19 when libraries were closed! You can also borrow audiobooks - perfect for long car rides or for doing chores around the house.
I will definitely be sharing some of my favorite books I've been reading and I hope you'll add me on Goodreads so I can see what books you're loving too!
Although COVID-19 hurt me in the running department, it sure did help me in the organization aspect of my goals! With half of my final semester of dental school cancelled, I had a ton of free time to organize pretty much every closet and cabinet in our home. Admittedly, we did not have a ton of clutter in this home since we’ve only owned it for a year and a half, but I definitely have a tendency to make piles of stuff I don’t want to deal with and shove those in a corner (or in a closet, or under the bed, hahaha) and those needed to be dealt with. Now let’s just hope I can keep organized for the rest of the year, and beyond!
I've always been the type to enjoy checking items off my to-do list (I even write down extra things that I did in a day just to check them off too)! I have found, however, that at the end of the day I feel anxious and stressed if items remain on my to-do list that just didn't get accomplished that day. I've started making a weekly to do list (rather than a daily one) on the notes app of my phone as a way to give myself some grace if I have a day where I can't seem to get it all done! It's a good reminder that there's always tomorrow and that we all need to cut ourselves some slack sometimes!
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