2011 Goals

Yesterday we recapped my 2010 goals. I said frequently throughout the dialogue of each goal that many of them were things I was still going to work on in 2011. I also said that in 2011 I was planning to make more specific goals that really targeted the parts of my life that I still need to work on. So that’s exactly what I’m going to lay out today – my 2011 goals.

I do plan to work on many of my 2010 goals still in 2011. However, I’m not going to re-list those as main goals. Those 2010 goals are still things that I strive for in my daily life, so I think it doesn’t need to be re-iterated that I am still working on being more realistic with myself, eliminating stress and anxiety from my life and living my constant life battle with toner and moisturizer for my face.

2010 was a difficult year, but as I stated yesterday – I know the direction I want my life to be headed in. I know where I need to improve. I know what I have time to do and what I do not have time to do. So I’m able to make specific goals this year that really push me into being the person I want to be rather than the person I automatically find myself being. Remember, you can’t change without pushing yourself past your comfort zone. You must do things you never did before in order to see results.

Overall the focus of these 2011 is goals is health and happiness. I truly want 2011 to be the year that I finish my weight loss mission I started working on in 2008. I also want to focus on doing more of the things that make me happy and eliminating the things I find myself doing (watching too much TV, skipping the gym, etc).

One more note – I won’t be making a weight loss specific goal again this year. I find that always sets me up for failure or disappointment when I do. But finally losing weight is actually my #1 goal of 2011, even if I don’t specifically say it. I am instead going to make goals that will all aid in the weight loss because I really find it helps to focus on the steps of making your life healthy rather than saying, “I’m going to lose weight this year.”

2011 Goals

1. Run a 1/2 Marathon: This should go without saying as I have already told you guys that I have signed up for the Dallas 13.1 in October along with my bff Stina and my cousin, who is my running buddy. But this a huge goal for me in 2011. It’s a huge leap in my running abilities, considering up to this point I have only run one 10K race. I also have a really long time to prepare for the race (10 months) so I’m very confident I will be able to accomplish this goal this year!
2. Continue to make a 4.0 in school: I’m so tempted to say I want to make a 4.0 in all three semesters again. But I know that saying that would set myself up for disappointment, so I’m going to set the goal to make a 4.0 in two of the three semesters. This summer I am only taking 3 hours, a mandatory Texas Government class, and I really can’t see how I won’t make an A in there. This means i need to make either a 4.0 in the Spring or Fall semesters to reach this goal!
3. Read 12 books in 2011: I love to read, but I never make it a priority so it never gets done. This year I would like to make reading a focus rather than all the mindless hours of sitcom re-runs that I find myself watching. I’m going to make it easy for myself – 12 books for the year which is a average of 1 book a month. This makes the goal achievable and attainable so I will be more willing to work towards it and if I get behind one month, it will be easy to catch up. I will let you guys know which books i am reading as I go (I’m not pre-picking them).
4. Set monthly goals: Setting monthly goals was something that really helped me to lose weight in 2009. Therefore I would like to bring this back. These will still be goals that are focused on overall healthy living, but more focused on the things I really need to work on that month. It will help me overcome challenges I am facing each month and hopefully keep me motivated throughout the year to make losing weight my true priority of 2011. These goals will appear once a month on the blog!
5. Set a consistent exercise routine: Even in the past when I have had a consistent exercise routine, it only lasts a few months. Then I start to slack. I have yet to figure out why this really is – I think I get bored and don’t give myself enough variety. But I truly need a consistent exercise routine again and I would like one that I can stick to for the entire year. This goal will lean very heavily on my monthly goals – because I will be able to add variety and account for the challenges I am facing at the moment each month when I set this goal. This goal will be a part of my monthly goals each month, so watch out for it!
6. Start a yoga practice for spiritual reasons: I’ve never really spoke of this on the blog, but I grew up without any religious or spiritual beliefs. This is becoming an issue for me at my current age. In a nutshell, I’m at a point in my life where I’m starting to become aware of the fact that I don’t have a belief about what is going to happen to me when I die. I find that it is really overshadowing my life and the way that I see the rest of my life. Because I have no belief system, I spent some of 2010 looking into different spiritual practices and deciding which ones would and would not work for me. I have narrowed it down to a spiritual yoga practice as the front runner and I would like to explore this in 2011. I have already purchased a 30 day pass at a local yoga studio and am going to start attending in January. I’m not really sure what the outcome of this goal will be – maybe I will decide spiritual yoga is not for me – but I would like to try and explore in 2011.
7. Start an etsy shop: This has actually been a goal of mine for some time. Back in 2009 I found myself needing a creative outlet and looked towards crafting. I started with paper crafts – making cards and such. I also discovered etsy and became infatuated with the idea of opening a shop on there. While I enjoy paper crafting (to an extent), it’s not something I’m good enough at to sell as a product. I am now considering jewelry making (using help from my mom) and will hopefully have a shop up and running by February or March. I’m in the learning phases right now and trying to discover what type of jewelry I will make. This is a great hobby for me as well as a way to make a little extra cash on the side and I’m very excited to pursue it in 2011!

SO as you can see – very targeted and specific goals in 2011 but I am very excited about all of them!

I will be posting my January goals probably next week. I don’t want to go into goal overload here since we discussed 2010 goals yesterday. But I am very excited about 2011 and I’m hoping that it really becomes my year and it the year that I can finally focus on my weight loss and becoming the healthiest that I can be. It’s been a long time coming for me. I have had to change so many things about myself including my core thoughts and beliefs and my job/lifestyle. With all of that behind me I feel like the last piece of the puzzle is my weight and I am ready to tackle that full force.

What are your 2011 goals?