Twenty-Twelve

I used to poo-poo New Year’s resolutions. They were, after all, just something to make and inevitably break, be it two days later or a month later. However, as I’ve gotten older, I see more value in setting attainable goals for myself. Attainable being key.

I’ve been thinking a lot about goals recently, not so much because of the new year, but because of this new way of life as a stay-at-home mom. If I’m not intentional about my time, necessary things don’t get done or at least they don’t get done without stressing out. It’s so easy to just walk around in a haze in these months of middle of the night feedings and 24/7 baby care.

If I had to pick a focus or theme word for 2012 it would be “intentional.” More so than ever before, I need to slow down, focus, and organize my thoughts and life. I need to cultivate good habits and be intentional about it.

Here are my main goals for the coming year:

Physical

Get more exercise.

Isn’t that on everyone’s list? But wait… I have a plan mapped out and it’s not just for my benefit, but also for Sam and the dogs. I have a few more pregnancy pounds to lose, and I’d really like to not only see a lower number on the scale but also tone up my postpartum body.

My goal is to walk the dogs three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and do 30 minutes of yoga and strength training on the Wii Fit also three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday). Some days this just won’t happen since life gets busy, the weather won’t cooperate, someone will be sick, etc. However, you can only achieve as high as you set your goals so I’m purposefully choosing a lofty goal to motivate myself.

Emotional

Go on at least one date with Jeff each month.

This one should be easy since one of my Christmas gifts to Jeff was a year of monthly pre-planned date nights. This sticks with my theme of being intentional. Having at least one date planned at the beginning of each month will keep us from being lazy about our time spent together. It’s important to work at our marriage, especially now that having a kid can easily shift our focus off of each other if we let it.

Spiritual

Read my Bible, pray, and meditate each morning.

I have always been inconsistent (consistently inconsistent, if you will) in spending daily time in God’s Word. I am most decidedly NOT a morning person and I used that excuse as a crutch for many years. Thankfully my baby sleeps in in the mornings (so far!) so I don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn in order to spend focused time with God (plus get a shower and breakfast before he wakes up). I do however have to drag myself out of bed when my alarm goes off. That’s no small task for a sleepyhead like me.

My plan is to use a daily reading plan from the YouVersion Bible iPad app. I’ve got daily reminders set up so I have no excuses. I’ll also be reading a short daily devotional from the book Jesus Calling, which my mother-in-law got for all her daughters-in-law this Christmas. All four of us will be reading it together this year (hopefully!).

Mental

Read 18 books.

Last year my reading goal was 25 books, and I knew from the beginning it was too many what with the baby coming and all. I did manage to read 17 books, but they were mostly baby and pregnancy related. This year my goal is roughly one book per month of my own choosing, plus our book club selections. (We’re a very relaxed, slow-moving book club.) Jeff and I will be reading books together, one chapter out loud most nights as well. I haven’t put together a reading list yet, but I’d like to include a variety of fiction and non-fiction titles. (I’m usually mostly a fiction girl.) Here’s to hoping the library will have most of my choices available in ebook format.

Blog and write more regularly.

I have a few specific blogging goals for the year, but I’m not going to list them all here. Hopefully you’ll see them all come to fruition over the next 12 months. I am working on a list though so that this goal stays attainable and measurable.

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So that’s it: five hopefully attainable goals for 2012. I’m tempted to add to the list, but I’m keeping it short on purpose. These are the primary habits I hope to cultivate; I’m sorely tempted to add to this list, but I need to keep things simple or I’ll get overwhelmed and lose focus trying to do too much. Please feel free to ask me how I’m doing as the year goes along.

How about you? Do you make any goals or resolutions for the new year? If you blogged about them, feel free to leave a link to your own post in the comments.