Friday, December 23, 2011

Goals for 2012 (or more affectionately known as New Year's Resolutions)

So I thought I'd get a jump on y'all by posting my resolutions early. Well, to tell you the truth a bunch popped in my head that I want to write down. And really, these are more like goals of things I want to complete in 2012, so it's not really a new year's resolutions list, but I digress.

1. Be present. I would like to continue my journey of learning how to live in the present and not get stuck in the past or think too much about the future. I'm learning how to enjoy each moment before it passes me by and I would really like to continue that. (Due date: end of December)

2. Learn more about emotional intelligence. I started this year reading a few books on the subject, and how the brain functions in relation to our emotions and feelings and I would like to finish these books rather soon. (end of March)

3. Actually start executing my lists. I'm a list maker, and I have several lists of things to do, to cook, to see, etc. that I have been compiling for a few years now and I think this is the year to actually get started crossing things off. Granted, a few of them are rather long and will take a few years, so I'm going to make a goal of getting at least 1/10th of each list completed. I know it doesn't seem like much, but some of my lists have 2000+ items.. so a goal of 200 is pretty out there. (end of December)

4. Get a hold of my stomach issues. I have food allergies (dairy and eggs) and I tend to ignore them quite often and end up paying the price. It's really starting to bother me because during the day I have all these ideas of what to make for dinner, and then my stomach gets upset and I don't want to cook anymore. And then the next day I berate myself to no end. So my goal is to reduce the amount of dairy I eat per day to less than 1/4 c. and reduce the amount of egg-laced food to as close as zero as possible. (end of June)

5. Challenge my creativity as a cook. I noticed that most of my cookbooks are newer and therefore have recipes that I like as is. I've been looking through a lot of older cookbooks lately (90s and older), and a lot of them have inspired me to change the recipe around so it fits my tastes and more current tastes, also. I'm also doing a project where I take a lot of recipes that have a ton of processed foods (Velveeta, Cool Whip, Jello, Miracle Whip, etc.) and rework the recipe to eliminate the processed food while achieving close to the same result (as in not completely change the recipe. If you can keep almost the whole name and it still applies, then it works). It's a lot more challenging than one would expect. (Get started by end of March, complete at least 50 recipes by end of December)

6. Take more pictures! I have neglected bringing my camera with me on trips this year and I really have regretted that. So next year, I'm lugging that piece with me everywhere! I'm determined to improve my photography. (due January 1st! )

7. Try 3 new activities and stick with them. And by activites, I mean physical activities, like snowshoeing, cross country skiing, biking, etc. (Well, I'm going to try those 3, but who know if they will stick!). I'd also like to get into better shape so I can do more challenging hikes this summer. Who knew that I would actually want to train for hiking, when hiking was originally a way to train for skiing? Ironic, eh? (due end of June)

8. Practice meditation everyday for at least 10 min. Oh! And learn the art of a cat nap. (end of March)

9. Finish scanning magazines. I have a bazillion that I just can't seem to part with unless I scan everything I find even remotely useful, so right now I have 4 big stacks and I would like to pare that down. (tackle each stack by the end of March, June, September and December)

10. Realize that I physically will never be able to remember every single tidbit of information that is out there in the world and learn to read for pure enjoyment, not for the sake of trying to impress anyone. (end of April)

I think that is a good set of goals for the year. What are some of your goals for 2012?

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