Happy 2016!
Yay, new calendars!
I love a new year. Like a blank slate, a brand new notebook, it has so much potential. What will happen in this new year? Some ideas floating around, but I have learned that no matter how I plan, things always seem to turn out differently…. Nevertheless, I love the feeling of starting over, of reinventing myself – who can I be this year?!
I love this “Line a Day” Five Year journal, and this year I get to start a brand new one. What will these pages hold at the end of it?!
However, I, like so many others, find it hard to keep my resolutions. So this year I’ve decided that maybe a personal mantra will help me stay on track. I just need to keep repeating something to myself that will remind me of my goals.
I decided to adapt the phrase made famous by Benjamin Franklin, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise,” into simply “Healthy, wealthy and wise.” This reflects all the different areas of my life that I constantly strive to improve, so it’s easy to group my specific goals under these three topics.
Benjamin Franklin, portrait by Joseph-Siffrein Suplessis, circa 1785. Wikimedia Commons
Healthy
I’ve been lazy with my healthy eating habits and regular exercise, and my pants are beginning to not fit quite as well, oops! Time to reset and get back on the bandwagon. There are many things I need to do to clean up my act, but two challenges in particular that I want to focus on:
- Eight hours of sleep. More specifically, go to bed at 10pm, rather than 11pm or later. This is a bit of a struggle and The Mechanic and I practiced a bit this week (although not last night!). My goal is to be able to get up earlier and do some yoga before starting my day, and that means going to bed earlier.
- Cut down on sugar. I’d love to say that I’m going to cut it out completely but I can’t give up lemon bars and pumpkin pie and chocolate chip cookies. I can, however, retrain myself to only eat them for true celebrations – Valentine’s Day, birthdays, holidays… I don’t want to eat it everyday anymore. I know it’s addictive, so this won’t be easy.
Right after I eat all these champagne cupcakes that I made for New Year’s Eve…
Wealthy
Saving money, or rather, not shopping, is a huge struggle for me, and it partly stems from the constant need for excitement. New clothes, after all, are quite exciting! But I don’t need much, and I want more savings. So there are two things I want to do to help myself:
- Rein in impulse shopping. I want to only make myself things, or buy from my Stitch Fix subscription, or buy really cool shoes, not all the cool shoes. I tell myself I’ll behave and then I find myself with something in hand. Stop it, just stop it!
- Set up a “Family and Friends” savings account. I love buying stuff for family and friends, and this year I want a dedicated savings account and have money automatically transfer into it, so when birthdays and holidays and vacations roll around, I have funds specifically to spend on them. Having it separated will work better for me; I know from experience.
This is the Boden skirt that inspired my color blocked dress that I made this fall. The skirt was on clearance so I ordered it. I love it! Last purchase, I promise!!!
Wise
Wisdom comes from different sources. I’m thinking not only of being knowledgeable and fluent in current events, but also of being wise when it comes to my actions, especially in regards to sustainability and my purchasing power. I want to think about what I do and buy and how it impacts the planet. For example, I recently read that bar soap is more environmentally friendly than shower gel, and although I don’t really like bar soap, it is making me consider trying some. The Mechanic and I are already pretty green, so now it’s time to take it up a notch.
Sometimes a different perspective is all that is needed to want to make a change. Here, the National Mall as viewed from the Washington Monument, on a recent, perfectly clear day.
Even if you don’t create formal resolutions, do you find yourself resolving to do things better or differently in the new year? Or do you make resolutions at another milestone, such as a birthday? What prompts you to make changes or improvements in your life?
Here’s to a healthy, wealthy and wise 2016!
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