My Goals & Promises: Only 2 weeks late
PIN IT!
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I’ve been writing this post since the New Year so I should get some points for not completely giving up on it, right? Truth be told, I’ve been holding off on hitting publish because I didn’t want to rush to post something just because everyone else did. I wanted to actually sound genuine. Not saying that every post titled “resolutions or goals” that was published on January 1st is a phony, not saying that at all, I just wasn’t sure what my goals were and I didn’t want to say a bunch of BS just to be timely.
Yay me?
Goals for me are hard. Not because I’m not driven or ambitious or excited, because I’m scared sh**less I’m not going to follow through with them. I’ve set so many goals in the past that I haven’t accomplished and accepting that you failed at something is hard and emotional. But, I know goals give us something to measure our successes and push us, so I knew I needed to set some. Here are my GOALS for 2012:
- Complete a 10k
- Lose these last 20 pounds
- Finish my novel
- Pay off my debt & save
1. Take More Chances
Like, eat octopus, for example. I’m by no means timid, but I’m also not what you call fearless. I shy away from things that are really challenging, really scary and stick to what I know, both in real life and in the kitchen. When I was looking through my Italy photos, I saw the caption under this photo, written shortly after I got back home. “EWWW. Octopus!” Have I ever tried it? No. How would I know? I want to take a chance with things I’m scared of and things that aren’t normal. I want to eat octopus, bull testicles and pork belly. Will I like them? Who knows. But I can’t well say something is gross, or boring, if I haven’t tried it. I also can’t say I won’t like something (like traveling to a third world country) if I haven’t done it. So, I need to take more chances, be braver and do things that scare me. Because isn’t that what life is about, anyway?
2. Be the Best ME
In all facets of my life. I need to be the best me by allowing myself to relax once in a while, by pushing myself to climb the highest mountain or run a long race and indulge every now and then by having drinks and fried fatty food with friends. I’m not very good at balancing the different parts of me. I feel like if I’m relaxing, I’m being lazy. Or if I’m working out, I’m not doing ENOUGH. I’m not pushing myself hard enough. Or if I’m drinking and eating a hamburger, I feel like I’m not structured enough. I need to learn that I’m never going to be perfect and that has to be okay. I need to learn to be the best ME, not the best, period. I compare myself to others constantly and it’s exhausting. I’m never good enough. So instead of comparing myself to others who have done more, I’m going to push myself to do what I can do to be the best I can be. We put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect when the most important thing is just to be the perfect YOU.
3. Not be so hard on myself
I haven’t looked like THAT in over 2 years. And I beat myself up for that every single day. Every time I look in the mirror I judge myself. “You look awful.” “Wow, you are fat.” These thoughts pass through my head with every passing glance, every too tight pair of jeans and every time I’ve had to put on a hoodie to cover the less than toned stomach of mine. I’m so hard on myself that sometimes it’s unbearable to even be me. I’m not happy at this weight and I know some “tough love” is what I need to motivate myself. But at the same time, I need to learn to not be so hard on myself for gaining weight. So many factors go into gaining weight, things I could control and things I couldn’t. I was so unhappy for 2 years at a job I hated, and I gained weight because of it. Not because I was lazy, unmotivated or too busy drinking, I was so miserable I couldn’t even get myself to get out of bed sometimes. Life happens and I need to learn to let myself have a few slip-ups and just move on.
Same goes for the kitchen. If a recipe fails, I break down in tears and begin to question my ability as a cook and a recipe creator. I don’t think “hey, it happens, you aren’t perfect and sometimes recipes fail” I think “you are never going to make it as a chef and you are absolutely horrible.” Healthy, right? I’m not perfect, no one else. Not even you, Giada. So I need to learn to relax when something doesn’t turn out and understand that it does happen to everyone. Even the best chefs fail.
Accomplishing my goals and following through with my promises won’t be easy, but I know I can do it. Especially with the help of you guys. Thank you all again for your incredible words of wisdom and advice!
What are your 2012 goals? More importantly, what are your promises to yourself as you work to accomplish them?
http://hungrytwenties.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-2012-new-years-resolutions.html
Weight Watchers worked for me in the weight loss arena and finding a really fun 10K to do was helpful as well. Good luck!
I think it's a quarter life crisis thing--this whole figuring out "WTF am I doing with my life!" or the "Look what everyone else is doing with their life! I'm so behind!" I've found wine and yoga (sometimes consumed and practicing at the same time) helps! :)