New Years Resolutions: 2011

 (ringing in the new year with great friends and The Cup we won at pub quiz -our first win!)

I LOVE making resolutions but at the same time I’m am a hyper-planner so it makes sense. I know some people set resolutions just to abandon them but for me I love the idea of a new year to reevaluate and start fresh with goals that are important to me. Plus they actually do work for me. Some of the things that really stuck last year included to save money. We did a great job of implementing and keeping a budget, we paid off our car and went on a vacation without using debt. I also stopped buying/bringing home things I didn’t love and that didn’t beautify our life. And I did start eating better but still need to work on that. My resolutions for this year are all over the place but I think they are what I need to focus on.

Eat at least 1 serving of veggies EVERY DAY
I’m thinking of going as far as if I haven’t eaten anything by the time my husband has his nightly snack that I will eat a veggie snack and just keep carrots and snap peas and broccoli on hand.

Re-evaluate and optimize Rae Gun
There are so many perks to working from home but the feeling like and the reality that you could always be working is definitely not one of them. While the flexibility is great in some cases, I think I need to get more into a routine so I’m not just working all the time and then go on spurts where I’m burnt out, need a break and then find work has piled up. I’m thinking of kind of a work schedule. Also I think that Rae Gun is almost too big for me to handle alone which is wonderful but I need to figure out what that means and how I can morph and delegate responsibilities so I can manage it better (or get help managing if that’s what I decide). I just need to figure out now that the business is established and going well if there is a way I can be better do things to work for the business and my personal life.

 Put my pictures to work
I take a lot of pictures and thanks to my blog they don’t go completely unappreciated but I have so many memories just piled up and I really need to do more with my pictures. I want to sort through my pictures monthly and print them either for albums or scrapbooks. I’m also doing the 365 project and want to pick at least one picture for each day and make a photo album at the end of the year. (I do take pictures every day already this is more about actually editing and organizing the pictures I do take)

Do not be controlled by anxiety or worry
And this is the big one. I’ve noticed myself waking up completely stressed too much this past year. I didn’t let it get to breakdown level but there was almost always a constant nagging and I’d seriously lay down anxious about all I had to do and wake up with the first thought being ones of worry. It’s a habit I really need to break. The way I dealt with in this last year was just to take burn out breaks where I basically did fun things and pretended that I didn’t have things to do for a couple hours. While that was OK (better than just working 24/7) I think it was a form of denial and there are better ways to prevent where I can and deal with it all when I can’t. I’ve got a 4 prong attack for this one

1. When I say no, don’t let anyone talk me into changing my answer. This past year I said no to a few things, then got talked into them none-the-less and now I find myself doing a crappy job and resenting the responsibility. There’s a reason I said no in the first place, I know what I can and want to handle.
2. Don’t put things off. Sometimes I can be a last minute kind of person. I want to be more steady instead of having spurts of business and then burn out recovery periods. Of course of what I can control right :)
3. Not let myself worry in bed. As I’m falling asleep or waking up if I start to stress I want to stop those thoughts. Even if I have legitimate reasons to worry or be anxious i don’t want those feelings to control me.
4. Remember Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” when I feel anxiety and worry start to creep up.