2012 Goals

[The gorgeous Calgary, Alberta]

If you haven’t noticed over the past few years, I’m definitely on team goal setting when it comes to the New Year (and well, the entire year for that matter). I know a lot of people don’t believe in setting resolutions or goals at the start of the year, but I find goals are a great way for me to figure out what I want to strive for and how I’m going to get there. I look at it as a way to review the past year, see what worked and what didn’t, and then decide how I want to proceed, grow, and challenge myself in the new year ahead.

I also don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing when you get to the end of the year and there are goals that weren’t completed. As many of you mentioned in my 2011 recap post, having uncompleted goals is completely natural. As the year progresses, often do our plans and goals. One person can only do so much and it’s normal for uncompleted goals to carry over into the new year. To me, the point of a goal is to move in the direction where you want to be, not attain perfection.

This year, Eric and I had a fun discussion about 2011 and what we want to accomplish in 2012. It was a great way to share our own goals, current struggles, and things we want to do in the future. Many of our goals are the same, but many of them are different so we created a spreadsheet to write down his goals, my goals, and goals we share together. It was a fun experience because I feel like I can now support all of his goals (since I know about them) and the same goes for him.

My theme of 2012: Break out of the comfort zone

As a Taurus, I crave comfort and routine (and hate change most of the time), however this can easily translate into lack of growth and failing to step outside of my comfort zone. I often prefer to take the safe and comfortable choice instead of trying something new. In 2012, I will challenge myself by doing things that I normally avoid out of fear and just take the leap anyways. I’ve been working on this since fall 2011 and I’m ready for more. There are a lot of things I want to do with the blog (such as visiting an animal sanctuary and doing an interview), so I’ve made a list of things to keep me on track. My plan is to write at least one thing on my calendar a week that I want to try.

Goals for 2012:

1. Track expenses and create a budget using mint.com

Eric and I recently decided that we need a budget overhaul, so we’ve decided to use Mint.com after much debate.

2. Sign with publisher & finish cookbook manuscript in 2012

This is my biggest, time-consuming, scary goal of 2012.

3. Submit to Foodgawker and Tastespotting on a regular basis

I used to submit my photos and recipes to Foodgawker and Tastespotting on a regular basis, but I got out of the habit last year when things got busy. It can be quite time-consuming (especially if you’ve had 10 rejections in a row like I have!! ^#%^&%#@#^&), but it’s also a great way to share recipes with the food community and encourage new readers.

4. Train for a couple races and strength train 2x a week

After a break in 2011, I‘m ready for more racing. I’m planning on running a 5k in April so far and I’d like to train for another 10k or half marathon, depending on my schedule. I also want to keep up with my strength training to a minimum of twice per week using at-home DVD workouts and effective body-resistance exercises such as push-ups, squats, lunges, etc.

5. Organize & Simplify

Being bad at organizing like I am is not fun. For one, things are disorganized, cluttered, and difficult to find. Secondly, it ends up taking up more of my time in the end because I’m often searching for missing items or documents. If I would’ve taken the time to slow down and do it right, I would not only feel more orderly and calm, but I would probably end up saving time.

I started by cleaning out all of my cupboards and pantry at the end of 2011. I donated a bunch of things I don’t need and opened up a lot of cupboard space. Other organizational goals include keeping my virtual and physical desktops clear, organizing my photography files, legible hand-writing (ha), creating an organized system for my cookbook materials, and simplifying living space and doing away with annoying clutter.

I’ll let you know how that one goes.

6. Get back to my positive mindset

I’ve felt internal negativity creep up in my life lately and I need to get back to my positive mindset. Negativity is absolutely toxic in so many ways, isn’t it? It prevents us from being all we can be by sucking the life out of every thought, action, and intention. It kills creativity, personal expression, and the courage to believe in ourselves. The same thing goes for negative people in our lives. As Caitlin says, negative people are Energy Vampires. Not only do they drain themselves in the process, but they can suck the life out of you if you let them.

Zen Habits has a great article on 7 simple tips for dealing with negative people if you want to read more on the topic.

7. The Wild Card from 2011 will happen in 2012

Hopefully sooner than later because I can’t keep it a secret much longer.

And that’s all she wrote.

Booty Camp Fitness Giveaway!

Congrats to Veronica! I have emailed you to collect your contact info. Thanks to everyone for participating!

How will you step outside of your comfort zone in 2012?