Can we just rewind 7 days and pretend that I started my New Year’s goals on time?
I’m kinda living in a 2011 time warp right now.
There has been no talk of taking down the Christmas tree or decorations yet. I think Eric and I are in a holiday decoration stand off, waiting to see who will cave first. Plus, it’s so cozy with the tree all lit up at night and the creepy Nutcrackers peering at me from the mantel! Aw, creepy Nutcrackers.
With our long winters, I’m in no rush to pack up the holiday joy just yet. It can wait, much like I am for spring.
Can we also pretend that I accomplished all of 2011’s goals while we’re at it? Or even more than half of them?
Here’s a little recap of my 2011 goals and how I did.
1. Take care of my health and continue my journey with a vegan diet
I felt like I really hit my stride when it came to veganism this year. I made all kinds of new vegan recipes and tried many new foods and vegan restaurants. I got in the v-zone! On the flip side, I also learned to be more patient when I was somewhere that wasn’t veg-friendly and thankful when I was somewhere that was. I tried to take it all in stride. In terms of my health, I’d say I did well, especially with exercise and nutrition. However, I still need to work on getting my mental health more balanced when it comes to my anxiety. I still struggle with it more than I’d like to admit.
2. Blogging: focus on quality over quantity
I definitely worked hard on my recipe creation, photography, and writing in 2011. There are still a lot of things I want to improve and work on, but that’s the beauty of the beast!
3. Write a vegan cookbook proposal + sign with publisher + start cookbook testing and writing process
I honestly did not think that I was going to come close to making this goal, but things took a sudden turn for the better in the fall. I signed with a wonderful literary agency and planned on finishing my proposal in February 2012 (the proposals are often over 50 pages, so I gave myself a few months). However, I was contacted by a publishing house in November asking me to send them my cookbook proposal. Needless to say, this lit a fire under my butt and I was working on it like crazy until 2 or 3 in the morning every night. Two weeks later, my agent sent it to our list of favourite publishers and since December, I’ve been having conference calls with them discussing our ideas for the book (scary!). Because this process can take a while (especially over the holidays), I’ve already started working on my cookbook to get a jump start, creating new recipes, writing, and trying to get a handle on this crazy process. Hopefully, I will have good news to report to you soon! If not, I’m still going to keep working on the book and chasing my dream.
4. Save 10% of monthly gross income into high interest savings account.
I saved a bit, but definitely not 10%. One of my goals in 2012 will relate to how I’m going to improve this area. I need a budget overhaul and I think mint.com is going to be involved.
5. Run a 5k race
As it turned out, I didn’t race at all in 2011, which was a big contrast to 2010. I never would’ve guessed that I wouldn’t make this goal, but I ended up focusing on strength training, spinning, yoga, and running for pleasure. It was a nice change! I guess I just wasn’t in the race mode in 2011. I did run a few speedy 5ks on my own for free though. :)
6. Raise money for charity
This was a big success in 2011, thanks to YOU! We raised a whopping $7,200 for the Japan Disaster Relief Fundraiser, in addition to various other bake sale charities over the year. Thank you for your generosity!
7. Do Body Pump class a minimum of one time per week
I don’t think it averaged out to once a week all year long, but I was happy with getting back into my strength training this year. I’m not renewing my gym membership in 2012 (as an effort to save moula), but I will tell you what I’m going to do for home workouts instead.
8. Take a photography course
Sadly, this didn’t happen, but it’s still on my list of things I want to do (Eric too!).
9. Ireland or bust
Well, I guess it was a bust! We didn’t end up going to Ireland, but we were blessed with a visit from our Irish relatives instead! We’ll make it there some day.
10. Meditate 3 minutes per day
I’m seriously dying laughing right now thinking about how big of a fail this goal was. I tried…I really did. I remember sitting on my office floor on January 1st, turning off the light, and setting the timer for 3 minutes. What felt like 5 hours later, I got up, feeling a bit more stressed than before I started. I even tried a meditation CD at one point, but I couldn’t stop laughing at the guy’s creepy voice long enough to meditate.
I’ve come to learn that I relax by doing things. My best meditation probably happens when I’m at a yoga class (even if I do force myself to wait until a few people leave the room before I leave Shavasana…)
On that note, I haven’t been to yoga in a downward dog’s age, so I best fix that.
11. Wild Card
The wild card was started in 2011, but ultimately was not finished yet. I’m hopeful I’ll be able to tell you about it in 2012!
~~~~~
Another year gone. Many experiences. Lessons Learned. Laughter. Mistakes made. Great memories. Tears. Chances taken. Disappointments. Blessings. Love. Goals completed. Goals not completed.
…and that’s why we look forward to a fresh start each year to do it all over again.
Here’s to 2012 and all it will bring. Decorations and all.
Hi Angela, well done on such a successful year. Such a great recap to read. Isn’t it funny how no matter how well you do often that anxiety can bubble away deep down below, in fact often it is the super successful perfectionists that live with it. I meditate daily to give myself a break from over worrying or thinking, and find the best way rather than try to still myself and then beat myself up because I can’t focus my thoughts or breath is to just notice and listen to all the noises going on around me – it works!
I look forward to continuing to follow you this year.
Hey Angela,
I’ve read your site for a long time, but never commented. So excited for your cookbook! Always thought you should have one. I will definitely buy a copy.
Thanks Katie!
Happy New Year, Angela! I enjoyed reading your 2011 resolutions and also the comments which have provided me with some interesting research as well.
Budgeting and meditation have been two resolutions that I’ve dealt with in the past year. With budgeting I’ve found mint.com to be very helpful. Having bought a house a year ago, my finances have been tight. I found that auto-drafting into savings accounts has been very effective. Even if you can only spare $50/month (or less), having that money regularly moved to a different account is still effective. I’ve been doing that for a vacation fund and am almost saved up enough for my September Greece vacation!
For meditation, I found the Fragrant Heart website to be very helpful. http://www.fragrantheart.com/ There is a getting started meditation series that helps you get up to 10 minutes … I find her voice very relaxing, and she also has many guided meditations for a variety of issues.
Good luck!
Great job on your goals! I achieved my weightloss goal last year and am so proud and pumped up to achieve more this year :)
P.S. I went to a vegan potluck that is held monthly in our town for the first time on Saturday, and I made your Vegan Pumpkin Mac n Cheese. It got RAVE reviews :D Thanks for the recipe Im not sure WHAT I would have made without your blog!! :)
P.P.S – when you do publish your book I’d love to bring one to the monthly vegan potluck and tell everybody about it :D :D :D How exciting!!
This may sound totally irrelevant to your post, but the post here reminded me of you and your positivism :) Wish you a great 2012!!!
http://www.wanderingearl.com/thank-you-to-the-militant-who-stole-my-car/
“The truth is, there is ALWAYS hidden value in every moment of life. It just might take us some time to discover it.”
What a great list of goals you had! And good for you for accomplishing any. Don’t be too hard on yourself for the ones you “missed” or “need to work on for 2012.” Like you, I need to learn to take care of my anxiety! I get horrible headaches b/c I get so stressed and overwhelmed. This is definately on the top of my goal list for 2012 and I truly think that my new vegan lifestyle has helped! (2 months and going strong!)
I look forward to 2012!!!
Don’t worry about the tree…we just took ours down yesterday and this morning I was a bit depressed as I sat and ate my Sweet potato breakfast casserole (delicious p.s!) and stared and the empty living room.
I cannot wait for your cookbook!
Mint.com is pretty useful, we’ve been using it for a while now, hope you like it :)
I am so glad to hear that I am not the only one that relaxes by doing things. It drives my husband crazy! If I am literally not doing anything for a good amount of time, it drives me crazy. I am at my happiest when I am busy :D
I would also like to share the story of my dear friend Amy who was diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma July 2011. My vegan journey was inspired by her. She is one of the healthiest, most active people that I know and after her diagnosis (at age 28), I realized that no amount of exercise can make a person healthy, it’s what we put into our bodies that makes us our best.
Cheers to you Amy. May you have a healthy and fast recovery in 2012.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amydunn/mystory
I just found your blog today, and I already love it.
Just wanted to throw my 2 cents worth in about dealing with stress and anxiety. I was always a shy introvert, but life led me to a career in teaching. At first, I credited my training in education with pulling me out of my shell, but as anyone who has taught in the public system lately knows, one must have a very thick skin to enjoy it. To be clear: I do not have thick skin, and over the years, my stress and anxiety levels rose to monstrous levels. It got so bad that when life happened, and I lost both of my parents in a short span of time, I overloaded and had to quit just to keep hold of my sanity. For the last 2 years, my husband and I have relocated for his career, and I found myself holed up in our rental house, exhibiting signs of agoraphobia! That really scared me. Everyone started saying I should get myself to a doctor and get on some anti-depressants, but I am really anti-pharmaceutical drugs. Out of desperation, I googled alternative health options for dealing with anxiety and depression, and by some miracle, I stumbled upon a Toronto-based hypnotist’s website. I am stressing the Toronto connection because I am from Toronto myself, and it’s always nice to promote local talent. His Stress Relief self-hypnosis CD, which I immediately ordered, in a very big way pulled me out of the depths of despair and helped me sleep soundly again, which helped me to feel more balanced, which in turn helped me to start exercising again…which also in turn helped me to feel positive once again and like I can face the world once more. Truly, it was a God-send. So, please, I highly recommend you check out www.mikemandelhypnosis.com
PS: I, too, could never get the hang of meditation, but this…this is better, in my opinion. Even my husband swears by it now, as it never fails to help him sleep more soundly, too.
Congrats on the goals you completed in 2011 & congrats on the goals you attempted…what a sad life it would be if we never set goals for ourselves. Meditating was a goal for me one year, and like yourself I quickly found out that it’s just not for me. I too feel more relaxed by DOING things.
2010 was my year off from entering any races and it was a great year because I had time to do a variety of activities & that’s the year I was really introduced to yoga. I cancelled my gym membership this year and bought a yogaglo.com membership…it’s incredible! I can’t tell you the last time I went to the gym to workout so why pay for it if I’m not using it? I love to workout outside & at home.
This year I have not set any major goals, what I have decided to do instead is set a daily intention(s) & so far I am loving it. It has a much more positive affect on me mentally.
I hope 2012 is a fabulous year for you & I can’t wait to proudly display your cookbook(s) on my kitchen counter someday (soon!).
Great goal recap. It inspires me to think about what my goals for 2012 are and how I can achieve them. And I cannot wait for your cookbook!!!! :)