14 Goals for 2014

Hello! How was your Christmas? Mine was full of family, friends, snow, sledding down sand dunes, cross country skiing in the woods, downhill skiing down the mountains of Michigan, cooking, great food, cuddling with the animals, and lots of warmth and love. Such a wonderful long weekend, full of many memories I will hold on to for years to come. My heart is full, and my soul is content.

With Christmas behind us, it’s time to look forward to this New Year – 2014, can you believe it? I can’t. Time flies. I’ve been thinking a lot about my goals for this coming year [I don’t do resolutions – goals are much more actionable and obtainable], and in the process of doing so, I have decided on one thing. 2014 is going to be my year. It’s going to be my year to finally make some changes in my life, move past some of the hurts in my past, and launch myself into the future I have always dreamed of. It’s my year to start accomplishing some of those life goals I have stored up in the ‘someday’ file of my brain, turning them from a possibility into a reality. It’s going to be my year to move on and forward, to finally start doing the things I’ve always wanted to do, and to begin living with no regrets. This time next year, I want to look back on 2014 and think, “wow, I really accomplished my goals this year.” It’s going to be a year of hard work, determination, motivation and diligence. And I can’t wait for it to start.

With that being said, I want to write out my goals here on the blog so I can hold myself accountable this coming year and track my progress along the way. So, without further ado, here are my goals for this coming year:

1. Write 1,000 words a day. One of my life goals is to one day be a full time author, writing both fiction and non-fiction. I want to be an author entrepreneur. And while fantasizing about this life is nice, nothing will ever happen unless I dutifully, faithfully write something every single day. I write fairly quickly, so 1,000 words a day is definitely an obtainable goal for me. I know there will be days when I don’t feel like writing, but just as with anything in life, the end result will be worth any struggle along the way. I can’t wait to see where this goal takes me!

2. Run a half-marathon. This is something that has been on the back-burner ever since I had to drop out of a 25K race in Grand Rapids back in 2010 due to a stress fracture. I’ve struggled to increase my mileage since then because I always try to take on too much too soon. But, this time around I have been slowly, painfully slowly, increasing my mileage, and I know that this year is my year to finally cross a long distance race off my bucket list. Even if I have to run really slow, I am determined to finish.

3. Get back into my regular devotional time. A couple years ago I read through the entire Bible beginning January 1st and ending December 31st. The experience was amazing, and I felt fulfilled after finishing. However, this last year I haven’t really been following a plan. I’ve just been reading whatever comes to mind, which can be good, but the lack of a routine has made it easier to skip a few days here and there. Not this year. I want to read through the Bible again this year, and be disciplined in my journaling each morning. There’s nothing better than starting the day in the Word, and that is what I intend to so this year.

4. Travel more. It’s hard with limited vacation time, but I’m getting tired of talking about traveling and experiencing new things and then never actually doing them. I don’t necessarily need to travel far. Even just traveling around Texas and seeing new things would be sufficient. It’s far past time to turn travel talk into travel action – and this is the year it’s going to happen.

5. Be more social. This is a hard one for me on a few different levels. And without getting into the details, I’ll just say this – I want to make more of an effort to create meaningful relationships, and allow Jesus to completely heal any trust issues I still deal with when it comes to friendship.

6. Let go of the past. Sure, there are things I wish would have turned out differently, but this is my year to stop dwelling on those things. Dwelling on the past prevents growth in the present and hope for the future, and those are things I cannot afford to lose. What I can afford to lose are the feelings of guilt, regret and sadness associated with things that have no place in my present life. So, this is the year for those things to go – for good. Time to forgive, learn from mistakes, and move on. Simple as that.

7. Read more books. Reading is a large part of what being an author means. If you never read, how can you write? So, my goal this year is to read more books. Ideally, I’d like to read a book a week. But, since I have some other challenging goals already on the table for this year, I’m thinking I’ll aim for a book a month, and then surprise myself if I can read more. And the books I read need to be a good mix of fiction, non-fiction, and inspirational/religious. I want to explore different subjects and increase my vocabulary. I am going to read as much as I can, and use what I learn to better my life.

8. I am going to re-learn Spanish this year. I am going to do it. Seriously though, this has been on my goal list for at least three years. Time to take it off the list and turn it into a reality.

9. Cook more creatively. Sometimes there just simply isn’t enough time to cook a creative meal, and the usual meal-time staples are just easier. But, once a week, I want to cook something different. A new recipe we’ve never tried before – something healthy and delicious. I think once a week is a feasible goal here – I have a slew of recipes pinned on Pinterest I’ve been itching to try out!

10. Speaking of Pinterest, I want to finally tackle some DIY projects this year. Art and creative design used to be something therapeutic for me, something I loved to do. Unfortunately I haven’t had the time to really get into it again since moving to Texas, but this year I’m going to tackle a few creative projects on my list. If anything turns out halfway decently, I’ll be sure to post pictures on the blog so y’all can hold me accountable for this one.

11. Stop giving up so easily. I have this thing, this problem, where I find it quite challenging to finish what I’ve started. I’ll get half way through something, get bored, distracted or discouraged, and then move on to something else. That’s not going to happen anymore. This is my year to rid myself of this habit.

12. Go on more dates. When you’re married, date night slowly become crash at home on the couch with a pizza night, and when you think about it, that just isn’t as fun. I want to make more of an effort to go on actual dates – they don’t have to be expensive or fancy – just something other than a movie at home. There are so many cool things to do in the concrete jungle of Dallas that we haven’t even discovered yet. This is our year to discover those things.

13. Do something that matters. I want to make a difference in someone’s life this year – whether that be through volunteer work, a financial donation, or however the Lord leads me. I just want to do at least one thing that matters, something that impacts someone other than myself.

14. Publish [RE]volution YOU as an e-book on Kindle. This goal has been in the works for quite some time, but this is the year it becomes a reality. And while I want God to use it however he sees fit, I honestly don’t care if I only sell five copies. The fact that I accomplished a goal I’ve been working on for so long will be reward enough for me. [FYI: This is going to be coming sooner rather than later – hopefully in January, more details to follow!]

So – 14 goals for 2014. I will try my best to hold myself accountable to these goals, so that at the end of 2014 I can look back and see all that I’ve been able to accomplish. I can’t wait for this New Year to start. I have a feeling it’s going to be an exceptionally good one.

What are some of your goals for 2014?