2012 Goals.

It’s been a minute, huh? I hate that I haven’t been able to blog as much lately, but life just gets in the way sometimes. Ryan and I have both been really busy with work and I have spent all of my spare time obsessing over our bedroom makeover. If there is any excuse worthy of delaying a blog post about my 2012 goals, it would be actually accomplishing my 2012 goals.

I’ve developed a really nice little cocoon around myself over the last couple of months. I’ve been spending a ton of time at home alone with my husband and I haven’t really touched any type of social media either. It’s been a really nice change. I think if you’re always trying to keep up with everything and everyone, you sort of lose yourself. You don’t have time to think or really be present. I’ve purposefully taken a step back to help drown out some of that noise. I think that when there are so many ways to connect and so many areas of influence, it gets really easy to move with the crowd and before you know it, you’ve lost your originality and point of view.

So, back to the 2012 goals. I’m pretty excited about 2012. The even years have always been pretty good to me. I was born on an even year, started dating and married my husband on even years, bought my house on an even year, etc, etc. All of that IS really as insignificant as it sounds, because I truly believe that this year will be great because of the choices I make. I am finally at a place in my life where I am truly confident in myself. I have no weird hang-ups, no insecurities and no baggage. I’m not saying that I will conquer the world this year, but I know that I will be happy with the results of my efforts because I know that I will put my efforts in the right places and make the right choices.

So here they are:

1. Invest more time in our families. This one is extremely important to us. Ryan and I want to be connected and involved with our families. It’s easy to let those relationships lapse and get stale, especially when we live in different states and are all so busy. Luckily, I have two cousins getting married this year, so this will provide us with a great opportunity to spend time with everyone.

2. Improve the appearance of our deck. This goal really started out as “fix our deck,” but after getting an estimate to do so at the beginning of January, we are opting for the more budget friendly DIY “appearance package” option. Plus, I haven’t really decided exactly which direction I want to go in terms of the railings yet, so I think it’s best if we wait.

3. Read Consistently. I am aiming to read a book a month this year. I could easily do more, but the cost of buying books adds up after a while and I am not nearly trendy enough to have an e-reader of any kind.

4. Run a 5k in 26 minutes or less. I don’t have much interest in being a long distance runner, so instead of increasing my mileage, I’m going for speed.

5. Improve the curb appeal of our home. Doreen and I have already met to map out a plan for this. We are planning on extending our island in the front yard and doing some goat friendly landscaping-type improvements in the backyard.

6. Finish our bedroom project. We are so close to being done this goal already. The project consists of new furniture, new paint, a new style and pretty much new everything. My goal is do this all on the cheap, so I know it will take a little longer, but it will definitely be more rewarding.

7. Practice Moderation. This goal encompasses healthy eating, regular exercise and alcohol consumption. I don’t want to be extreme with any of these. The goal is to find a nice healthy balance among them. I don’t want to excessive, I don’t want to be obsessive, I don’t want to be deprived.

8. Find time to volunteer and make a difference in the lives of others. I want to support a cause that means something to me and that I am passionate about. I’d love to be a GOTR coach. GOTR hits close to home for me, because it’s a program that I could have really benefited from as a young girl. Self-esteem issues can make a huge difference in how a young girls’ life plays out and if I could stop someone from making the same mistakes that I did, then I think that area of my life would feel healed and balanced.

9. Spend more quality time with my husband. Obviously, I already spend every waking moment with my husband, but that’s the way it should be. We’re newly married and we should want to be together all the time. The problem is, when you’re BFFs and homebodies like we are, it gets really easy to talk each other into cuddling up in bed to watch TV every night and forget to go out and date.

10. Become as authentic and genuine as possible. This may sound like a weird goal, but it ties back to what I was talking about with social media. Inspiration is great, but too much inspiration=sheep. I started realizing this when the majority of photography blogs and facebook pages that I follow, started to look the same to me. Using photography as an example, I think it’s easy for a hobbyist like myself to look to some of the more hip, popular and socially visable pros for guidance on what photos should look like, and from there, get so caught up with what they are doing that you end up copy someone else’s style instead of developing your own. I think that this has happened to a lot of aspiring photographers all over the country and has contributed to the boom of the industry. The problem is that alot of the real, genuine talent gets hidden because they have no interest in social media and just want to focus on their art, so they end up getting lost in the crowd because society is telling the consumer that great photography is the summation of branding and marketing, more so than real skill. Marketing is great, but if there is nothing really authentic behind it, then it just adds to the problem and creates more of the same mediocrity. No matter what area of life, it’s important to me to find my own way and not rely on what other people are doing to develop who I am, what I do and where I want to go. What's inside will always be more important to me than the packaging. I’d rather be authentic and bonafide, than be a branded, boxed copy of someone else.

Wish me luck!
-liz