Last year I don't think I made any resolutions...I just wanted to 'coast'....and I think I did okay with it. It was a really rough year career-wise (seriously, quitting my part-time job was worse than any breakup I've been through. It was awful...but it was also a really good decision. I'm happier and have a lot more free time.) but everything else was fine. 2015 was not wonderful/fabulous, but much better than other years I've experienced and I'm grateful for that. There were a few highs and a few lows, but overall, nothing that left me wanting to give the proverbial middle finger to the year. Nobody in my family died or had major health/life issues, so really, quite the blessing if you ask me.
I didn't particularly want to make any resolutions this year, because my 'free-spirit' doesn't like being tied down with a bunch of plans/goals that I'll go crazy trying to reach...or give up on by January 13th. I mean, I do have things I want to accomplish, but for now, I'm sticking with three big goals for the year and I think that by hopefully achieving those goals, I'll achieve all the smaller things I want to accomplish as well.
The first goal is to save $10,000 in my emergency/rainy day fund. It's a tall order on my salary (it's nearly a third of my take-home pay for the year) and I'm not including contributions to retirement or investment accounts in this goal. Nor does this include the money I need to save for my trip to Chicago in October (more on this in a minute.) I originally wanted to save an additional 10k over what I already have in the fund, but I decided that was truly, realistically out of reach. I'm a little over 20% there right now and hopefully careful, mindful spending will take me the rest of the way. I've never been good with short-term savings...long-term/retirement is fine, but short-term isn't. Hopefully that will change this year.
The second goal is to run the Chicago Marathon...and not just finish, but race it to the best of my ability. I know qualifying for Boston is likely out of my reach, but I'm determined to finish around 4 hours. While that may be slow for some, it's a long way from the 14 minute miles I was slogging through a few years ago. While I've been running consistently since fall of 2009, I've been struggling the last few years. I think I finally have a handle on things again and while I've felt that way on an off over the years, this time feels different. I'm so, so excited to run and have fun - I can't wait for October. Also, I think that by seriously training for this, I'll naturally gravitate towards treating my body better. While I don't have specific weight loss goals, I want to nourish my body and really take good care of myself so I'm ready for October. I think it will all naturally fall into place in the coming months.
Finally, the third goal is to spend more time with friends and family. I have a pretty small 'inner-circle' if you will and they are all amazing. However, between working two jobs and a long commute, I found myself wanting to stay at home and be a hermit more often than not. Even after quitting the part-time job, I still find myself wanting to stay at home. Like, sure I'll venture to the gym on the weekends, but that's about it. I will probably always be a homebody and I don't see anything wrong with it. Some people 'recharge' and get their energy from spending time with people and doing activities. I 'recharge' by sleeping in, reading, running and spending lots of quality alone time at home. However, I think I've been a little too anti-social this year and while I will probably always be an introvert, I need to say 'yes' a bit more and spend time with the people I love.
So, there you have it. My grand plans for 2016. I feel like such a cheeseball posting this, but it's on my mind, so I'm rolling with it.
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