Dave & Marte's Simple Sundays

2016 is here! And that’s exciting, and scary. Resolutions are daunting, even if they aren’t yours. A resolution is a firm decision to do, or not do something. There is no flexibility, no time to test and see if the resolution is in your best interest. And everyone makes them this time of year, striving to be bigger smaller, better, stronger and more exciting (in order to curate their online lives to appear picture-perfect). It’s like an unspoken society-wide competition. If you don’t succeed, you feel like a failure compared to your fellow resolutioners.

Making a resolution implies its not okay to be the 2015 you in 2016.  So, I don’t make resolutions. Instead, this year, I made goals. Instead of a hard and fast decision to do, or do not, a goal is an aim, or a desired result. So I am resolving to:

• Be healthier,
• Be happier,
• Be financially responsible, and
• Get organized.

I know, these are super broad. But these are just the goals. Each goal has its own plan. Thanks to my new Passion Planner, I took the time this week to write down my goals and the steps that I think I need to take to get there. I’ll let you know how I like the Passion Planner once I’ve used it a bit longer, but the approach makes a lot of sense. For example, the steps for the goal to be healthier are currently:

• Remove alcohol and refined sugar from my diet during the week (thanks Whole30!).
  • Don’t give into exceptions (it’s my birthday Wednesday so I get a cupcake). Not the weekend, stick to diet restrictions!
• Get cardio in three time a week, strength training and yoga twice a week.  
  • Make this time a priority. Get up earlier to make it happen so it doesn’t “interfere” with the fun stuff.

Each month I’ll evaluate how far I got towards my goals and adjust my approach if it’s not working. There wont be failure, only trial and error. It’s a more positive approach to the underlying purpose behind resolutions: striving to be the best you that you can be for yourself and your family.