A New Year For A Better Me

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There is something so refreshing and exciting about a new year. Endless possibilities, new opportunities, and the perfect time to start doing things that you wish you would have in the previous year. Every year people make resolutions and every year people either break or keep those resolutions. Those who break their resolutions, in my opinion, never really had a strong desire to keep it. For those who do keep their resolutions, it begins a habit and something they build into their lives going forward.

I have always been someone who loves reflecting on my life. I look at what went well, what I could do better on, and what I felt like was missing. As I sat with coffee and a journal writing down different things that I wanted to do, I began seeing a pattern. It all had to do with becoming a better me or the best version of myself. I want to take care of myself and be more intentional about spending time becoming a better me. As I sat down and wrote my goals, I wanted to also include tangible ways that I could accomplish them. If you are going to set goals in the new year, you need to be realistic and find ways that you will achieve them. So here it is, my new years (or should I say new life) resolutions and the steps I will take to carry them out.

1. Live a healthier lifestyle. I feel like this is the most common resolution and one that people probably fail at the most. However, I put my own realistic twist on it in order to best suit my lifestyle. I will be active everyday for at least 30 minutes. Yes you read that right, everyday. I use "be active" because it feels less intimidating than working out. I want to stay active every single day not matter what that may look like. It could be working out in a gym, yoga, Zumba, walking, running, dancing, jump-rope, anything. If it is active, it counts. I would say I am already active everyday because of how much I walk, but I want to be more intentional about being active in other aspects as well. Another way to a healthier lifestyle is drinking half of my body weight in ounces. For instance, if you weigh 100 pounds, you would drink 50 ounces of water everyday. If you weigh 200 pounds, you would drink 100 ounces of water everyday. This seems like such an easy goal for me, because I already drink so much water, but I know for some this will be a challenge. While I do drink lots of water, I don't keep track of how much I have had. As you (hopefully) know, water has so many benefits. It is great for your skin, helps with headaches, and flushes out toxins. Yes, you will have to pee all the time, but hey you will feel so much better. In living a healthier lifestyle, I know there are things I need to cut out of my diet. However, I know for myself I cannot do it all at once. So, I have committed to cutting out a category every 30 days. I chose 30 days because that is how long it takes to develop a habit. It can include anything you want such as; processed food, fast food, fried food, sugar, sweets, soda, etc. Anything that you feel is bad for your health, you should commit to cutting out for 30 days. For the first 30 days, I am cutting out fast food. I find myself going to fast food restaurants because I am always in a rush and on the go. After the 30 days, I will not be reaching for that first since it has not been a part of my routine for the last month. The key to accomplishing this habit breaking is to not cheat. It is not a diet, because in those 30 days you have so many other options, just not what you cut out. My hope is that in doing these 30 day cut outs, I will not longer reach for those unhealthy foods or only indulge on holidays and big events. I will definitely update you on this as time goes on. Along with a healthier lifestyle, comes home cooked meals. Cooking more can be far healthier, saves money, and in all honestly is a skill I need to learn at this point. I will be on the hunt for healthy recipes and will share some of my favorites soon.

2. Dive into personal development. This is all thanks to Rachel Hollis, y'all. If you don't know who that is, you need to Google her stat. I have been listening to her podcasts and have been loving every minute of them. I am always striving to be a better person and make the most out of life, but I find myself using the "too busy" excuse to dig into personal development. I want to read more personal development books, such as "Girl, Wash Your Face" by Rachel Hollis, which is on it's way to my door step. If you have any favorites, send them my way! I also want to listen to more personal development podcasts. I have found one that I like, once again Rachel Hollis which is called RISE. Side note, I love her and her husband's RISE Together podcast too, but I will talk about that more in another post. Other ways I plan on digging into personal development, or becoming a better version of myself, is writing down 10 things I am grateful for every single day. This idea came straight from one of Rachel Hollis's podcasts. Everyday I write down something that happened that day that I am grateful for. It can be a beautiful sunset, my favorite song on the radio, talking on the phone with a friend, etc. Choosing things that happen daily trains your brain to look for beautiful moments in your day. You are on the lookout because you know you have to write 10 things down that day. I want to be more grateful every single day. It is impossible to be angry, anxious, sad, or mad if you are grateful that day.

3. Dig deeper into the Bible. This is almost always on my list of resolutions, but I am determined to dig deeper this time and not just commit to reading the Bible. I ordered "Seamless: Understanding the Bible as One Complete Story" by Angie Smith. This bible study has been recommended to me by so many people. It is a great study that allows you to understand the Bible as a story. Too often, I read the stories but cannot seem to grasp the Bible as a whole. This will be my first study of the year, but I would love recommendations on others as well.

4. Do more things for me. When I thought of ways that I could be a better me, I thought of things that would make me happier or feel better. I thought of a few things that I wanted to do for myself. First, I want to take better care of my hair and skin. I am committing to one hair mask a week and sticking to my skin care routine. I get lazy in these areas. I haven't done a hair mask in forever and sometimes all I can make myself do is take off my makeup (NEVER go to sleep with makeup on). I put lots of heat on my hair so a hair mask and using products to protect my hair from damage are going to become a part of my routine, remember that 30 day habit. I have been loving Kristin Ess products from Target so I have lots of wonderful things to start using to accomplish this goal. Also, I want to take good care of my skin. I want to have a very consistent skin care routine, which also includes a weekly facial mask and steaming. I bought a facial steamer and a facial brush cleaner to work into my routine as well. In addition to taking care of my hair and skin, I want to do something for me everyday. That can include literally anything. A bubble bath, a walk, reading a book, a hike, a bike ride, taking pictures, journaling, anything that I enjoy or want to do. I want to carve out time everyday to do something that I love. Too often, I go to sleep and think about my day and it includes nothing that I truly enjoy. It typically includes, work, school, cleaning, driving, (okay I enjoy eating), and other day to day things we have to do. I want to go to sleep thinking how much I enjoyed that bike ride or can't wait to finish that book. With day to day activities, me time can be hard to find. As suggested by Rachel Hollis, I want to wake up 30 minutes earlier to have me time in whatever capacity that may be. Reading, drinking coffee, planning out my day, writing, etc. Rachel suggests an hour, but I wanted to split it up to be more realistic for myself. 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes before I go to bed. Before I go to bed activities could include any of the self-care me time that I mentioned above. I needed to carve out time in order to achieve these goals that I know will change how I live my day to day life.

As I write these resolutions out, I am excited for the growth that this year will bring. I hope by December 2019 I can write that these resolutions have drastically changed the person I am and the way I live my life. I know I sound ambitious here, but I firmly believe these things can make me become a better version of myself.

So here is to 2019, a year of growth, change, and a better me.