So we are already 3/4 of the way through January. As we all tackle the new year with our various resolutions to lose half our body weight, workout 20 hours a day, sleep twice as much while being four times as productive, cut out everything but lettuce and carrots from our diet, or never drive a car, throw out a recyclable thing, buy from a chain, or fart ever again, I've decided not to decide. Never a huge proponent of 'resolutions', mostly for the fact that they rarely stick, I will simply continue with my year-round practice of setting goals and working towards them. Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and long-term. If you're interested, you can see some fun figures on resolutions at Statistic Brain and get some suggestions to make goals you really will stick to at Psychology Today.
Since the name & style change for this blog only happened two months ago, I've already reached some personal goals, and have several more set for this year. I have increased readership by about 10-fold, my blog joined a cool network of amazing world-wide food bloggers called The Daily Meal (which you should totally check out!), formatted and outlined an e-cookbook, created and begun contributing to a Twitter & Facebook presence (@BudgetEpicurean -Tweet or follow me!- and the Facebook group Culinary Content), and automated and increased postings to three times per week (which may change depending on my course load this semester...). That's pretty exciting for two month's time. In the upcoming year, I have several personal and blog-related goals:
- Continue to keep up with 3x weekly postings with varied and high quality information and recipes
- Experiment with different types of food, ethnic foods, recipe substitutions, 'health-ifying' things, etc.
- Finish writing the bulk of the recipes for the e-cookbook as well as finishing the index by the end of March
On a personal note:
- Go to the gym a minimum of 3x per week, whether to run, yoga, or strength train. Failing that, yoga or weights at home
- Try to fit at least one more serving of veggies in per day than usual
- Drink a minimum of 1 32 oz bottle of water per day (I'm terrible at remembering to drink water. Some days I get home at 7 and realize the only liquid I've had all day is a cup of coffee and the milk in my cereal that morning. It doesn't help that I work in a lab where food/drinks aren't allowed)
- Sock away 5% to savings and 5% to an investment account each month no matter what
- Get involved with a charity & volunteer at least one hour once a month
- Make time for at least 1 hour a week for myself, and 1 hour per day of distraction-less couple time
You'll notice that most of those goals involve something specific. Rather than "workout more" I tell myself I must work out three times per week. If I make three days in a row, great for me. If I go Monday and then forget until Friday, guess what I'm doing over the weekend? Also "drink more water" is hard to follow through on. Filling one 32 oz bottle in the morning and making sure it's empty by the time I go to bed is manageable.
As the name of this post implies, I've been thinking that the name for this blog is the Budget Epicurean. As such I shall be occasionally posting about things other than food, mainly frugality and budgeting. Stay tuned for my next post, which will be all about how to create and stick to a budget!
What's your #1 resolution this year? (Week, month, decade...)
Labels: blogging goals, budgeting, facebook, new years resolutions, personal goals, setting goals, twitter
