Saturday, January 3, 2015

Reflections for the New Year #2 & January Resolution

I started 2014 with a lot of good intentions. Some resolutions really framed my year, while others became less of a priority.

So I'm not going to have a whole 2015 annual resolution. 12 months is a long time, and a lot of things can happen. I don't want to look back on a whole year and see mostly failures.

Instead, I have one big intent for this year - and it's a pretty good one. I want to live more purposefully. I want to spend every day working towards making myself happy, making those around me happy, and just generally living a more fulfilling life. I want to break myself away from being defined only as a consumer. I want to break myself away from defining myself as my weight, or as my fashion, or as my house. But that intention isn't really a S.M.A.R.T. goal, and it's not a very good resolution. It's just the way I plan to frame my actions this year.

I'm going to try something a little different for 2015. I'm going to attempt monthly resolutions. They say it takes 30 days to start a new habit, right? Seems like a smart approach. I don't know what all of my resolutions will be yet - just the first one. My plan is to start my resolution at the beginning of each month, reassess after 2 weeks and change anything necessary to keep me successful. I'll track my progress, and report back here at the end of the month. By that time, hopefully I will have formed a habit that will continue for the remainder of the year - if I decide it's still a priority.

With that said...

January Resolution:

Spend at least 5 minutes, every single day, doing something active.

Why 5 minutes?

5 minutes doesn't seem like a very long time, but that's entirely the point. Most health blogs talk about a 10 minute rule, but 10 minutes to me seems very daunting when it's cold and rainy outside. And this is January in Atlanta. So every day I can go for a 5 minute walk, do 5 minutes of jumping jacks, do 5 minutes of physical therapy - whatever. As long as it gets me into the habit of doing something, anything. I can then build from there.

Why is this resolution important?

This isn't about weight. I have only one body that's going to get me from my first day to my last on this earth, and I'm not treating it very well. My shoulder is hurting me, my knee is hurting me, my back is hurting me. And I'm only 30.

So, I'll track my progress for these 31 days and report back. Wish me luck!