It is a new year, and everyone is making their annual pledges to change their lives with the turning of the calendar page. It does seem like a natural time to reflect, introspect and prioritize life and what could use some refreshing, or a new path completely.
Many people commit to grandiose changes, or make the same resolutions year after year, but what is it that keeps them from being a success? I think that incremental change is often easier to achieve, and also more sustainable in many cases. Thus, I have committed to a few things myself.
My first task on the 1st was to start going through some of my storage areas. I listed several items for sale that I don’t use regularly or have only been keeping out of nostalgia and don’t get much excitement out of any longer. A little Marie Kondo-ing never hurt anyone! This is an incremental step for me as I am contemplating finding a way to live debt-free. Whether that ends up being a tiny house, or fenagling my finances to pay down my mortgage, it is on the couple-year-horizon for now. The step of decluttering and parring down can only help me prepare, and if I can make a few bucks by selling some of my stuff in the meantime, that can’t hurt either!
I also plan to assess my spending, and par down on subscriptions and unnecessary spending and want to start January with having some no-spend days/weeks designated. Cooking and more whole-foods instead of going out quite as much this month is on my mind and are habits that I would like to instill for the year to come.
Otherwise, my next commitment is to start the new year off strong and maintaining my current health and fitness momentum. I can honestly say that I am as healthy as I have been in my adult life at present, probably the healthiest in fact! I kept on top of my fitness routine better throughout the year than I have in the past, did not allow it to become one-dimensional and am headed into the new year proud of my health. I don’t feel the need to do a dramatic reboot or do major damage control for once. However, I am committing to a sober January to cleanse after the holidays, and because I haven’t gone without drinking for that long in ages and am curious to see how it feels to maintain sobriety for a period. I think that doing that along with my current routine and prioritizing yoga more will keep me feeling great and look forward to reviewing the results. January 1 included a hot yoga session and a 3.31-mile jog for me to start off on the right foot! That was a LOT of sweat and it felt great!
Otherwise, I posted about Veganuary a couple times on my personal Facebook feed and have a couple friends that have shown interest in giving it a go! I am excited to see how they fare and want to be available to support and advise them as they go about making this change in their daily life! It is great to see that more people continue to be open-minded about the impact that it can has and I want to continue to actively promote it, especially in friend circles where it is more of a foreign concept.
- What are your plans for 2020?
- What are your resolutions, goals, or things that excite you most?
- Writing it down always helps, so let’s see those commitments in the comments!
Cheers (alcohol-free) to the New Year!
Ian
