It’s a Brand New Year!

I have always been a sucker for beginnings and endings, especially as a parent and an educator. About 15 years ago, I began making it a point to celebrate the end of each semester with my students. Now, when a semester ends, I make sure to write each one of my classes an ode (a poem of tribute), celebrating what they specifically added to my room in personality and intelligence. Not only does it help me finalize the class, but it also provides me an avenue to give each student some much needed attention. Likewise, when an athletic season ends for one of my kids’ sports teams, it feels so great to remember the highlights and reflect on the great athletic achievements with the other players’ families. 

Beginnings are also exciting for me on an individual level, but I have been known to get a little over-confident. I get so excited to begin things, that I make some questionable decisions. For example, one year I signed up for a half marathon at 2 am on January 1st. Another year, after a late night documentary disaster, I decided vegan was the only way for my family to live. That decision gave way to vegetarianism, which gave way to our family consuming meat once a week, which turned into the Paleo diet. Therefore the past two years have gotten me pretty focused on attainable goals, and like an absolute nerd, I love setting goals.

That’s a super boring thing to love to do, right? But I do. Besides veganism, I actually accomplish many goals I set for myself. I do this by making goals that are in reach but will also make me work hard. I have friends who feel the same way. One of my friends told herself she would do 50 burpees a day and 3 minutes of planks a day for an entire year. She accomplished this through sickness and family trips. She’s a rock star and should be incredibly proud. That’s why goals are great: the feeling of achieving something that you set out to do. I’ve never understood why people scoff at setting New Year’s resolutions. What a better time to recharge, refresh, and refocus than a brand new shiny year?

Goal setting:

As stated previously, the trick is to set a goal that can be achieved, but is also a stretch. It also doesn’t have to take an entire year to accomplish. My half marathon was done by May, and I had the rest of the year to make new fitness goals. The beauty is that you can set your own goals for your own purposes, but I believe the end result should be moving towards becoming a better version of yourself. I have two goals that I have set for 2017. If I accomplish them, they’ll stay with me for my life, and make me a better human.

Goal #1 Commit to cooking or preparing whole foods for my family

My health journey is ongoing, and I have finally gotten myself to crave salads and fruits, lean meats and Lara bars, but I can’t say the same for my kids. This is where I have let convenience get in the way of health. Yes, my kids have fruits and veggies at every meal, but I am notorious for making a meal for my husband and me (salmon and salad), and then serving my kids something I know they’ll like (grilled cheese) at least two or three days during the work week. I can blame our schedule on this all day long, but the reality is that it’s just easier. I need to make whole foods more of a family priority and take away the chocolate granola bars, the microwave burritos, and the fruit snacks. Having these every once in awhile is fine, but I have let it become the norm. This year, I want that to change.

I LOVE 100 Days of Real Food and Food Babe for many reasons, but making my food goals achievable is one. 100 Days of Real Food is a great resource for any family looking to stray from packaged and processed food for an entire family, and Food Babe has many good recipes on her site as well as some research to get you fired up. My favorite recipes are the chicken salad and the green chili. Both women have transformed their lives based on whole foods and both women are informed consumers. I really recommend these sites if you are looking to shake things up at the dinner table.

In America, it’s actually incredibly difficult to find food that isn’t processed, but our country is making changes for the better, and I am going to take advantage of that. In 2016, my family removed fast food unless we were driving to a different state, and that wasn’t difficult at all. In 2017, I want to make sure my kids crave foods like fruits, veggies, and clean protein even more than they do now.

Goal #2: Calm down and count my blessings

I am as tightly wound as a kite string. I work to be patient all day, but I come home with no patience left. I really want to work on this. This winter break has been so nice. I have found myself being patient with my kids, playing more with them, and giving them the mom they need all of the time. It’s hard to type that because I have to admit that I’ve been lacking at home. This fall semester I have let work take over, and I really need to focus more on my dudes and dudette. In combination with this, what does it really help anyone if I am beyond stressed? Things don’t get done well, the tension at home is ridiculous, and I am not a nice person. Time to change that this year. My family needs me to be relaxed and focused on them.

The second part of this goal has to do with counting my blessings rather than my complaints. Now, this isn’t a new idea, but I have recently read a great article discussing how complaining actually rewires our brains for a negative path. Dr. Travis Bradbery writes, “Over time, you find it’s easier to be negative than to be positive, regardless of what’s happening around you. Complaining becomes your default behavior…” He goes on to discuss how complaining can damage your brain and actually cause stress. “When you complain, your body releases the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol shifts you into fight-or-flight mode, directing oxygen, blood, and energy away from everything but the systems that are essential to immediate survival.” It’s a bit ironic that when we complain about what stresses us, we are actually causing ourselves more stress. This article is a helpful read for anyone trying to break a negative cycle.

Instead of complaining about not having enough time, resources, etc, this year I am going to try to shift my thinking to the blessings that surround me, because there are at least three adorable blessings in my life each day.

Yes, life will get hard. Sure, these goals will be challenging to obtain, but I believe having two valuable resolutions that will make me a better human makes this doable and worth it.

What are your goals for the new year? Or, if you think resolutions are bad luck, when do you recharge and refocus? We’d love to hear from you. Thank you for reading.