Set Goals & Crush Em: 5 of My 2019 Goals

I’m just going to come right out and say it: I’m not a fan of making huge resolutions at the beginning of a new year.

To me, anytime is a good time to make positive changes in your life, and it being a new calendar year gives people this sort of unrealistic idea that they can be totally different moving forward. The idea of New Year’s resolutions is kind of gimmicky and truth be told, most people give up their dedication to their big resolutions before the end of January. I think that setting an intention to do better in whatever way is great, but most people make too drastic of a change right off the bat, and then they inevitably disappoint themselves when they give in and give up.

However, what I do really enjoy is setting goals at the start of a new year. To me, goals are a different beast. To be successful at goals, they need to be specific and attainable – and they’re things that you ultimately are in control of achieving.

Most of the time, I think of resolutions vs goals as the difference between saying, “I want to lose 50 pounds by May” and, “I’m committing myself to going to the gym 3x a week all year long.” You may work your butt off to lose those 50 pounds by May and it still might not happen because it’s a tall order and perhaps an unrealistic one (and more often than now, I’ve seen people fall off the wagon of a healthy lifestyle the minute they think they’ve failed at their resolution), but working out 3x a week all of 2019? You are in total control of achieving that.

It’s important to keep in mind that a goal needs a plan of action. For instance, at the beginning of 2016 I wrote down a specific goal to start freelance writing for one of the major women’s health brands. I jotted down all of the brands that I would consider to be in this category, and I brainstormed the steps I would need to take to achieve this goal. I began researching contacts at each publication. I put together a pitch that included who I was, what I was passionate about, writing samples, and how I wanted to work for them with a few article ideas. I started reaching out to those contacts, with a plan to follow up a week later. In my second round of pitch emails, I received a response back from one of the editors, and to make a long story short, that’s how I reached this 2016 goal of mine a few weeks into the year when I started writing for Shape and FITNESS.

Around New Year’s each year, I like to reflect on the year that has come and gone and think about what went well, what felt tough to get through, what I learned, and what I want to change, start, or further develop in the next year.

To be honest, 2018 was far from my favorite year. What sticks out in mind are lots of changes and difficulties, but what I’m taking away from it is that I am resilient and have so much to be grateful for. I’m ready to leave this year behind and am looking forward to 2019 being awesome. Who’s with me?!

There’s something about a new year that always rushes me with a fresh sense of optimism and the feeling that I’m ready to crush my goals, so I thought that I would share some of my goals for 2019 with you guys. I would love you to share a goal of yours for the new year in the comment section below!

Do work I love full-time. At the end of last summer amidst my cross-country move and selling my house, I parted ways with the public relations agency I worked with for nearly a decade. After I finished the time sucking activities of closing escrow on my west coast house (done as of 3 weeks ago!), moving 3,000 miles into an Airbnb while I hit the ground running looking at buying a home in my new area, ultimately deciding to just rent a new place on the east coast, finding a place, and have gotten all settled into that new place, I was ready to shift my focus back to working a lot. I had been building my own side hustle business for years, so I began working to build my freelance work out into a full-time job, and to also do more sponsored blog work. I now have a couple new clients and a bunch of freelance gigs overall, but it isn’t as steady as I would like. Some weeks I’m super busy, and other weeks my assignments randomly drop down.

In 2019 I’d like to further pursue a career that capitalizes on both my writing abilities and communications specialist experience, and allows me to continue tapping into my passions and creativity – whether that means taking on more freelance work with guaranteed hours, or devoting most of my working hours to an entirely new job.

Visit at least 5 new places. Forever wanderlusting (<- I’m making it a word), in 2019 I’d like to explore at least 5 new-to-me places both near and far. I’m planning on soon booking a trip to an exotic locale later this winter, and I also think I’ll be planning a romantic international trip to celebrate a big anniversary my husband and I have coming up in the fall. As a New Englander newbie, there are also some road trip ideas I have in mind to embark on in 2019.

Start volunteering regularly again. For years I volunteered with Humane Societies helping to care for the adoptable dogs, and I miss feeling like I’m getting my hands dirty (often literally!) to help animals in need. Soon I plan to begin researching the possibilities of somewhere I can volunteer my time and effort to a cause that I feel passionate about.

Keep within 3 pounds of my ideal weight. All of 2018 I ate mostly healthy and kept up with consistent workouts – even when that meant hotel room workouts while traveling cross country and bodyweight workouts in the basement Airbnb we stayed in for a month in New York. But with the stress of my move situation taking precedence for nearly half the year, I didn’t track my macros as often as usual and was more lenient with my calorie intake. I inevitably gained a few pounds, and I’m probably 5 pounds heavier than I really like to be. Am I still in shape? Sure, but I’m a little softer than I prefer to be.

To get more definition back, January for me will mean cleaner eating with fewer indulgences (of course, there will still be treats and wine sprinkled in) so that I can lose a few pounds to get to my preferred lower weight. Once I get there, my goal is to keep it within a few pounds. I tend to go up and down a bit, and while fluctuation is normal and will always be the case with my body, I want to keep it minimal throughout the year.

Join a new social group. Before 2018, I don’t think I had ever even been to Connecticut, and now here I am living here, where I know almost no one. It’s been nice that I have friends and family just a few hours away in Jersey and Massachusetts, because I’ve been spending most of my time with them, but at the same time, it’s kind of kept me from branching out in the few months I’ve been here.

Typically whenever I move somewhere new, I like to get involved in the community to feel more a part of it (hence the volunteering goal). I’m also a very social person and I like having local friends, so in 2019 I’d like to join some sort of club or meet new locals in some other capacity. In the past I’ve been part of book clubs, health blogger groups and Marine Corps wives clubs. I’ll have to just see what resonates with me as I start to do some research. If any of you live anywhere near Norwalk, shoot me a note… I’m always up for a coffee date! 

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It seems fitting to close out a post about goal setting with a quote I recently heard that has stuck with me: Hard choices, easy life; Easy choices, hard life. Here’s to pushing past our comfort zones, reaching higher, and setting great intentions for the year & following through with them!

Tell me.. What’s a 2019 goal of yours?