January 2017 Goals
And a recap of December 2016 goals
Wait, January 2017 goals?! It's already 2017?! And didn't I just post a goals post?! Oh, hello, New Year's Resolutions. But while long-term resolutions are great and everything, I still need those short-term torture devices goals. After all, nothing long-term is achievable if you don't break it down to smaller, more approachable chunks.
So. Goals!
Recap of December Goals:
Writing
Post three times a week. Ha! I only got 9 posts up in December, but it's because I basically went MIA leading up to and during the holidays. Note to self: don't plan on working on the blog during the holidays next year!
Photography
Explore the area for some nice photos of holiday lights. Well, technically I explored a little, but I didn't get any good photos of holiday lights. The day job and family commitments and everything else got a little overwhelming, so I was just happy to stay functional. Oh, yeah, and I had the flu, soooooo...nope. Nope nope nope.
Come up with a game plan for 2017. See all my excuses reasons for not getting things done above, and apply to this one as well.
Running/Fitness
Maintain half marathon fitness. I actually got in a decent amount of running in December. It wasn't enough to offset all the multiple family holiday dinners or the holiday cookies or the sitting in the car driving all over the state or the stress from work and everything else, but at least I didn't turn into rubber during December.
Climb at least once a week. Dang. Fail. Epic fail on this one. Like, I should have just cancelled my rock climbing gym membership for December kinda fail. We climbed twice. Aaaaaand so we'll try again in January!
Do some strength training. Heh. I cheated with this resolution because I knew I was going to work with CrossFit Homeward to help them celebrate their grand opening, so I totally won with this goal! Three tough CrossFit workouts and then I did some strength training before rock climbing on December 29, so four total strength training sessions, yes! (Oh, and if you haven't already checked out CrossFit Homeward you totally should! http://www.crossfithomeward.com/)
Travel
Plan and execute a vacation in the time between Christmas and New Year's. Yes! I did this! Granted, I had the flu so it was kinda miserable, but I still did this!
Personal
Just survive. Check. And I even made it harder on myself by getting the flu, so yay immune system!
Make at least one dish from "Run Fast, Eat Slow." Fail. I did pull it out a few times to plan a meal, does that count?
Catch up on all the old copies of "Backpacker" and "Runner's World" magazines I've got stacked in a pile in the living room. I didn't catch up on all the old copies, but I made a dent in the pile! Oh, and yes, I was totally inspired to plan a trip to Colorado in the spring and start making spring race plans, so that's an added bonus.
Once again it's a mixed bag of successes and failures. Par for the course. Moving on to January!
January Goals:
Writing
Post at least 4 times a week. Wait, Liz, didn't you just say you failed at posting three times a week in December?? Why are you upping it to 4 times a week in January?! Because I'm so excited about the blog and everything I've got planned to share with you! (aka I have two weeks of ideas. That's it. Like usual. So...yeah, I'll wing it!)
Photography
Come up with plan for 2017. I'm starting to learn the things I like in photography, and the gaps I want to fill. That said, I still need a solid offering to communicate to everyone. Still working on that. (Maybe I should make this a New Year's Resolution instead?)
Try another different style. In my Neuse River Trail post I tried out a matte style for my photos to match the cold, grey, wintry feel of the day. It's the first time I played with a radically different style than what I generally do, and it was kinda fun. I'd like to keep exploring some styles and find other favorites.
Complete at least one photography class. I've signed up for a bajillion photography classes to do everything I can to keep learning and improving.
Running/Fitness
Plan my spring race calendar! It's that time of year! I'm already starting to train for my next half marathon - now I just have to pick which race to run! In addition I'm supposed to find two spring 5Ks to run with a friend and maybe I'll run the Krispy Kreme Challenge for my fourth year - hmmmmm...decisions decisions.
Climb at least once a week. Let's try this again.
Practice yoga twice. Seriously, it's shocking how long it's been since I practiced yoga. Time to get back into it.
Go on two hikes. Those Sunday Stroll posts don't write themselves! 😉
Travel
Plan my trip to Denver! I'm so so so excited to finally go to Colorado! I've want to go for ages and it's finally going to happen this April. I am going to ask anyone and everyone for advice (hey you! Have you ever been to Denver? What do you recommend seeing? Any fantastic trails to hike in April?) and am beyond excited to plan the trip!
Plan a trip to Florida. Gators! Harry Potter! Python hunting! Oh my!
Personal
Make a dish from "Run Fast Eat Slow." We almost made a dish the other day, but then I decided I actually wanted to be able to taste the food and not just be all snotty-nosed and gross, so I put it off.
Read a book. Time to knock out those paperbacks!
Finish catching up on "Runner's World" and "Backpacker" magazines. And Misadventures and Digital Photographer and National Geographic and New Yorker and and and...haha
Time to get back on track with the new year! What about you - do you have any goals for January? Let me know in the comments!