Well, it’s that time of year again – when everyone is making resolutions for the upcoming year. I am really not a big fan of resolutions. Don’t get me wrong, I always think it is a good idea to try and better yourself. However, resolutions seem to be something that people can never actually attain. It’s like you resolve to change a habit, and the first time you fall back in to that habit, you give up with another year’s resolution fallen to the wayside. Goals, however, are something I can get behind. With a goal, it is something that you are continually striving for, and if you fall short, well, then you just adjust and continuing working toward that goal again. Therefore, I’ve resolved not to have resolutions, but to have goals every year.

That being said, I’ve put a lot of thought into what I want my goals to be this year. I think I’ve come up with a good list. Some of them are simply milestones that I hope to accomplish this year, but I wanted to document those as well so that I can evaluate my accomplishments at the end of the year and see how I lived my life this year. With that in mind, my overall theme this year is Forward Movement. I am going to consider that my motto this year. I am striving (thru accomplishing my goals) to move myself forward this year on many realms. To do that, I feel I should put my goals down in writing, so that others can hold me accountable, and maybe I can hold myself more accountable this year. So, here we go:

Health Goals
1. Run 500 miles. I’ve gone through and selected what races I would like to run in this year, and I should be running about 100 miles during races this year. Therefore, if I can add only about 3 three-mile runs to that each week, then I should be able to reach 500 by the end of the year. For Christmas I got a treadmill from my hubby, so that will help immensely in the colder months. I’d like to run at least a mile every day, but that is not an official goal yet, just a thought. And when I say “run”, that includes all forms of foot movement for exercise (running, jogging, and walking when needed).
2. Bike 500 miles. Our family loves to bike in the summer, and the young boys are excellent at it, but I only did about 150 miles last summer. It takes me about 11 miles to bike to work and back, so if I could just bike once per week throughout the year, that would about reach my goal. Just need that motivation in the cold months, and to figure out how to bike alone with my youngest boys when I need to take them and pick them up after school.
3. Swim 100 miles. Of all my goals this year, I think this one will be my most hardest to reach. However, if all of our goals were easy, how would we move ourselves forward? To reach this goal, I figured out I need to swim 1500 yards (30 laps at the UO pool) a total of 120 times, or about 3 times per week, most weeks of the year.
4. Hike 250 miles. I’m also going to rope my family into this goal, they just don’t know it yet. However, if we can hike once per week, for a 5 mile hike, and do a larger backpacking trip in the summer, we could almost reach this. Maybe need to hike twice per week in the summer.
5. Run an entire half marathon. I’ve participated in four half marathons in the past two years, but it has always been a combination of running/jogging and walking, and sometimes just walking the entire thing. However, I would really like to run an entire half marathon (minus water stops, because I am not coordinated enough to run and drink at the same time. I will walk for those). I hope to be able to do it for the Eugene Women’s Half Marathon in August, but my last half marathon will be in October this year, so that will be my last chance.
6. Complete P90x, entirely. Starting on 1/7/13, I will be moving my strength forward by following the P90x workout program. It is a 90-day program, that I’ve heard is pretty intense. I am going to do this program on top of any of the above exercise, so please wish me luck!
7. Eat a salad most days. This was actually a goal of mine a few years ago, and it went really well. I would like to repeat it again this year, with more homemade salads instead of buying them at school so much.
8. Sleep 7-8 hours per night most nights. For all of you who know me, this will actually probably be the hardest goal to reach. But, I think my health (physical and mental) are worth trying.
9. And now for some numbers: LDL under 85, HDL above 55, resting heart rate below 60, VO2max above 42, body fat percentage below 20, weight below 127.

Work/School Goals
10. Pass my comprehensive exams. I should be taking them in early March this year. I fully acknowledge that I am not capable of passing them on my own, so my motto is that I will pray my way through my exams. The only way I will be able to get through them, is if God intercedes. So, I’ll study my best, give it my all, and pray that God will cover the gap. Providing I pass the exams, I will move forward toward graduation by working on my other work goals.
11. Pass my dissertation proposal defense. This will be in early April. I’m not near as worried about this as I am for my exams, but maybe I should be…..
12. Publish three journal articles. This includes the one I am about to submit, and two additional ones throughout the year. I hope to have my name on a total of 5 additional articles by the end of the year (if you include second authorship).

Family Goals
13. Quality/date-like experience with my husband at least once per week. For those of you who know my husband, this could prove quite difficult with his schedule. However, for as much as we work together, and eat lunch together every day, it never is really intimate time together. I always have all of these thoughts and plans of what we will do together, but our schedules just never seem to allow for it. That stops this year! I will make time. And get him to make time. I hope we can move our relationship forward to a new level.
14. Go cross country skiing at least twice this winter. I know this doesn’t seem like a typical family goal, but trust me, it ties back to goal 13.
15. Go on an individual date with each of my kids at least once per month. Both my husband and I are pretty active/involved with your kids, but it is always all of the kids together. A few times this last year I have had the opportunity to have quality one-on-one time with each of the kids alone, and I realized how important that can really be. Therefore, I am making it a goal to move my relationship with my kids forward, and move the development of my kids forward, by making time for these individualized experiences.
16. Teach more than punish. Sometimes I forget that “discipline” means to teach, and really has nothing to do with punishment. I teach in so many aspects in my life, that I sometimes forget that the best teaching job I have is to my kids. Less yelling, more teaching.
17. Buy a house. It is a far-reaching goal, but something to work toward.

Spiritual Goals
18. Read the entire Bible. I will no longer be one of those Christians who has never read the entire Bible. Sure, I’ve read many passages many times, but there are definitely books that I really haven’t delved into yet. I think I’ll follow the Life Journal Reading Plan.
19. Tithe more consistently. I ebb and flow too much with my tithing. I will move my church forward by being more consistent with my tithing.
20. Work to develop a stronger small group. We’ve been meeting off and on for the past year, but I’d like to help foster a better growing environment for myself and others in my small group. If you have ideas, please let me know!

I know that 20 goals seems like a lot, but how can we move forward if we don’t push ourselves harder? I encourage all of you to do something everyday this year that pushes you forward!