SOLUTIONS! Not "resolutions!"
It’s that time of year again where we sit back and reflect on the year that has passed. What can we be proud of? What can we improve on? What were some things that set us back? But more importantly, what were some things that pushed us forward? Taking it a step further: What can we learn from this year to push ourselves more next year?
On Christmas Day, I took Haro to William B Umstead State Park in Raleigh and as we walked 5 miles on Loblolly Trail, I started making a mental list of all the things I want to accomplish in 2017. I am not one to walk with my phone very often because I like trail walking as a way of getting away from the noise from the outside world. I don’t want my phone buzzing in my pocket or people calling me to take me away from my inner peace. The way I see it, your message will be on my phone when I get back to the car! For those saying, “But what if it’s an emergency??” Well, my answer to that is that even if it is, I’m in the middle of the woods and still can’t help you! I think many people are tied to their phone and have rarely experienced the beauty of simply unplugging. Anyway…. I’m getting away from my point here. GOALS! That’s what this is about!
I divided my goals into a few different categories so that I could make sure that I was tending to every angle of my life, minus relationships. As for that, there is nothing you can do to push things along faster and nothing you can do to really create or destroy relationships (unless you're a jerk) and friendships. They will be what they will be and there is little you can do to impact that part of life. Be a good person and put good into the world and you will be rewarded with meaningful relationships with others. Besides, I am incredibly happy with my friendships and relationship with Demetrius, so there isn’t anything I am to change here. This is one part of my life I am very proud of :-)
On Christmas Day, I took Haro to William B Umstead State Park in Raleigh and as we walked 5 miles on Loblolly Trail, I started making a mental list of all the things I want to accomplish in 2017. I am not one to walk with my phone very often because I like trail walking as a way of getting away from the noise from the outside world. I don’t want my phone buzzing in my pocket or people calling me to take me away from my inner peace. The way I see it, your message will be on my phone when I get back to the car! For those saying, “But what if it’s an emergency??” Well, my answer to that is that even if it is, I’m in the middle of the woods and still can’t help you! I think many people are tied to their phone and have rarely experienced the beauty of simply unplugging. Anyway…. I’m getting away from my point here. GOALS! That’s what this is about!
I divided my goals into a few different categories so that I could make sure that I was tending to every angle of my life, minus relationships. As for that, there is nothing you can do to push things along faster and nothing you can do to really create or destroy relationships (unless you're a jerk) and friendships. They will be what they will be and there is little you can do to impact that part of life. Be a good person and put good into the world and you will be rewarded with meaningful relationships with others. Besides, I am incredibly happy with my friendships and relationship with Demetrius, so there isn’t anything I am to change here. This is one part of my life I am very proud of :-)
Community Service
Besides being involved with my local animal shelter, I want to try to do more this year. A few years ago, inspired by my dad, I started donating blood. To this day, I have donated “11 units” of blood. In 2015, I donated three times, and in 2016 I donated three times. My goal for 2017 is to donate six times, which is the maximum number of times you can donate in a year. Donating blood is something that takes 30-45 minutes of your time every two months and can save three lives at once. I was also encouraged the last time I went, when the lady taking my blood told me that donating blood regularly helps to flush out fat in your blood. She showed me a vial they had taken earlier in the day and you could clearly see the fat floating at the top. It was incredible! She said, “So you see, the donor gets something positive out of the experience too!” It's also a great way for me to keep up with my hemoglobin numbers. Yes, I am a health nerd!
Health
I am working a water goal for at least January. In February I may back it off a little bit, but I know that increasing my water consumption helps me to drop weight. I am working towards dropping about 25 pounds in 2017 (2 pounds a month, totally doable) and one way I am working on that is by drinking 100oz of water every day. In the last three days, I have lost just over 4 pounds, so this is definitely working. It has worked in the past so I just have to stick with it. Also, this helps to make donating blood easier which is part of my community service goal.
In 2017 I will work towards eliminating most, if not all dairy from my diet. In mid-March I will be two years meat free! Consuming dairy products can still wreak havoc on your body, so that is why I plan to take even more of it out of my diet. I no longer drink dairy milk (and enjoy confusing baristas when I ask for motherless milk) but kicking the habit of whipped cream on a soy latte is still hard to kick. Baby steps… I got this!
In 2017 I will work towards eliminating most, if not all dairy from my diet. In mid-March I will be two years meat free! Consuming dairy products can still wreak havoc on your body, so that is why I plan to take even more of it out of my diet. I no longer drink dairy milk (and enjoy confusing baristas when I ask for motherless milk) but kicking the habit of whipped cream on a soy latte is still hard to kick. Baby steps… I got this!
Exercise
One of my goals is that I want to cover at least 700 miles by foot in 2017. Walking/running/hiking it all goes into the same 700-mile bank. Why 700? I’m not sure where the number exactly came from. I decided in early December to try to hit the 504-mile mark in running and then that quickly got derailed when I got sick. I’m giving myself an extra 7 days in January to meet the goal and then start working on 700. What I realized over 2016 is that I set HUGE goals but don’t check in from time to time to see progress. I don’t set monthly goals to make sure that I am staying on track. So, 2017 will be about checking in more often. I figure if I average about 15 miles a week that will get me close to my goal. Some weeks I will hit more, some weeks I will hit a little less. It all works out IF I pay attention all year long and don’t get behind.
There are so many options for exercise goals that I need to focus on just a few. Duathlon National Championships are in Cary, NC again in 2017 and will likely move to the west coast in 2018 and 2019. I was not happy with my overall time/place this year so this might be another opportunity to try again. I also have my eye on a Half Ironman distance triathlon in April. Being a part of the Base Performance Race Team, I have committed to doing at least one half iron distance race in 2017. I would like to do a few more sprint distance races too. The goal here would be to place in my age group in at least one triathlon this year. I move up to the 35-39 age group category, so we shall see how that treats me!
There are so many options for exercise goals that I need to focus on just a few. Duathlon National Championships are in Cary, NC again in 2017 and will likely move to the west coast in 2018 and 2019. I was not happy with my overall time/place this year so this might be another opportunity to try again. I also have my eye on a Half Ironman distance triathlon in April. Being a part of the Base Performance Race Team, I have committed to doing at least one half iron distance race in 2017. I would like to do a few more sprint distance races too. The goal here would be to place in my age group in at least one triathlon this year. I move up to the 35-39 age group category, so we shall see how that treats me!
I created a 5x6 foot dry erase board in my workout room. It has to dry for 3 days before I can write on it, but this is a preview! This will be where I can write workouts and keep up with progress towards my weekly, monthly, and yearly goals.
Now it's your turn...
I encourage everyone to set goals for the upcoming year. Don’t be afraid to set goals that seem too high to reach. That is exactly how you push yourself to the limits. When I set my eyes on Ironman, I first thought maybe I was crazy. Then at one point I realized that I could finish what I started. Had I never set that goal, I never would have even tried. Ironman is not for everyone, but everyone has a goal that seems impossible to achieve. THAT is the one you MUST pick for next year. What’s stopping you? Feel free to comment below on what you plan to do for the upcoming year!
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