I Resolve to Make 2013 Another Great Year

I thought today would be a fitting day to not only get off my duff and come back to work/blogging after a ten day vacation but also to write up a post with my New Year’s goals for 2013. If you recall I had three goals or resolutions for 2012 with the main one forming a sort of theme… HAVE MORE FUN!!! Well I knocked that resolution out of the park.

Here is a picture of me thoroughly enjoying 2012…

Okay so that isn’t actually me that picture kinda sums it up though.

I took three trips with girlfriends (3-5 days each) that involved lots of parties and special events. One of those was to the Big Apple.  I had much fun indeed and came home with lots of free tech and other products. I met up with local bloggers and friends for lunch/brunch dates throughout the year. I got on a zipline with my husband, I took the kids to the beach, we did our annual winter hikes, I went on a slightly terrifying four-wheeling adventure, I attended several local blogger events including a tour of a hospital, a couple movie premiers, and a couple trips to the science museum. We actually just saw the exhibit with the dead bodies on display this month…that was super interesting! I went to the Arnold Sports Festival with hubby and The Country Living Fair with my mom. I got to borrow several cars for an extended test drive this year, went out for regular date nights, and I discovered a deep and abiding love for CrossFit. I have had a blast!

So goal #1 down. How did I do with  the other two. Not so well.

#2 was to make more money and I made about the same but because of all the aforementioned fun it feels like way less. The fun goal, our fitness pursuits, and our paleo diet all meant we started spending more.

#3 was to get more organized and that was mostly a failure. I did set up an organization infrastructure but I don’t use it that often.

So what does that mean for this year??? Well, if at first you don’t succeed…

My top goal for this year is to…

Make More Money

I want to keep the fun going and have already had to slow my roll to some extent and that just won’t do so this goal needs to be tackled again and put at the top. I also think we will be hit with some bigger expenses this year because our car may be on it’s last wheel, our son will have some medical bills/procedures due to a previously un-diagnosed birth defect, we want to get all three of our kids in CrossFit, and I have more “fun goals” for this year (see below).  I DO plan to cut costs where I can but in general I want to tackle this issue with an income increase.

Ways to cut costs would include joining my hubby on his cell contract when mine ends in (March), dropping my other gym membership when my two year contract expires (also in March), and renegotiating our cable when our current deal ends. Other than that I can’t cut much. Our most major expense is food. Paleo isn’t cheap but I am not willing to buy lower quality food. We already buy second hand clothing and furnishings. We don’t have high cost of living expenses (rent, utilities) and we save on entertainment by bundling services and buying prepaid/discount cards for things like Xbox Live memberships. We could do without our NetFlix sure but we don’t want to and as pointed out in one of my fave books All The Money in The World, pinching pennies like that can ultimately deflate you in your goals.

I blogged about how I plan to make more money with my business here. My hubby will also no doubt work overtime when he can.

Goal #2 is to

Have More Fun As a Family

Now that I feel recharged after a year of focusing on my own self care and fun I want to focus on bringing my family into the mix as well. It’s not that we didn’t have fun together in 2012 but it was not my focus. With my youngest finally entering Kindergarten I felt it was a good year to rediscover my own interests and pursuits and it was needed badly. It is rather like putting the oxygen mask on yourself first in the airplane and THEN putting a mask on your child. I had to take care of me first and I do very much feel like “Tiffany” again and not just “Mom”.

In 2013 though I plan to make sure my family is included in more of my adventures. I will likely forgo attending any professional conferences this year so that we can do something together instead. Though I must admit I already have an out of town press event scheduled in a just a couple days that will take me away from them. Oops! I want to rent a yurt in a state park, take a ferry across Lake Erie, see more children’s movies, go camping, and in general do a bit more traveling with my kiddos this year. To that end I already have some indoor water park passes purchased for January/February.

Also, as mentioned, I want to get a CrossFit membership for all three of our kids (ranging from $60 to $100 monthly, depending on age). Spending over $400 on gym memberships will be a stretch but working out together will be lots of fun!!

Goal #3 is to

Make My Husband/Marriage a Priority

I have a great marriage and it’s not like I am neglecting the man or anything but this year marks our 15 year wedding anniversary and over 20 years together. The man deserves to be one of my goals this year! Plus its not really about time so much as it is about making him feel loved and special more often. We already spend lots of time together. We go to the box together for CrossFit 5-7 days a week. I kick his behind in cardio/chipper based WODs and he kicks my butt on the weighted ones. We spend our afternoons together while the kids are at school doing everything from grocery shopping to watching DVRed episodes of our favorite shows. I often tell this man how much I love and adore him but I need to make some grander gestures and just give it that extra attention. Specifically this means more random acts of love expression, surprise gifts, hand written notes, packing his work meals for him, arranging more date nights and date weekends (sans children), and finding new ways to show this man I am as crazy about him now as I was when I was 16. If we can afford to go away together for our anniversary in August I will be ecstatic.

Goal #4 is to

Do More Philanthropic Work

This means blogging more about things along these lines and I will as a member of the Global Team of 200 but also getting involved more where I can personally. I want to volunteer often and find some charitable causes important to me and really throw some energy and resources in that direction. I would also like to get my kids involved as much as I can.

I think these four goals are more than enough to work on for 2013. As for organization…well on some level I will have to get better with that to accomplish the other three. Perhaps this year I can really rock goal #1 and have enough money to pay someone to organize for me. We shall see!

I also plan to post separately with some green goals…

What are your goals/resolutions for the New Year?

2nd photo: photo source