Thanks for dropping in today at the beginning of a fresh new year! Last year was my first time ever sharing my goals for myself and this blog. It was good for me and helped give me guidance and incentive throughout the year. I loved the accountability to be continually learning and improving. So with that, let’s take a look at how I set crushable goals for 2019!
How to Set Attainable Goals
My strategy for setting goals is to divide goals into different segments of my life (personal development and health for this year) then I do a brainstorm session for those categories.
- What could I learn that would improve the skills I already have?
- Is there something I should take part in to allow higher quality of life?
- What had a big impact in my life last year that I could improve upon again this upcoming year?
- Did something fail or not work last year that I should eliminate from my goals this year?
I usually come up with a list of 10 or so potential goals for each category, but I don’t want to focus on that many. Too many goals is uninspiring and potentially overwhelming, so my final step it to whittle down the list to the most important few things I could focus on for the year.
With the goal limit set to 3, I select my top 3 goals for each category. I want my goals to be attainable, not so lofty that I can’t accomplish them! Reasonable goals do well for me!
Now let’s jump into what I’d like to see myself learn/do/grow in this year!
Personal Goals
Read 12 Books
I still love to read, and even though my schedule is quite full with my side hustles and boys, I want to keep reading a continuous goal. In that light, I’m going to reduce my goal to 12 books. One per month, that should be doable, right? I’m hoping so!
There are no plans to read any particular genre or length of book. As I hear recommendations for books, I add it to my list on Goodreads then pick it up from the library as I find time.
Personal Retreat
Rest. It’s what I crave most these days, and I’m going to make it a priority this year. This has never been a priority for me so I’m still trying to flesh out what this could look like. Maybe a night away in a hotel? Maybe hole up at a friend’s house? Time at a spa? Again, not sure how to do it, but I need to make me time a priority.
In my mind, I would use a personal retreat to read, sleep, and catch up on writing and planning that is hard for me to accomplish with constant interruptions. Precious interruptions, but interruptions nonetheless.
Take a Cooking Class
I love to cook, obviously, but I have no formal training. Many years ago, I had plans to take classes at a local high-end appliance store that also has cooking classes. We ended up moving just before I signed up for the classes, so it all fell through. It is still a dream though to improve my skills more, and it would benefit this blog too!
Health Goals
Stabilize Blood Sugar
The past four months (September – December) have been a roller coaster of blood sugar levels. Just a few days after Thanksgiving, my blood sugar jumped to the 300’s and wouldn’t go down again. So mid-December I started insulin again. Finding the right dose and combination of insulin to match my diet and lifestyle is not as easy as you might think. So one health goal for the year is to stabilize my blood sugar, and going along with that will be finding my carbohydrate/insulin ratio and best dosage of long-acting insulin.
Finish Autoimmune Protocol Reintroductions
The Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) with a few reintroductions is still going strong! Even though I’ve reintroduced insulin, I still believe the food sensitivities I discovered are real and should be eliminated from my diet. Insulin is not the panacea to eat anything you like!
Once my blood sugar is stable, I plan to continue the reintroduction phase to find out if cashews, pistachios, nightshades, etc. can be tolerated by my gut.
Find the Best Way to Manage Blood Sugar
There is still a small part of me hoping my gut is just inflamed again and will heal allowing my pancreas to keep up with my diet. If it is, then I will be able to remove artificial insulin from my daily life. Wouldn’t that be great?
If not though, I still want to find the best way to manage my blood sugar. Meaning, which insulin works best for me, what foods respond well in my body, and what lifestyle habits best support good blood sugar levels?
My health goals all play off of each other with the primary focus of my health for this year is stabilizing and learning what works best for my body. Kind of the same as last year, huh? Maintaining good health is an ongoing process!
Have you set your goals for the year? Do you sit down and reflect on where you’ve been and where you’d like to go in the next few months? If so, would you share one or two of your crushable goals for 2019 below? I’ve found this practice invaluable in my life, and I’d be curious how it works in yours (even if it doesn’t work for you!).
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