New Year’s Resolutions - Return to this thread December 2021

belfastgirl23

belfastgirl23 said:

Sorry I just realised I didn’t get around to actually posting these though I did sit down and write them out last week!

Word of the year: Curious

One offs (these are pandemic permitting, many carried over from last year)

• Get the downstairs of the house painted (kitchen, sitting room, bathroom) 
• Clean the attic
• Make a will (yes it’s on the list again)
• Travel to Madrid and visit a relation there
• Change bank

NONE HAPPENING TIL POST-COVID
Health

• Exercise - continue routine of 5 weekly gym classes (blend of online and in person where necessary) and walk 2100 miles. Use this and Fitbit to learn more about my body especially re cardio and lung health 4 CLASSES A WEEK BUT WALKING MORE SO IT EVENS OUT

• Be very mindful of what I schedule back into my life post-pandemic and keep space
• Stay on top of small health irritations rather than letting them get out of control before I do something about them. GETTING BETTER
• Consider giving up alcohol permanently – begin with a 28 day challenge and work towards 90 days. Write and reflect how it feels. 90 DAYS TODAY! AND KEEPING GOING
• Fill in MFP honestly every day and actively think about and learn how to manage my weight at maintenance calories YES

Note: I am currently (post-Christmas) at 158lbs and overall dropped 7lbs over the last year. My goal is to end up around 145-150lbs if I can but I’m ok with taking a while to get there

CURRENTLY AT 148.5LBS AND HOLDING STEADY

Work

• Use my time more efficiently and ask for help. Focus on what only I can do and pass work on to other people. Recruit a new assistant to help me create time to add value. And try not to get into a tizz about things GETTING BETTER AND RECRUITMENT UNDERWAY
• Make work and achievements visible -  gather evidence to apply for both team and personal professional recognition. Make one application for team recognition (I have three or four possibilities in mind so need to select one) NOPE
• Be very aware of taking on additional commitments – clearly identify benefits to me/team before agreeing to do something new GETTING BETTER

Finances

• Keep up to date with financial administration YES
• Overpay the mortgage by £2,400 as a way of creating long term savings (£200/month) AHEAD WITH THIS
• Get to a point where I am paying the CC off with last month’s money rather than next month’s money  PRETTY MUCH THERE

Other

• Be proactive about keeping in touch with relatives and friends and find new ways to connect with people I care about  NOT SO GREAT ON THIS
• Read or listen to 21 minutes of something that improves me in some way every day in 2021 (inspired by Gretchen Rubin) and keep a record of books/TV/film/podcasts. YES
• Write and reflect every day YES
• Stop catastrophising and coming up with worst case scenarios (both work and personally) GETTING BETTER
• Learn how to manage my content diet and stop random surfing (probably need to think about this more) HMM NOT SO GREAT

 Good luck everyone, I’ll try checking back in quarterly just to see how we are all getting on!

 

 

Sorry for the updates being ALL CAPS SHOUTING but it’s the easiest way on the ipad - fiddling with different colours is a pain. Pretty happy with my progress so far but I always find Jan-March is my most motivated time of year, let’s see what April-June brings.

And welcome WTDBF90 - never too late for a resolution!

belfastgirl23

Hi everyone, anyone up for some 6 monthly updates?

For me, still haven’t tackled anything on the one-offs list so that’s the big weak point but the day to day efforts have been working out well - WFH has given me a lot more control over my time and helped me to prioritise healthy habits.

I have kept up the exercise, walking and My Fitness Pal plans and am now down to 145.5lbs which is my lowest in nearly 10 years. And still off the booze (just past the 6 month mark). I feel a LOT better for it. I’m wondering if my new maintenance window for my weight might be 140-145lbs which would be closer to a normal BMI, but not in any rush, let’s see where this takes me. 

Things are also a bit better at work, managed the recruitment and starting to work a bit on the recognition so that’s all positive. And have said no to a few things as well! Still too much work and too little time though.

Things are going well on the finances too, have already overpaid my goal amount into the mortgage - counting myself very fortunate on this, work might have been very busy in COVID times but still getting paid and nothing to spend any spare money on (we are still being very cautious). CC is under control too.

And I have done a bit better on the random content diet too, I’ve imposed a strict no surfing after 9.30pm rule on myself and since that’s the time I typically get to sit down it has cut way back on doomscrolling. Again I feel better as a result. Doing a bit better on keeping in touch with people but still not ideal.

Big challenge is going to be getting back to office and trying to stick with everything, so let’s see what the next report brings!

jackieblack

jackieblack said:

Finished 2020 having a bit of a ‘wobble’, but I’ve given myself a talking to and plan the following for 2021:
1. Do whatever is needed to support my Mum (77) through the chemo treatment she is due to start in a couple of weeks time. 

2. To redecorate my smallest (box) bedroom and turn it into a ‘sewing room’ 🙂 - this feels like a luxury thing just for me and I don’t think I’ve ever had that before, but I’ve got 2 spare bedrooms and it’s a complete faff having to keep unpacking/packing away everything on/off my kitchen table. (And keeping the cats off it!) This will have the added benefit of clearing all the  sewing clutter from my living room!

3. To replace the garage door (has been on the ‘to do’ list since we bought the house in April 2000, but other things always took priority), I’m fed up with having to wrestle with the old one every time the roller jumps of the track, and one of the springs keeps jumping out of its anchor point. 

4. To make (and finish!)  a 2021 temperature blanket (I gave up on 2020’s in July when I realised I really didn’t like one of the colours which was about 1/3-1/2 of the whole blanket at that point! - I have unpicked it and will reuse the rest of the colours)
5. Having overpaid my mortgage down to a level I am comfortable with over the last few years, my new target is to save/ offset the ‘overpayments’ now,  with a view to making some big renovations/improvements in a few (5-10) years time. 

Oops! Missed this, so thanks for the reminder belfastgirl23 🙂

1. This is ongoing (scheduled to last 12 months altogether).  Things have been a bit up and down for various reasons but hopefully getting back on track now 🤞🏻

2. Done! Painted over Easter, installed new sewing table and moved everything sewing related from the living room 🙂
Have made a few things, but not had as much time as I’d have liked to spend sewing... 
3. New door ordered at the end of April, due to be installed start of August 🙂
4. Still on track 👍🏻 🙂

5. Still on track with this one too! 👍🏻🙂

Also, have found out that I’m going to be a Grannie in December 🥰 so nice to have some good news and something to look forward to 😊
Am feeling much more positive than I was at the start of the year! 🙂

poppycracker

poppycracker said:

I wanted to do this again even though I didn't get very far last year.  

This year's goals are:

1.  Keep a food diary: both to help me eat healthier and keep an eye on some annoying symptoms. (Health)

2. Aim to read 36 books this year and renew my subscription to babbel to keep up with my Dutch. (Life)

3.  Keep looking into college courses, to either compliment my existing job or retrain. (Work)

4.  Take time out every day to switch off, evaluate my day and be grateful for what I have instead of upset and annoyed about what I don't. (Mind)

5.  Set up life insurance for myself and pet insurance/savings account for our three 12 year old cats as I can see vet bills looming in the future.  (Money).

Well, over half a year later, and I've not done all that well.........  I did keep the diary religiously..... for about a week.....Ive kept up with the books, but let the subscription slide......
I've changed employers, and in some way my job - running the kitchen in a small cafe rather than being a small cog doing most of the work in a hotel kitchen so that takes care of work I think.  
 I'm still doing the rest and be thankful every day though which is really helping my mindset at work and at home.
Still havent got round to setting up insurance but am putting small (very small at the moment) sums aside for the vet bills. 

jackieblack

jackieblack said:

jackieblack said:

Finished 2020 having a bit of a ‘wobble’, but I’ve given myself a talking to and plan the following for 2021:
1. Do whatever is needed to support my Mum (77) through the chemo treatment she is due to start in a couple of weeks time. 

2. To redecorate my smallest (box) bedroom and turn it into a ‘sewing room’ 🙂 - this feels like a luxury thing just for me and I don’t think I’ve ever had that before, but I’ve got 2 spare bedrooms and it’s a complete faff having to keep unpacking/packing away everything on/off my kitchen table. (And keeping the cats off it!) This will have the added benefit of clearing all the  sewing clutter from my living room!

3. To replace the garage door (has been on the ‘to do’ list since we bought the house in April 2000, but other things always took priority), I’m fed up with having to wrestle with the old one every time the roller jumps of the track, and one of the springs keeps jumping out of its anchor point. 

4. To make (and finish!)  a 2021 temperature blanket (I gave up on 2020’s in July when I realised I really didn’t like one of the colours which was about 1/3-1/2 of the whole blanket at that point! - I have unpicked it and will reuse the rest of the colours)
5. Having overpaid my mortgage down to a level I am comfortable with over the last few years, my new target is to save/ offset the ‘overpayments’ now,  with a view to making some big renovations/improvements in a few (5-10) years time. 

Oops! Missed this, so thanks for the reminder belfastgirl23 🙂

1. This is ongoing (scheduled to last 12 months altogether).  Things have been a bit up and down for various reasons but hopefully getting back on track now 🤞🏻

2. Done! Painted over Easter, installed new sewing table and moved everything sewing related from the living room 🙂
Have made a few things, but not had as much time as I’d have liked to spend sewing... 
3. New door ordered at the end of April, due to be installed start of August 🙂
4. Still on track 👍🏻 🙂

5. Still on track with this one too! 👍🏻🙂

Also, have found out that I’m going to be a Grannie in December 🥰 so nice to have some good news and something to look forward to 😊
Am feeling much more positive than I was at the start of the year! 🙂

I think it’s close enough to the end of the year to establish success (or otherwise) of this year’s aims...

1. Ongoing, consultant appointment in a few days and hopefully heading into the final stretch... 🤞🏻

2. Done - haven’t had as much time for sewing as I thought and the sewing room needs a good declutter already (😳) but a definite achievement 😊
3. Done - looks SO much better and I’m no longer terrified of being trapped inside 😁
4. Almost finished, running a couple of weeks behind but will definitely be completed in the next couple of weeks 😊
5. This year’s target amount saved 😊

Additionally, I am now the proud and completely besotted Granny of a nearly 4 week old Granddaughter 🥰 - one of the two most beautiful babies I’ve ever seen (the other being her Mum 🥰). 

All in all, a pretty successful year 😊 and keeping this record has definitely helped me appreciate what has been achieved.

Are we doing it again in 2022, belfastgirl?

gettingtheresometime

gettingtheresometime said:

Most of mine will be carried over from 2020 but just so that I have them written down somewhere here goes
1) I want to walk the Camino de Santiago 
2) I want to finish my temperature blanket for 2020
3) I want to send off 4 blankets ( or their equivalent) to the charity that I knit for
4) I want to get back to reading more & spend less time on the ipad ...until the libraries open I'm not sure whether this is going to succeed as I'm using the digital service that my library service offers.
5) Get back to healthy eating and have some sort of exercise routine
6) Really make a concerted effort to clear the CCs....I only have a small amount now left and I've been tinkering at the edges of it.

Well I think I've scored a big fat zero 

1) my flights got cancelled so that knocked my Camino on the head
2) I never picked it up again but might use the squares I've already knitted for one for 2022
3-6) was going well on these until October;  since then I've been concentrating on surviving. 

Samiire

Samiire said:

Okay, I’m up for this! My list is going to be far too long so probably unachievable but I like to be ambitious and you never know... so, here we go...

• Meal plan in advance
• Drink more water
• Lose weight (I’d like to get down to 8 1/2 stone)
• Complete the Lands End to John o’Groats virtual challenge
• Home improvements (master bedroom, en-suite, home office, loft)
• Outside improvements (new driveway, replace fencing in back garden, build a vegetable patch)
• Be more organised and therefore less stressed at work
• Start a family!
• Finally, not in my control, but please please please, Spurs, win a trophy this year!! Please!

Oh dear! Well this didn’t go well at all!

Only ones I achieved were the virtual challenge, the fencing, and being slightly less stressed at work. Vegetable patch was started in June and sits unfinished! Everything else was a fail too! Oops!

topsyturphy

1. To smile more
2. To be grateful each day
3. To spend more time with the grandchildren
4. To sort out the garden 
5. To train and run the London Marathon in October

1. & 2 struggled due to separation, now in a more settled state and trying to make the most of each day.

3. done a lot more over last few weeks, they are great company.

4. moved house - better as smaller garden.
5 deferred due this year due to injury.