The new year is here! Another year down and another year in the midst. My slogan for this year is “Stop hoping for change, and choose to make change.” As I’ve written numerous times, willpower is not the answer or the solution to our problems. We need to start thinking outside the box and get a little bit more practical. Dates on a calendar mean nothing in regards to how we will change. It takes starting now and setting those realistic, achievable and sustainable goals for the year. It can’t be something you think you should do because your best-friend is doing it or because you have an upcoming class reunion. You have to want it, like cold hard, willing to do hard things, sacrifice in order to achieve what has been set before you. It takes grit.
On a lighter note it also has to be enjoyable. Lay a foundation and then have fun building the house. For instance, a personal goal of mine is to be a “flexitarian.” Say what? In a nutshell, eat more veggies. How will I do this? By having fun creating recipes and truly enjoying what I am eating. By making veggies taste so good I want more. You see where this is going? Say you want to power walk every single day. See if a friend, coworker or family member has the same ambitions and do it together. Enjoying good company while getting healthier is really the way to do it.
The most crucial thing about these darn, despised “resolutions” is shouting it from the rooftops. Tell people what you want to achieve and advise them to continuously encourage and check-in. You can write it down, post it on the refrigerator, tell your spouse, mom, sister, or brother and if you do these things you might have a better chance at succeeding. The key is to take these goals, these resolutions and make them habits. Habits are the thing we just do, without thinking, no energy required. Kind of like brushing your teeth everyday or reading the paper at breakfast (which would be breaking intuitive eating rule #1…–>WINK<–). Habits are the key to making this real food life realistic, achievable and most importantly sustainable. Easy-peasy for the rest of your life. Ahhh perfection!
So I’m here to shout my goals for the new year, 2015, to all of you. These goals help me to look ahead and learning from the past to see what did and didn’t work before, but before I fill you in on what is ahead for Simple Roots Wellness (SRW) lets take a look at how last year went down, because that is what my 7-Steps in Developing a Lasting Goal tracker told me to do. Did you print that off yet? Wait, maybe should I ask, did you fill that out yet??
2014 Personal Goals:
- Learn to make more home-made condiments and sauces – because this is a big overlooked area that a lot of processed junk gets into our bodies.
- Eat more veggies – we all should be working on this, right? Right? Thought so…
- Exercise everyday even if it means a 10 minute walk around the house
- Spend more quality time with the family
What went well and what did not?
Truthfully, I set some pretty awful goals last year. They definitely weren’t SMART goals, it’s okay you can start hatin’. We all learn differently and one way I don’t work well is through numbers. I am not a numbers girl, even though math was one of my favorite subjects. It doesn’t make sense, I know, but numbers stress me out, and dates on calendars make me shut-down. Living too far in the future can be a good thing but then we miss the present, and this is where it all went wrong for me last year. I thought, when this happens then I will do better. Or if I could just get a good night’s rest, then I will wake up early and work out. It was the “if’s” and “then’s”, but the reality is, there is always the “if’s.” Something always happens, life happens, things get busy, nothing ever goes as planned.
So where am I going with all of this? Instead of focusing solely on the future, I choose to look more at the present. I have the end goal, what I want to achieve written down but to get there I am focusing on what I can do today in this moment to take the necessary steps to go in the right direction. I have to understand that it is a journey to the final destination, not an airplane ride. I’ve been seeking the straight path instead of the mountain climbs. The only changes you will see are the changes you make today. So choose to do something everyday, for the rest of this year and I know great things will come of it! Focus on the little things to get big results. Are you ready to do this with me?
With that said, my 2015 goals are a little different;
Personal 2015 year-end goals:
- Half of the food I consume comes from vegetables, become a flexitarian
- Steps to get there = create more veggie based recipes, try new cooking methods, focus on one meal a day to increase the amount of veggies used. Live day-to-day with a focus on seasonal, wholesome vegetables.
- Eliminate the use of processed condiments (even at restaurants)
- Steps to get there = Experiment with using alternative dressings at restaurants, continue developing delicious and satisfying homemade versions of the things I love, make and prep condiments to have in the refrigerator.
- Spend more quality time with the family
- Steps to get there = taking one day completely off of work, live in the moment, hold my growing girls more, become adventure seekers and moment makers.
- Fill out my five-minute journal to keep me accountable and grateful
- Five-minutes a day to gratification and encouragement as you walk this path to health. Check it out, a fantastic resource.
Since you are probably wondering what is in store for SRW this year, I guess I have to tell you I have some exciting things coming up but I need your feedback. I do this blog for you, my lovely and dear readers. To help better your lives and your families’ lives, freeing you of popular diet myths and showing you how to create delicious food from nutritious, wholesome, quality foods. I want this to be of value to you more than anything. I want to serve you to help you meet your goals. So how am I going to do this? Well, that is what I want to know from you. I am sending out a survey this evening to my valuable subscribers to understand what your needs are and how I can help. In the meantime, here is what I came up with for the future of SRW (obviously some of these will be morphed into what you, the readers, want to know).
- FREE stuff!! I am working on a series of freebies that I can give you, the reader as a gift.
- New website design. My awesome husband has been waking up at 4am and spending a few hours each day to give the site a fresh and more streamlined look. We are getting real close to being ready to reveal it!
- Re-branding of my 8-week online nutrition course. I’m talking better videos, and some one-on-one personal time with me to answer questions and help take the information I present and make it fit your life. No one should have to get put in a box.
- A brand new, more advanced nutrition program that will deliver all the information you need to know to recalibrate your body, specifically your GI tract, creating a new you. This program will dive specifically into the topics of inflammation, auto-immunity, food-sensitivities and allergies as well as thyroid health. I’m bringing my A-game on this one folks and I can’t wait to share it with you all. I think this program could be life changing for many of you. It is the second part in the path to health.
- A 30-day Real Food Cleanse just in time for summer. Shed the unwanted weight, get rid of the junk that is clogging your system and rev up your metabolism. This program will clean-up your health and leave you leaner, healthier and happier. This will begin April 1st.
- An e-cookbook!!! I’m going to wait to share the details on this but I am pumped for it! Not that there isn’t already a million and one e-cookbooks out there but this one is every American’s dream, especially those who have been living without… SUSPENSE!
- How about cooking school? To get you more acquainted with your kitchen and the ingredients used on SRW. Think incentives, prizes upon completion….
What do you think? Where do you want SRW to go? What do you need help with? If you don’t want to be a part of the survey I would still love your feedback. You can leave a comment below, send me a quick e-mail (because I heart mail), and would love to hear from you. If it weren’t for you, your love and support I wouldn’t continue. But you give me so much passion, fire and drive to show the world how easy, affordable and delicious quality food can be. Choose to make a change this year, be the change.
Much love! MWAH!
Psst….my girls painted these amazing pictures. Serious, how awesome are they? Two and four years old and so stinkin’ creative. Moment making has already begun here as these were painted with non-washable paints. Dad was the only one harmed in the painting of these pictures as his heart was racing watching non-washable paint fly around like water flowing from a sprinkler. He has made a full recovery and now gets to enjoy the beauty of these masterpieces. You can check out the shenanigans on Instagram, here. But seriously, leave me a comment below, send me an email, get my free goal setting guide below and let me know what I can do to make 2015 your best year yet!
