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When One Word Just Isn’t Enough…New Year’s Resolutions

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I made a list of blog resolutions for 2014 that I plan to achieve over the coming year, but I’ve decided to do something different with my personal New Year’s Resolutions. The “one word” concept that I’ve seen all over the place is intriguing to me. But of course I can never follow the rules, so I have three words. Rather than asking myself to do specific things which may or may not get done, instead, I’d like to embark on a self improvement theme.

Balance Organization Giving

Balance

I am a workaholic. It probably stems from my OCD issues, but whatever endeavor I undertake, I throw myself into it 150%.  I probably haven’t averaged more than 5 hours of sleep a night in years. My house has suffered, my family life has suffered, and I almost never have any “me” time. That is all going to change this year. Physically, I just can’t do it anymore…and mentally, I just don’t want to. That’s not to say I am going to let everything go to hell around here. I’m not. I plan to work smarter, not harder. I am going to get more sleep…I’m aiming to be in bed by 11 or midnight this year. That might sound late, but for me, it’s early. I’m going to close my computer for part of the afternoon, once the younger kids get home.  I am going to say NO more often. I want to enjoy all the parts of my life. Our time here is short. 

Organization

When you are constantly running from one thing to the next, and adding too much to your plate, it leads to disorganization and clutter. And that is what has happened to my house. Suzy Homemaker I am not, but I don’t want to be Clutter Cathy either. I’m probably never going to be the most organized person you’ll ever meet, nor will I ever have the perfect house, but I’ll settle for a happy medium. I worked on organizing the house quite a bit over the holidays with my husband, and we put a huge dent in it. But this is a big project now because we’ve let it go far too long. Because it’s GO Month (Get Organized), you can expect to see some posts with organizing tips as we move through this process.

Giving

There’s a lot running through my mind with this…”paying it forward,” the Golden Rule of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” and the Maya Angelou quote:  “I’ve learned people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” While these are principles I try to live by, I can improve. Do you know that feeling when someone does something nice for you, and you want to go out and do something nice for someone else as a result? That’s the feeling I want to spread!

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Allegra Sinclair

Friday 17th of January 2014

The end of 2013 was such a blur, I totally ignored the whole 'one word' phenomenon. And I'm like you, I cannot imagine only having one word. I love your choice of the word, Giving, and your reason for it makes me wish I could leap tall buildings in a single bound. Really inspiring! I want to steal the idea for a post on my own blog but I really have to think about my 3 words. For today mine would be Health, Love, Impact. I love your blog, because you always make me think! Have a powerful 2014!

catherine gacad

Wednesday 15th of January 2014

you haven't averaged more than 5 hours of sleep a night in years? can i be you? i've always wanted to train myself to function on less sleep. in fact, i think sleeping 6-7 hours for me is ideal. anything more than that and i get these headaches. it's weird to feel tired the more sleep you get, but that's the way it is for me. i married someone who love to sleep so i've adjusted to his schedule, but again, love the idea of less.

that said, if you don't think it's sustainable, definitely get more. you will feel so much better when you find out what's the best rest for you.

Reese

Monday 13th of January 2014

Yes. Just yes to all of this. This is going to sound funny, and a bit like I'm placing the blame elsewhere, but I truly believe that social media--Facebook and Pinterest in particular, have put this pressure on us to be perfect. You see a pin on Pinterest that shows a perfectly clean home, with the family sitting around playing scrabble together by the perfect fireplace with a gorgeous mantle filled with photos of the family, and you think "why can't my home be as immaculate as this." So you start overdoing it. I know it sounds crazy, but I truly believe we have come to place this pressure on ourselves because we are constantly surrounded by perfection.

Think about Valentines Day, it used to be that we would simply go to the store and pick up a bag of candy to give to our kids to take to class. If we were feeling extra nice, we would get sandwich bags to put the candy in. Now if you're on Pinterest, you'll see all these ideas for packaging Valentine's for your children. It's insanity.

Sometimes I truly feel that there just aren't enough hours in the day. Truthfully, I underestimated how different life would be with a child. I truly hope that you are able to cut back a little this year and find some balance. As far as organization, that's what IKEA is for ;)

Carla

Saturday 11th of January 2014

I thought about more than word but I thought it would totally cancel out the word focus! :)

I especially like "balance" and I hope you get more sleep this year. Sleep is good! I know what it's like not to get enough of it!

Regina

Saturday 11th of January 2014

Three little words that have so much meaning behind them. I think you chose very well!!!! After all the many New Years resolutions that have come and gone in my long life, this year I chose the word "Believe". Believe in yourself, Believe in those around you, Believe that everything you want to accomplish (for family, friends, church, community) can and will be. Believe that each person no matter how they seem on the outside needs a smile or hug. Believe that I can be a better person.

Happy SITS Saturday!!! Regi