Happy New Year!!!!

Yes, I am back. I have been missing in action during December, but I promise I have been training hard! Well, except for that week I was on a cruise.

It is hard to believe that it is already 2012 but I am very excited at what this year has in store for all of us!

You may be expecting me to talk about my New Year's Resolution, but that is not what this blog will be about. I don't believe in resolutions. What I believe in are setting goals.

For me, goals are critical in all aspects of my life. I am a "list" person and creating goals for myself is just in my nature.

When I was 21, I remember sitting at dinner one night and writing down a list of goals with my husband. Some of them were silly, like "Have a great haircut", but some of them were deep wants of mine like, win an "Addy" (an award) for Graphic Design. Have children. Travel Europe and see the masterpieces of the artists I studied in college. Being healthy.

I found this list not too long ago. It was written on a napkin and I laughed at some of the goals I had written down, but I was also pleasantly surprised to see that I had reached all my goals on the list. I believe this was possible because the goals were all things I deeply wanted to achieve.

When we make New Year's Resolutions, deep down we all know that for the most part it's not taken too seriously. I mean, look at the picture I posted. This was just one of hundreds I found that make jokes about creating New Year's Resolutions for ourselves. So don't do that!
Make a GOAL for yourself. What do you REALLY want?

To lose weight? To eat healthier? To get stronger? Me too! BUT let's make it more specific.

I WILL lose weight by cutting out wheat's and grains.

I WILL eat healthier by making healthier choices.

I WILL get stronger by working out at least 3 times a week.

Give yourself the directions or the steps you need to achieve that goal. And most importantly, give yourself a goal you feel you can achieve.

A great example of this would be my dead lift goal. My goal is only 260lbs, not a lot for some of you, but for me, it may be beyond my ability because of lower back issues I was born with. Will I continue to try? Sure I will! But I have to accept the fact that it may not be physically possible for me. I'll be honest, I spent the past 2 weeks in a funk because of this realization. But I realized that just because my dead lift may not ever be as heavy as I want it to be doesn't mean my other lifts can't be.

So, for me, my very first goal in 2012 is getting a body weight snatch. This is not a goal I will forget within the first week of this month. It is something that I know will take time and a lot of work, but it is something I really want to do. So, I will make a plan to achieve that goal. The first step of that plan is beginning this new year with Whole30.

Make your plan.

Write down your goals.
2012 is going to be an amazing year!