Earlier I made a post musing on whether or not I should set some goals for myself this year. I came to the conclusion that it might be worthwhile to give it a shot this year.

To that effect, here are a few things that I would like to work on for the new year.

1. Work on building my blog
   This blog is a year old now, and I’ve come a very long way in a short period of time. I’m making (a tiny bit of ) money off of it, getting opportunities to try and promote new products through it (yay free stuff!) and am making new online friends through it. I just started it as a hobby because I was told I should write more.
   I think this year I would like to see how much further I can take this exercise, and make the blog better for me and for my readers (I’ll be posting a survey for you readers out there to fill out soon!). I’m going to leave out specifics in this because I want to see how it naturally evolves. If I start making this feel like a job to me then I’ll lose interest, so it’s better to just go with the flow!
2. Organize & streamline my life
   I’m overloaded with “stuff” and seem to accumulate it much too fast. This year I want to start by doing a big purge of the stuff I already have, and I want to continue to keep the unnecessary “stuff” at a minimum. I want to bring this organization movement into my entire life and get things settled and streamlined!
3. Live healthier
   I need to lose weight, but more importantly I just need to start living healthier. I want to incorporate some small changes to help get me on track. So far I’m thinking of cooking at home more often (which will save me money, too!), drinking more water, taking vitamins, getting proper rest and exercising more often. I know if I set out with a big change it will never happen, so my goal is to just ease myself into these things and readjust as I go forward.
4. Manage my finances even better
   I’m not too bad at this, but I’m not great, either. I need to create a plan and stick with it. This past year there were too many “oops!” moments and I want to avoid those this year. I also want to focus a little more on saving, particularly building up my emergency fund in response to our troubling economic times. I want to try and perform better at work to possibly get a raise and also protect myself from job cuts.
5. Rise above it all
   I often get sucked in by petty drama, have high expectations, take things too seriously or don’t break out of my shell often enough. I need to rise above it all and try and work through my issues so people will see the real me, and not be dissuaded by my stony shell. I need more friends and positive relationships in my life. The loneliness is pretty intense.

So, how am I going to make myself accountable for all of this? Well, posting on here is a start. I think every quarter I might post about how things are going, just to stay on track. Most importantly though, I have to remember that these are not goals that I can just shove aside when times get tough. They are vague and fluid and will move with me as the year progresses, and ultimately they need to be followed, no ifs ands or buts.

They are ongoing goals that will never be truly obtained—in this case it’s the journey that matters the most.

*Don’t forget to enter the draw for my give-away of 3 FUZE prize packs!