A look back

Looking back on my goals for 2013 I can say that I actually did most of what I set out to do, and the goals I set weren’t too shabby either. If I’m being totally honest though I will admit that I didn’t look back on my goals all that often, however, they were in the back of my mind most of the time whether I realized it or not. You can see my full list of goals here: 2013 goals.

The things I didn’t accomplish:

  • finishing my masters degree – class was cancelled so out of my control
  • eliminating our debt — I still have that hefty student loan
  • exercising more — I did, then I got pregnant
  • working on my personal life — I have been working on it but it is hard and this is again going to be one of my main goals this year

The things I did accomplish were huge successes. I did a 4 week to a clutter free home series on the blog which helped get us closer to my goal of simplifying our household, I updated my blog and continue to work on the direction I want it to go (this year will hopefully mean big changes!), I’ve eaten healthier (I did lose 20 pounds before getting pregnant after all), and I’ve researched lots of parenting styles and advice and really have some sort of plan that I want to take going forward.

Planning for the future

Eliminating debt

One of my husband’s (and my) goals for this year is to actually eliminate that remaining debt. We’ve decided to get a plan written down and put it into action. Last year alone I was able to do the 52 week savings plan and saved well over the goal amount. If I can do that, I know we can work on this debt.

Yell Free

Elliminating our debit is important, but my main goal for this year is to work on my parenting. I am going to be working on a Yell Free Challenge and hope to post weekly, or monthly at the least (as it has been hard for me to get many posts done with the new baby so weekly might be pushing it for now). My goal is to be Yell Free this year and I hope by documenting my progress I will be able to identify my triggers and work on improving myself. From the research I have done, yelling can be just as detrimental as spanking (emotionally).

I already know that one of my triggers is lack of sleep. When I’m tired I get frustrated much easier and I will yell more than if I am well rested and have more patience for my kids. So sleep is another one of my goals. Although it is a little harder with a new baby that needs to be fed in the middle of the night, I do want to work on making sure I have enough sleep so I can be the best person and parent for my kids.

Along with this I also plan to use the same principles and not yell or ‘nag’ at my husband so much. I find the same triggers that affect my attitude toward the kids also affect how I react to some of the things my husband does (or doesn’t do), and I hope to work on being calmer and communicate better.

Organized life/home

My last goal is to continue working on simplifying our home. We have way too much stuff and most of it just needs to go the way of the curb (or donation bin). When I did my 4 week clutter free challenge and was able to get rid of a ton of stuff, it really felt great to not have that junk lying around the house. Of course we’ve continued to accumulate more things, so I think we need to come up with a plan to get rid of a certain number of things for each new thing that comes in the home. It will be a work in progress I’m sure.

So tell us…

Do you have any major goals for this year?  Anything life changing?