Monday, January 5, 2015

New Year's Resolutions 2015 & 2014 Resolution Recap

I am a strong believer in New Year's Resolutions for many reasons. First, I love setting goals both long-term and short-term. Second, I think that we grow every day and our needs, interests, habits and even traits change over time so it's important to reflect and determine areas in our lives that might need a little more work and attention each year. Third, I love lists! So here's my lengthy list of resolutions for 2015.

Live more simply. Buy less, donate more.
Be a better friend, wife, daughter and sister. I feel that I really spent time working on myself last year and need to put some more time and energy into my close relationships in 2015
Keep a Gratitude Journal. Each day I write down a short list of the things I'm grateful for that day. Started it on Jan. 1, love it! So far it involves a lot of coffee and having my basic needs met.
Visit charitable and socially responsible restaurants like Milt's, Inspiration Cafe, First Slice, Blue Sky Bakery and Sandwich Me In.
Donate to a non profit each month. I started a spreadsheet on Jan. 2. I'm ready!
Organize important documents like a will, my parents' will, etc.
Have more fun/do more of what makes me happy and less of what I think I should be doing.

Last year I worked on complaining less, living more simply, taking more photos and flossing. I definitely have stepped up my flossing game since writing this resolution. I also made a concerted effort to complain less and be grateful for what I have. I still have room for improvement in this area. I definitely took many more photos of and with loved ones this year. I'm really happy I did because I captured some amazing moments. I'm going to keep this one up! I didn't focus as much as I would have liked on living simply. This is an ongoing effort and I'm still figuring out what that means to me exactly. Overall, I tried to establish some new habits and work on areas of personal improvement and I'd say I was successful. Hopefully I will be just as successful in 2015!