Hello and Happy New Year!

I didn’t intend to not post while away…but I didn’t really plan to post while away, either, so there we are.

I’m honestly more relaxed right now than I’ve been in a very long time thanks to completely unplugging (thanks to super-long work days before and the best coworkers/intern) other than the occasional Instagram photo and sharing a gazillion epic experiences with one of my best friends. I have a lot I want to write about vacation and some ideas about how I want to do it, but how/what kind of stuff do you like to read about people’s trips? I know, personally, my eyes glaze over after post after post in a row of a place I may never go to…(but I do go back to those posts if I end up planning a trip there.)

But with it being January and all of that, I want to write about some of my goalz for this year, just like every other blogger, just a little later due to my trip…

I LOVE the idea I’ve seen from some other bloggers about a guiding word for the year, and so I am choosing:

INTENTION.

I’m totally Type A about some things and somewhat laissez-faire (and honestly, also lucky) about others. I spoke on a Junior League panel recently about my leadership background there. While some of the women spoke about specific steps they took to get where they were and how they looked at their strengths and goals and figured out how to align those to their League “career.” This one over here said that she took more of a “say yes and figure it out later” approach. I regret nothing about that, but as I get older and have more time constraints and extenuating factors encroaching on my life and goals, I want to be sure I set goals that have an intention that really resonates with me.

Intention will guide most of these goals, and I want it to be my reminder this year for my why.

1. Face running head-on.

Before last year, I was progressively getting better and faster at running, and that progress made me really happy, and so I signed up for races and set goals without really thinking about why.

Last year? Last year was a major struggle running. I’d had a ton of sinus issues and a lot of personal stuff going on. Is this why it sucked? Is it because I gained weight? Is it because I’m getting older?

Marathons have made me so happy in the past (because I’m weird like that), and I would love to run NYC again…if it feels like the right decision for me. Either way, I want to try to figure out what caused the suckage, if I can, and fix it, if I can. I’m ready to put in the hard work like I have before, and I acknowledge getting started again is going to SUCK. I know I probably *can* run another marathon, this year, I want to make sure that if I decide to do so, it’s the right decision for me both mentally and physically.

2. Figure out this blog.

Anne had an awesome post before the holidays about what she felt like she should be doing with blogging, and it resonated with me and my blogging. I know what I “should” be doing — and what will work — to grow my blog, but sometimes I just want to be my wacky self instead of writing that pinnable, SEO-friendly post (although SEO stuff is easier than I had realized!) But I do want to grow this blog — both in readership and income — and so I need to really sit down and figure out what I want from this blog, what I want to provide you, and what I think I can offer that’s either different, or is just unequivocally me. I want to figure out, also, some sort of posting “schedule” that I feel works for me. Right now I blog when I can…but I always feel like I “should” blog more, and I know I can think better when I have a plan, so I want to set up a loose plan for myself.

3. Date more. I’m not getting any younger, and hanging out with my (amazing) friends isn’t getting me any less single. Our DB trainer Becca gave an awesome interview today about her wanting to date more because she’d spent so much time working on herself that she was ready to share it with someone. Me too, girl, me too. So, if you know any nice single men in the NYC area in their 30s who like a slightly wacky runner…

4. Finally get my NASM certification. I’ve had the damn book for years and have been dragging my feet on studying. But I want to get this certification both for my own knowledge for work/blogging/curiosity — and I would LOVE to teach group fitness one day and/or help other women discover how fitness can be life-changing, like I did.

5. Cook more. When I actually do do it, I find that 1. I like it. 2. I save money (duh) 3. I eat healthier (more duh.) 

6. Eat healthier/drink less wine. Again, I feel better both mentally and physically when I do this. I was making really good progress on this at the end of the year, and I want to continue that momentum that took a bit of a backseat through the holidays/vacation.

7. Work out with intention. It’s easy for me to agree to working out for the purpose of having fun, but I started really mapping out my workouts in my bullet journal last year, and it helped me focus on why I was doing each workout.

Y tu? What are your goals/intentions?