Tag: new years resolution

2021: First Quarter Goals

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I started setting quarterly goals in 2017 instead of a “New Years Resolution” and I’ve really loved it! Instead of setting goals for the whole year in January I set goals every quarter. This keeps me motivated to get things done and also feels more realistic for my lifestyle.

2021 is the first year that I don’t have all planned out. We don’t have any travel plans due to Covid and I’m not really sure what else will happen this year. So setting my goals for the first quarter feels a bit strange but I’m hoping that this will be a nice challenge and will be good to look back on for years to come.

Here are my 2021 Q1 goals:

  • Work-Life Balance: The end of 2020 was killer for me at work. I worked 50+ hours per week and had zero boundaries when it came to phone calls, e-mails, and meetings. I am in the middle of training two new hires and I get a new intern to mentor in a couple of weeks so I know that things won’t slow down but I need to be better about creating a balance and not over-extending myself. Right now my work-life balance isn’t healthy and I can’t continue working this way.
  • House Projects: Probably the most exciting thing that we have planned for 2021 are some house projects. Our main goal is to see if it’s possible to add a bathroom and walk-in closet to our second story. We live in a Cape Cod style house so the second floor is a converted attic with sloped ceilings. It’s a huge space but right now it’s just a guest room. We’d love to turn the second floor into a master suite so we will see what the contractor quotes us. We’d also like to re-do our kitchen and mud room floors and maybe splurge on new kitchen appliances.
  • Blogging: I took another blogging break at the end of 2021 because work was killing me and I couldn’t spend anymore time on my computer to write a blog post. I’d love to be able to post 2-3 times per week but we will see how realistic that becomes with my work schedule. I also failed at reading and commenting on posts so I want to be better about that because one of my favorite things about blogging is reading other blogger’s posts and it’s just not the same without that.
  • Monthly Date Nights: My husband, Brett, works nights Tuesday-Saturday so we don’t see each other that much and it’s been hard to schedule quality time together. One of my favorite things that came from being quarantined was our monthly date nights and I want to keep that up. I genuinely enjoy spending time with Brett and it’s really great for our marriage to have that time scheduled each month.
  • Health: There are so many things I want to say about this goal but I’ll keep it pretty generic. This is the first year that I can remember where I’m not setting a goal to lose weight or am starting a new diet. I’ve struggled with body image forever it seems and restricting myself to a specific diet has been really unhealthly. This year I want to focus on taking care of myself which means eating healthy most of the time, practicing self-care, and prioritizing the things that make me happy. Hopefully keeping this simple will work better for me and I won’t feel so bad when I “fail”.

2021 feels different for a number of reasons. I want to take the time this year to work on myself and stop putting my job before anything else in my life. I have to start setting some boundaries or I’ll be completely burnt out before I even turn 30.

2020 taught me some valuable lessons and I hope that I learned enough to make this year different.

Are you setting any goals for 2021?

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2020: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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This will be my third year writing this type of post but this time feels so much different. 2020 can be accurately descripted as a dumpster fire and it’s much easier to find the ugly moments instead of the good moments. I’m going to attempt to document a variety of 2020 memories in this post.

As always, this isn’t a post to brag about my life or to show off. This is simply something that I enjoy writing to look back on in future years. I love looking back on 2018 and 2019.

In 2020 I…..

  • Traveled to New Hampshire to be my sister’s Matron of Honor for her wedding
  • Switched roles at work in February and cried a lot over it
  • Packed up all my stuff and started working from home in March
  • Started a job search and am still undecided about what I want to do
  • Saved money to start a new house project in 2021
  • Weaned off of my migraine medication to *hopefully* prepare to have a baby in the future
  • Broke my rebound headache cycle which I never could have done if I hadn’t been working from home. This is by far my most proud accomplishment of 2020 because I was so sick and I didn’t give up.
  • Flew to New Hampshire in July to drive back to Michigan with my sister for a few weeks. I enjoyed so much quality sister time.
  • Celebrated 3 years of marriage and 9 total years with Brett in August.
  • Found out that my sister was pregnant in September! Looking forward to adding another niece or nephew to the cousin crew in May 2021.
  • Spent more quality time with Brett than I have in years. Our monthly date nights are a 2020 highlight.
  • Started training two new hires in August on the role that I really don’t enjoy doing. Training has been slow moving since we are doing it virtually and it has been very hard on me. I’ve been working 50+ hours per week trying to keep up.
  • Took a break from blogging because I was overwhelmed with life.
  • Completed year 1 of a 3 year certification course for work.
  • Spent a lot of social distanced time with at my Grandparent’s lake house
  • Turned 27 in quarantine
  • Celebrated 7 years of blogging in November
  • Finally got promoted in December
  • Worked from home for 9 months and can’t imagine going back to the office full time ever again.

2020 was challenging in many different ways. My biggest challenge this year in my personal life was going from loving my job to hating it. Because work has been so hard I’ve struggled with everything else since I am so unmotivated. I don’t have an answer or solution for this yet so I will just keep chugging along.

I’m looking forward to the new year. I’m looking forward to a fresh start and hopefully leaving all of these negative feelings behind me.

What will you remember about 2020?

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2020: Fourth Quarter Goals Recap

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Happy New Year, friends! I’m sure that we are all hoping that 2021 treats us better than 2020.

It’s time for me to wrap up my 2020 quarterly goals! I loved doing quarterly goals again this year and look forward to setting new ones in January. Setting these shorter term goals helps me stay motivated and get things done! My 2020 goals looked much different than I originally anticipated but I’m still happy with the progress I was able to make.

Here’s a quick look back at Q4.

  1. Be intentional about spending time with family. With Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years it was important to find ways to spend time with family while social distancing. My sister and her husband were able to come home for Christmas which was amazing and we had a bonfire to celebrate Christmas with my mom’s family.
  2. Create a new holiday tradition with Brett. This was our 10th Christmas together and we decided to open presents with just each other this year. Usually we open presents at my parent’s house Christmas morning or with Brett’s family later that afternoon. This year we opened presents Christmas night with just the two of us and it felt really special.
  3. Schedule my remaining annual and semi-annual health appointments. I wasn’t able to get into the dentist but I went to the Neurologist, eye doctor, and my PCP. I’ll go to the dentist in Q1 of 2021 and have some other appointments scheduled which is always fun.
  4. Save 50% of my holiday bonus for 2021 house projects. I am so grateful that my company was able to pay a bonus this year after all of the uncertainty of 2020. We put aside 50% of my bonus already to use for house projects and I’m really excited! I also made sure to make an additional 401k contribution which is something that I try to do every year.
  5. Stick to my current health/wellness routine. I did pretty good with meal prepping and drinking water. I spent less time outside as it got colder and work got busier. I did get an elliptical so I was able to do some at home workouts.

2020 wasn’t what I was expecting or hoping for but I learned a lot and was really able to grow.

Here’s a look back at my 2020 goals: Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4

Were you able to complete any of your 2020 goals/resolutions? Are you setting any for 2021?

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2020: First Quarter Goals

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Happy Monday! Monday is the perfect day of the week to share my goals for the first quarter of the year.

I’ve explained my reasoning for setting quarterly goals instead of New Years Resolutions a few times. I started setting quarterly goals in 2018 and actually found myself checking off my goals instead of just setting them and forgetting about them. I’ve been so productive the past couple of years due to setting these goals! I pick a few important things, focus on them for 3 months, and end up making a big impact on my life.

With that said, here are my first quarter goals for 2020!

  1. Take better care of myself. I’ve been doing better at relaxing lately but I need to focus on keeping my stress levels down and actually taking care of myself. This means making a hair appointment, hanging out with friends, and doing things that I love doing. I’m looking forward to learning how to prioritize my “me” time.
  2. Spend less time on my phone. I finally got a new iPhone and I have the screen time monitoring turned on. Every time I get my screen time report I’m surprised at how much time per day I am on my phone. There are so many things I would rather do instead of playing on my phone.
  3. Listen to more podcasts. I listen to music at work all day to help me focus. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been listening to podcasts instead of music and I’ve been loving it! I feel like I’m learning things instead of just listening to the same songs over and over again. Let me know if you have any podcast recommendations!
  4. Focus on learning and growing at work. I have a ton of new learning opportunities at work this year. I’ve been at my job for 3 years and I’ve learned a lot in that time. However, there’s still so much that I can learn. I’ll be taking a couple of classes this year and will start working towards a certification.
  5. Finish 3 months of Keto. I’ve done Keto 2 other times and I’ve really enjoyed it! My original neurologist was the first person to recommend it to me because it’s good for my brain to limit carbs and sugar. I’ve found that I have less migraines if I monitor my food.
  6. Spend more time tidying and less time cleaning. I usually spend most of my weekend cleaning, doing laundry, grocery shopping, and meal prepping. This year I’d like to tidy more during the week so that I can enjoy my weekend instead of spending it cleaning.
  7. Schedule all of my annual health appointments. Am I the only one who hates making phone calls?! I need to schedule my semi-annual dentist appointment, annual eye doctor appointment, and annual physical with my doctor. I love going to the dentist but I’m anxious about the eye doctor because I know I’ll need glasses and I really don’t want them.

In 2019 I created a word of the year for myself for the first time. My word was confidence and I kept this word in my head all year. I focused on being confident at work and learning to love myself despite my awkwardness.

My word of the year for 2020 is intentional. I want to be more intentional with my words, actions, and thoughts. I want to be intentional with how I spend my time and focus my energy. I want to be intentional with my hopes, dreams, and actions. I’m looking forward to seeing what the year brings!

Do you set News Years Resolutions? What are your goals for the year?

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2019: Third Quarter Goals

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2019: Third Quarter Goals

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend!

Can you believe that we are already halfway through 2019? I feel like it was just 2018. So far this year has been really good and I’m looking forward to the second half.

This is the first quarter that I have struggled writing goals for since I started them in 2017. I create quarterly goals instead of the traditional “New Years Resolutions” as a way to keep myself motivated. I’ve found that I stick to my goals so much better if I set new ones every three months.

  1. Enjoy summer! My favorite season is summer in Michigan. I love being at my grandparent’s house on the lake, going for boat rides, and relaxing in my backyard. Summer goes by quickly so I want to make sure I take time to enjoy it because winter is right around the corner!
  2. Continue my health and fitness journey. Q2 was really good for me in terms of meeting my health and fitness goals. I’m trying not to focus too much on the number on the scale while still celebrating the fact that I was able to lose 10 pounds. I’m starting to feel better, my clothes are fitting, and I’m encouraged to keep going. I want to make this experience as positive as possible!
  3. Create a blogging schedule/calendar. I’ve fallen back in love with blogging again for the first time in years! I’m trying to be more consistent in posting so creating a schedule or calendar would be really helpful. I map posts out in my planner but I don’t always stick to the schedule. I want to be more mindful of my schedule in Q3.
  4. Spend as much time with my sister as possible. My sister moved to Hawaii a couple of months ago but she’s back in Michigan for the summer! This might be our last Michigan summer together so I want to make sure that I enjoy every second of it.
  5. Create a work space at home. I want to focus on creating a better work-life balance. My work is super flexible so I want to start to take advantage of working from home a couple days a month. It would be nice to create a space at home where I can focus and get work done.
  6. Read 3 books and write book reviews. This was one of my goals for Q1 and it really kept me on track with my reading and writing goals. I have a whole list of books that I want to read this summer so hopefully I’ll be able to get through at least a few of them!

Like I said before, I’m really excited for the second half of 2019. I’m feeling motivated and ready to smash my goals! It’s been a fun and productive year so far.

Do you have any goals for this summer?

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2019: First Quarter Goals Recap

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setting goals for 2019

In January I posted about my goals for the first quarter of 2019. The first three months have flown by and I am about to post my second quarter goals next week. Today I thought I would share how I did with my goals for the first quarter.

  1. Get a professional haircut. Guys! I hate getting my haircut so this still hasn’t happened. I still have this weekend though so I’ll try to force myself to get it cut. Do it for the blog!! I know I’ll feel better after I do.
  2. Travel at least twice. This was an easy one! We took a quick trip to visit Brett’s grandpa in Florida in January and then took a few days in February to visit my grandparent’s in Arizona.
  3. Commit to the blog. I give myself a 70% with this goal. I was pretty consistent with posting but never was able to reach my view goal that I always have in my head. If you read my blogging tips post you would know that I try not to take blogging too seriously so I won’t be hard myself and will consider this goal accomplished.
  4. Read three books and write reviews. YES! I read Meet Cute, All The Bright Places, and Top Ten and was able to write reviews for all three. I also read Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven but haven’t posted the review for it yet. Stay tuned!
  5. Meal plan and prep for the week ahead. I did okay with meal planning and prep. I went to the grocery store and made sure I had work lunches packed 90% of the time. I learned a couple of new recipes that I am loving and stopped relying on my crock pot so much. I still have some work to do with this but I plan on continuing what I have been doing in Q2.
  6. Make healthy living a top priority. Why is this so hard? UGH. I am getting better though. I’ve been losing a couple of pounds a week and have stopped snacking so much in between meals. I think about my goals often and try to be gentle with myself. Healthy living has been my priority and will continue to be throughout the rest of the year.

Stay tuned for my second quarter goals next week! Do you have any goals for the next few months?

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2019: First Quarter Goals

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2019 Goals. New Years Resolutions. 2019 1st Quarter Goals

The time is finally here to start planning my goals for 2019. The past year flew by and I’m not sad to see it go. January always feels like a fresh start and this year I could really use a clean slate.

My goals for the first three months of 2019 are below and I encourage you to set goals for yourself too! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; setting quarterly goals instead of annual ones has been a game changer for me! I started setting quarterly goals at the end of 2017 and continued through all of 2018. I actually found myself looking back on my goals more often and completing them!

  1. Get a professional haircut. It’s incredibly sad that this is my first goal but the truth is that I HATE getting my hair cut. The whole process takes way too long and I’m rarely 100% satisfied with the results. I have super thick, wavy hair and most hairstylists don’t seem to know how to handle it. I like to joke that my hair is allergic to water because the second it gets wet it goes crazy and refuses to untangle. I have tried every product imaginable to tame the beast but I’ve summed it up to be #thickhairproblems. Do you have any hair products that you swear by?
  2. Travel at least twice. After our trip to Europe in October I was exhausted and traveling was the last thing I wanted to do. But Brett loves to travel and deep down I do too. I don’t want my love of adventures to be another thing my headaches take away from me. Brett and I want to take at least two small trips during Q1 including a trip to Florida to visit his Grandpa. The other trip will likely be a super spontaneous weekend trip so stayed tuned for the details!
  3. Commit to the blog. I have said this over and over before but have never stuck to it. I love blogging and in 2019 I want to focus more on doing the things that I love. Over the past 5 years the blogging community has embraced me and this has become my safe place away from everything else. I want 2019 to be the best year ever for Life of Hayley!
  4. Read three books and write reviews. One of the best things that 2018 brought me was my love of books. So far I have partially read two books that I am loving. I enjoy writing book reviews so hopefully I will find three books that I love to review!
  5. Meal plan and prep for the week ahead. I’ll admit that I haven’t cooked a real meal in a long time. My Crock pot and I became really good friends in 2018 because I had no energy or desire to cook. I’m kinda sick of the standard Crock pot meals though and am ready to start eating healthier and meal planning. Before our wedding in 2017 I was the Queen of meal prep. I’m hoping to at least get to Princess level in 2019.
  6. Make healthy living a top priority. I almost titled this goal as “making weight loss a priority” but then I re-evaluated my mind-set. This goal isn’t all about the number on the scale. I know that I need to lose weight but I also know my negative relationship with my body image. For me, the focus has to be on eating healthier and exercising and not the number on the scale.

In addition to setting quarterly goals I also wanted to choose a word to capture my goals for 2019. It took me longer than I care to admit to find a word that completely covers everything that I want to accomplish this year.

The word I picked is confidence.

Confidence in my ability to fight the demons that I am facing. Confidence in myself to be the best person that I can be. Confidence in my body as I look in the mirror everyday. Confidence as I stand in front of my co-workers with the knowledge that I can do my job well. Confidence that I am moving in the right direction.

Confidence in me.

What are your goals for 2019? Let me know below.

Thanks for reading!

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2018: The Good, Bad, and The Ugly

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2018 re-cap

 

Hey friends!

2019 is here but I wanted to take a moment to reflect on 2018. I had a conversation with some friends awhile ago about how 2018 had not been that great of a year for me. It was a year of struggling. Struggling with work, pain, and loneliness. Struggling with trying to find myself, accepting who I am, and trying to figure out what healthy means to me.

In this post I am sharing a list of things I did in 2018. It’s easy to look at this list and see only the positive things. I had Brett read it before posting because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t coming off as braggy. Here’s the thing to remember though, I accomplished a lot this year between my personal and professional life but it’s not all rainbows and butterflies. I had a headache or migraine every single day in 2018.

So when you look at this and every other blogger’s 2018 re-cap I urge you to remember that it’s not perfect all the time. I urge you to not compare your list with other’s. Because my list looks perfect but I can assure you that it’s not.

Without further ado here’s my list of what my life consisted of in 2018.

In 2018 I….

  • Celebrated 5 years of blogging
  • Bought a house
  • Adopted Oscar from the animal shelter
  • Got promoted
  • Crossed Rome off of my travel Bucketlist
  • Traveled to Paris for the third time
  • Celebrated one year of marriage with Brett
  • Surpassed my goal of reading 12 books in a year
  • Found a new Neurologist
  • Saw John Legend perform a private concert at my work party on the same day as my 25th birthday
  • Started a “House Fund” to save for building a new bathroom and re-doing our driveway
  • Spent a weekend in Traverse City with friends
  • Fell in love with decorating our house
  • Celebrated two years at my job
  • Helped my parents pick out a new puppy
  • Celebrated eight years of kitten motherhood
  • Turned 25 and reflected on my 25 before 25 list
  • Covered a three month long maternity leave at work
  • Started a new medicine that made me insanely sick
  • Stopped taking said medicine and started feeling much better
  • Lost 10 pounds
  • Focused more on self-love and less on the scale
  • Struggled with finding work-life balance
  • Fell in love with reading again
  • Spent more time with family
  • Struggled a lot with feeling sad and lonely
  • Accepted my introvert tendencies and tried to learn how to work with them instead of against them
  • Found a wonderful and supportive group of blogger friends
  • Went to countless airshows with Brett
  • Traveled around Michigan and other nearby states
  • Came to the conclusion that life really is better with a dog
  • Started blogging regularly (for the most part!)
  •  

Like I mentioned before, it’s easy to look at this list and only see the good. But 2018 was one of the hardest years of my life. I learned valuable lessons and tried to share my life with others in a positive way. I never want to be the person on social media who someone compares their life to.

My 2019 1st Quarter goals will be up soon. I’m going to continue doing quarterly goals instead of yearly goals because I really do think that they work better for me.

What are your goals for 2019? And how do you feel 2018 went for you?

Thanks for reading!

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2018: First Quarter Goals

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2018 First Quarter Goals

Hello again!

I am back with my goals for the first quarter of 2018! I like the idea of New Years resolutions. However, I have a hard time sticking to them because 365 days seems like a long time. I eventually forget my goals and by December I haven’t really accomplished anything.

That’s why I love setting quarterly goals. So much of what I do at work revolves around quarters so I have an easy time thinking this way. It’s a great way to break the year up into four manageable sections.

With that said, here are a few things that I am hoping to accomplish over the next couple of months:

  1. Pay Off One Credit Card. Brett and I are super lucky because I have no credit card debt and Brett has very little. We have been reading Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover and it has given us the inspiration to start small and pay off our lowest balance credit card. I would love to go into 2019 with no credit card debt!
  2. Start House Hunting. I LOVE renting but the finance lover in me hates throwing our money away on something we don’t own. Brett and I sat down with a realtor this week and agreed to start taking baby steps towards purchasing our first home. We will start to look at houses in our price range and figure out what we like and dislike. We will shop around for different home loan lenders and find the best fit for us. We will not feel pressured into buying a house. We will buy when we are ready.
  3. Continue to make my health a priority. Guys, I have struggled for YEARS with migraines and daily headaches. I went almost two years with a constant headache and the pain has been debilitating. I made it a goal last quarter to really work with my Neurologist to find a solution that will work for me and my liver. The past month has been amazing. I still have headaches and the occasional migraine but the pain is finally manageable. I know I still have a long road ahead of me but this is the first time since 2011 that I have felt this good. *Knocks on wood*
  4. Being more productive after work. I am always exhausted after work. My days are stressful and I never feel like cooking or cleaning after work. I have made it my goal to meal plan and prep in order to make work nights easier. I will try to always go to bed with a clean kitchen, my lunch packed, and my outfit prepared for the next day.
  5. Focus on Healthy Living. I have gained a lot of weight since the wedding. I stopped eating healthy and working out. It was nice not to have to worry about fitting in an expensive wedding dress or looking good in pictures but it’s gotten bad. I am having a hard time looking in the mirror, fitting into my clothes, and having positive thoughts about myself. I just want to start eating healthier, walking more, and drinking more water. I don’t want to doing any extreme fad diet because they are bad for my mental health. I just want to respect my body again.
  6. Finish Our Wedding Thank You Notes. I am such a slacker and I hate myself for it. Writing all of these thank you notes stress me out. I am so grateful for everyone who helped us decorate, drive shuttle cars, and clean up after the wedding. I am thankful for everyone who brought us gifts or gave us money. It’s just so hard for me to convey how grateful I am in a note.

So there’s a few things that I am working on in the beginning of 2018. Financial freedom, healthy living, and future planning. It’s going to be a great year!

What are your goals for 2018?

Thanks for reading!

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