Friday Five – And We’re Off!

RenéeFriday Five52 Comments on Friday Five – And We’re Off!

2018!  We made it!! Happy New Year Everyone!

Not only is it the new year it’s the FIRST Friday.  That means my new attempt to do the FRIDAY FIVE!

If all goes well I’ll be linking up each week (uh, every other week? occasionally? we all know my track record!  but I can CHANGE, I swear!!)  with Running on Happy & Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five 2.0 linkup. Be sure to also visit these amazing bloggers as well for all Friday Fives and general badass inspiration.

 

This week my topic is  GOALS and RESOLUTIONS.

If any of you have followed me for a while you will know I’m not a huge fan of resolutions.  BUT… that said I do feel inspired at the beginning of the year to have something in mind to focus on.  My goals and resolutions are not all fitness and weight related.  And as a quasi-fitness/health blogger (with a side of sports massage, travel, moaning and expat things thrown in) I think it’s important to be healthy in all areas of your life.  If you let one suffer, the others will follow. You are only as strong as your weakest link.  Or something like that.

So here are my five (uh, six) GOALS for 2018:

  1. Really have a savings account.  Let me explain:
    I HAVE savings, I usually use it for travel, extras, and the like, but lately it’s been kind of on the low side. That’s because a few trips last year cost more than planned so, I’ve been back pedaling a bit. I don’t want to do this anymore. We have Boston to think about so we have re-budgeted things and have even bought saving stamps at the grocery store (EUR 49 spent gets you EUR 52 at redemption, in some cases better than savings account rates). My plan is do save my income from sports massage instead of spending it. Only spend from that should be for anything to enhance my qualifications. Also I will have less credit card spend. Has to be done. OK maybe only a few pairs of ProCompression socks this year but that’s it!  If I can get it together then I may even be able to do the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas weekend…
  2. De-clutter our apartment.   The Step-Daughter is now studying  and living in another city and she has a boyfriend.  That means she is not as often at our place and her room can be cleared out and used for a better purpose (she’s always welcome and doesn’t mind if she sleeps on the pull out couch).  The Step-Son also is here less – he does much better with a routine and coming here every other weekend wreaks a bit of havoc on his PDD-NOS brain so for now he can come when he likes but usually that won’t be a whole weekend.  He’s getting older (almost 17) so he’s focusing on school, working and getting his own life as well.  His room also needs to be cleared out and set up for another purpose.  De-cluttering will also mean our storage unit and paperwork.  In general I want to get rid of stuff we are not using, find a new home for it or toss it (anyone want to buy a bunch of Starbucks mugs or Hard Rock Cafe Pins? No? Bummer).
  3. This one is going to sound easy – 10K steps EVERY DAY.  No excuses.  You’d be amazed the days I don’t get the steps in.  That’s because I don’t take a break at work or I don’t take the stairs or I don’t park far away from the entrance of wherever I am going.  10K steps per day will make me take that break at lunch, will keep me moving and not sitting too long at my desk or laptop or couch watching a Friends Marathon on Netflix.
  4. No Junk At Work I’m only there 4 days a week, surely I can manage this.  The thing is, I’m a stress/emo eater and in times of stress (or boredom) I will go for the chocolate, the cake, the whatever is available and that has to stop.  A little discipline will go a long way.  I’m not saying no junk, ever.  I’m saying cut the crap at the office.  Half the time I don’t even LIKE what I’m eating.  So.  I need to focus and remember that I am stronger than a brownie or a piece of cake.
  5. Get back to 70KG.  Broken record time. I can’t even with myself anymore. No junk at work will help, but mostly the discipline needs to be in place and that’s what I was missing last year.
  6. BONUS GOAL –  try new classes at the gym.   I tried spinning (LOVE it), I’ve tried the circuit training (Quads are still on fire) and I want to do a few other classes that are on offer.  No need to feel like a n00b, time to stop caring about what other people think!!!

 

I had a revelation this morning as I was reading about the WORD that people have chosen for themselves for 2018.  Mine is definitely FOCUS.

 

Focus on what I really want –  a stable financial situation, less distraction, more quality, fit body and mind.

 

What are your goals and resolutions? Have you thought about a word for the year as well?  If you are having trouble coming up with goals check out these two posts on goal setting:

Setting Goals for the New Year

Four Tips for Creating and Achieving Running and Life Goals in 2018

 

Here’s to a fabulous, fit and focused new year!!

52 thoughts on “Friday Five – And We’re Off!”

  1. I so need to declutter. Our house has been overtaken by stuff. It has happened slowly, over time. But it’s out of control!

    1. we have a really small apartment, so even when I tidy up and put things in their place, it’s like a tornado hit the next day. we are both too busy during the week to straighten things up every day (and it seems that we have run out of space to put stuff anyway!!)

  2. YES to decluttering (I see a theme here LOL). I don’t know where it all has come from, but I do know the bulk of it is NOT mine, thus it’s hard to toss. The struggle is real.

    1. I used to think most of the junk around here was mine, but then I realised my husband is just as guilty. The man has like 20 pairs of running shoes in the hallway for Pete’s Sake!! And that’s just a small amount of clutter that needs to be cleared!

    1. I have done a tiny bit already. Figured I’d just get started. Long way to go though…

    1. we WANT to move at some point. I think if I can get my husband in the flow of decluttering maybe once a month we may actually accomplish it! We are not moving junk!

  5. This year I am planning to move and have decluttered so much. I got rid of stuff from my closet that I’ve since for many years. It felt good to finally get rid of it.

    1. I admit that when I start throwing stuff away it feels good, however, it’s letting it go that is the hard part. I’m not a hoarder but I do have a lot of stuff just for keeps – most of it is my connection with home and since I left the States in 1994, the longer I keep it, the harder it is to get rid of it!

  6. Ooooh I like your word! My focus is often all over the place. My word for the year is Proactive. I’ve gotta stop thinking and start doing. I donated a HUGE whack of my old corporate work clothes that were sitting in the basement last weekend. Having that open space feels great.

    1. My focus is all over the place too! That’s why I really want to get a grasp on things. Proactive is GOOD too!! I like it! Congrats for getting rid of those clothes!

  7. Thanks for linking up with us!
    I’ve never heard of savings stamps before. I guess we don’t have those here but we can earn points to buy other products at our grocery store!
    Seems like I declutter every few months! It feels So good!

    1. Oh these stamps are like those old fashioned green stamps we had in the US back in the day! Do you know the ones I mean? You saved them up and they were actually worth money so you could buy stuff with full books of them. My mom used to save them up like crazy to buy things like an iron, a sewing machine, a kitchen mixer, that sort of stuff. These stamps are just worth money – for every Euro you spend you can buy a stamp for 10 eurocents. You save up 49 euros worth of stamps and when you turn them in they are worth 52. We figured we are buying groceries anyway, may as well get the stamps. Goes fast too- we started in mid october and have 2 1/2 books already filled. The goal is to use that money as spending money in Boston :)

      looks like a lot of us are into decluttering!

  8. Declutter is high on my list too and it’l feel so good to accomplish it!
    love the word focus…I still have not found a word, but that would fit me too.
    You wouldn’t believe how some days I only get 3,000 (and that feels hard) when it is busy at work…go get those steps!

    1. wow we are pretty much all decluttering!

      feel free to use the word too – I think it’s quite helpful!

      I would believe it Karen – even though we are runners, some days are just bad step days! I want to fix that. No more excuses!

  9. I also need to de-clutter (thanks for the reminder). My main goal is to take better body-care of myself. This old body needs love and attention! Thanks for sharing my post!

  10. We have some similar goals. My big one is financial, I want to pay off my credit cards and start the habit of saving ahead of time for things. I could also benefit from getting more steps in. 10k is a lot harder than I thought!

    1. Ultimately I would love to be free of debt but our small steps are at least to cut back on spending and really follow a budget and a savings plan. Its so hard these days where everything is based on credit!

      10K steps CAN be really hard. I walked the other day into town and thought for sure I’d hit 10K and I was still 2000 short!

    1. Oh I love your word Michelle! in 2016 mine was COURAGE. Very much like brave. It’s crazy sometimes how un-brave or uncourageous we can feel at times! And you’d think when we get older it should be EASIER!

  16. Great goals for sure! Decluttering is always good. Determined would be my word for the year.

  17. I would love to steal and implement ALL of your goals! Two of my three boys are out of the house (the third is a junior in college…so we’re getting there). The first one’s room is completely cleared out and all drawers are empty. The second’s room is impeccably clean, but his dresser drawers are still filled with clothes he will never wear (he’s told me to just donate everything; I just haven’t gotten to it), and the third’s room is filled with his things, but usually in decent order. I would love to repurpose these rooms but it is just so hard to clear everything out!

    1. sometimes it’s hard to even know where to START! I keep going in these rooms and looking at everything and feeling so overwhelmed… but I know if we can just start we can do it!

  18. You’d think with the kids leaving home there would be less stuff around. No! I’d like to make an office out of one of the spare rooms but that requires a major declutter. Sigh. I like the word you’ve chosen for 2018!

    1. right??? I could also use one of these rooms for massage (for example) or we could put all our sporty stuff in one place. but it’s just not possible with all the crap everywhere!

  23. Great word! I need to try to remember to make choices that fit with my priorities this year. And I’m the same as you – I get way more than 10K steps some days and others I barely move because I’m sitting at my desk.

    1. sometimes it’s so easy to focus and make the right choices. I’m actually also trying to find the triggers or incidences that throw me (and keep me off track). a constant work in progress.

  24. One of my big goals is to declutter as well! I love the word Focus, I may use that for mine too :-)

    1. so many of us wanting to declutter! feel free to use my word, I’m sure I’m not the only one!

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