2011 Goals Finished + Goals for 2012

I like setting goals (or new year’s resolutions if you will). I think that even if you don’t achieve them they still help guide you towards things you really want. I set a few goals for 2011 at to help guide me through the year and today felt like a good time to check in and see how I finished up the year with achieving my goals.

2011 Goals Update

Accomplished

• Complete a triathlon. – Completed my first triathlon Jan 23 and it was awesome!!
• Pay off credit card debt. – I paid off over $5,000 in debt this year before getting married, mostly with money from the blog and online work.
• Find a part time job. – I found an awesome FULL TIME job! I’m hoping to stay with this company for a long while if it works out. So glad I made this goal happen!
• Read a book a week. – Technically I didn’t read a book every week but I read more than 52 books this year so I’m considering it a success! I really enjoy reading so it wasn’t hard to accomplish when I had time.
• Increase A Merry Life traffic. – I didn’t do as much with this as I wanted but naturally traffic still grew a bit. I’m hoping next year I can do more with this.
• Clean up my eating/quit binge eating. –  Therapy for binge eating really helped me accomplish this since I haven’t binged for a few months now. Major win.
• Get married and have the best wedding ever. – Best success of the year I think. I loved our wedding – it was the happiest most fun wedding! (some wedding photos)

Not Accomplished

• Learn to sew. – Can watching episodes of Project Runway count? No? I can hand sew and repair some of Kepa’s clothes this year but I’m still looking for an opportunity to use a machine. I underestimated the cost of a basic sewing machine so I haven’t bought one yet but do plan to save up and get one.
• Run a 5k. - Nope. I stopped running after the beginning of the year
• Cook my way through a cookbook. – I started this with Green Lite Bites cookbook but then learned I was having problems with dairy and then I moved and the cook a cookbook idea didn’t happen.
• Ride 2011 miles on my bike. – Not even close really. I stopped counting when I moved to Memphis because I didn’t have a bike there. Not being able to bike for 6 months of the year meant I had no possible way to finish this one!

Not bad overall! I consider it a pretty successful year when I have accomplished more goals than not.

And since I like using these types of goals to set up my year and what I’m striving for, here are my goals for the new year!

2012 Goals

1. Pay off my remaining student loans as part of plan to be debt free.
2. Prepare myself physically (weight in control + active) , mentally (prepared for birth and taking care of baby) and financially (debt paid off + money saved for baby expenses) for eventual pregnancy.
3. Achieve a healthier weight (part of goal #2) and body composition.
   
4. Buy a sewing machine and learn to sew clothes (seriously!).
5. Read 52+ books. Read at least 1 book per month for health + fitness.
6. Do a cartwheel!

That’s it! I’m actually not setting a ton of year long goals but a couple on there a MAJOR ones that will require a lot of work and dedication.I want to focus on those things and knock them out of the park this year rather than try doing a lot of other little things.

Then there is the fun one of doing a cartwheel which I haven’t done for years. I don’t remember the last time I did a cartwheel but I was probably around 11 years old. I can’t wait to do one again!

What are your goals for the new year?

1. 2011 Goals Check In {4}
2. 2011 Goals Check In {1}
3. Goals for 2011
4. 2011 Goals Check In {2}
5. 2011 Halfway Goals Update