36 in 2013 - Go big or go home!

I am a HUGE fan of goal-setting! One tip that I picked up from listening to Dean Dwyer's podcast on Stitcher Radio is to start small. If you want to be a stand up comic, start by telling jokes to groups of friends (good friends - the kind that will NOT laugh politely at un-funny stuff!) & slowly work your way up to going to amateur nights etc. Starting out with the big steps means that it is much easier to fail, and much more difficult to recover from.

So, in the spirit of starting small (while still going big?), I'm going to be picking a minimum of 3 goals for each month of 2013. I have to stick with the goal until the end of the month, at which point I can continue it if I want to, but I"m not obligated. Here are my ideas so far:

Smaller Goals:

- Complete all homework at least one week in advance

- Do the Whole30 and/or 21 day sugar detox

- Use Paleo Trail to track food daily

- Wake up early

- Prioritize quality sleep

- Learn Sewing Basics [Home Ec studio or Sew Hut]

- Go through my entire wardrobe & sell unworn/unwanted clothing

- Finish and practice Success Principles & Loving What Is

- Spending freeze on alternating months: Jan, Mar, May, July, Sept, Nov

        -Exemptions: Travel plans Jan 18-21 limited to food and fun experiences

- Call Crossfit Invictus to schedule a time to check it out

- Try one workout from Pinterest board per month

- Only go on FB with a purpose, or occasionally to see what others are up to

- Don't eat soy products. [Starting now, keeping it going as long as I can!]

- I am thankful for _____. Today, I accomplished _____. [Complete as often as I can before bed]

- Learn more about blogging.

- Pay for professional layout.

- If cleaning up my diet doesn't improve my skin, I will go see Dr. Noel.

- No Shampoo for all of January!

I've been using the baking soda/vinegar route since 12/27, and I can't lie - it is a bit rough to get used to! I'm not comfortable being in public if my hair is still wet because the vinegar smell is present until it dries, but it's not too bad. Today I went to work with it wet, because I simply ran out of time! The main differences I have noticed include needing to wash it more often because it's getting greasy faster, and it's fairly dull. I'm sticking with it for all of January to let my scalp adjust and hopefully it'll work out!

     

Year-long Goals:

- Break Habits:

       Crossing legs

       Speaking negatively/Making fun of others

- Improve Posture

- Use Paleo Trail to track food

- Make Random Acts of Kindness a part of my life [Started this already! I had a gift card for a coffee shop, so  I ordered my coffee, handed the card over & when he tried handing it back to me I told him to keep it and pay for other people's orders! He looked at me like I was nuts but it felt amazing!]

- Push my comfort zone

- Happiness/Positivity Jar Project! [I found this one on Pinterest - shocker! Throughout the year you write down good/happy events & experiences and put them in the jar. At the end of the year you open it and go through it all.]

At this point, I'm committed to Whole30 for all of January so that's the number 1 goal. I will be using Paleo Trail to keep me on track (and maybe identify any problem causing foods?). I sent in a request for more info about Invictus last week (I'm anxious just THINKING about it!!), which is far, far outside of my comfort zone. I haven't heard back from them, so I'll be reaching out to them in February. Doing the Whole30 in January is going to be rough enough without adding that to it!

January Goals

- Whole30

- Paleo Trail

- Push my comfort zone

I'm planning on coming up with additional goals as needed throughout the year, which works out since they will be relevant! You may be wondering why I didn't make this a 26 by 26 or 30 by 30 list. I don't have anything against them - in fact I think a 30 by 30 sounds awesome! Maybe that will be what I tackle next? A sort of a bucket list. I chose 36 in 2013 because 3 tasks per month seemed like a good number.

So, this is my second day of super clean eating, and the only thing I am suffering from is lack of caffiene! I decided to do a combo of the Whole30 and the 21 day sugar detox, as well as giving up coffee. I don't think coffee is bad on it's own, but I end up running behind schedule and stopping at Starbucks instead of making my own. This is bad because if I'm at Starbucks, the only thing I want is a soy latte, and first of all it's soy, second it's vanilla soy so I know it's full of sugar + additives.

I tend to be an in for a penny, in for a pound type so I figured if I'm limiting my food options, I may as well go big or go home!!

Coincidences

Some people declare with the utmost certainty that there is no such thing

as a coincidence. I don't know that I fall unequivocally into this

category, but I'm not too far from it! I believe that everything happens

for a reason. You are meant to learn some lesson, or meet someone, or have

a life-changing experience with every encounter you have.

A few years ago, I received an email that was very clearly a forwarded

receipt for a pattern someone had purchased, with a question for the

vendor. The only problem is that I have never sold a pattern in my life!

However, a very nice lady by the name of Vanessa Christenson sells them by

the bushel! And we share the same email address with a one letter variance.

I emailed the woman right back to let her know of her mistake and then

wandered over to this woman's blog.

I mean, if she's awesome enough to practically share my name, I want to

know more about her! The coincidences seemed to pile up by the minute, both

of us from southern California, she was living in Iowa at the time which is

where my family is originally from, and she was married to a military man

[I was dating a military man at the time]. I emailed her on a lark and we

had a quick little email chat. Overall, it was a pleasant, interesting

interaction.

Her blog is of the crafty variety. Over the next few years, I

started to get closer to my wonderful grandmother who is an expert

seamstress [side note: Grandma wanted to be a clothing designer, but then

got married and raised kids instead.] and learned a very very little bit

about patterns, etc. Fast forward to the last few months. Sadly, Grandma's

eyesight has deteriorated so that she is unable to sew and graciously

gifted me with her beloved Bernina [henceforth known as Bernie the Bernina!

I know, my originality astounds you!]. I have no excuse not to find the

time to learn how to use Bernie, especially considering the curtains that

desperately need hemming in my room! If I step on them one more time

and pull the wire out of the wall I don't think my dad will help me put it

in again!!

I also recently developed the resolve to start blogging for reals. It's a

scary thought - putting your thoughts and yourself out there for all

to judge! Through a work project, I found the motivation to start this blog

- or so I thought! Turns out, I loved brainstorming, but was so scared I

was having a really tough time actually getting started.

Then I get this picture message on my cell phone from a number I don't

recognize, and I automatically think how funny would it be if that were the

same fabric Vanessa designed for Moda!

I took a closer look and what do you know! I took that as the universe saying Hey! We could use some of your perspective out here in the good ole interwebs so get your butt in gear!