Five Guidelines for 2017

January 6, 2017
linkup

A new year, a new blank slate… and tons of opportunities to set up goals and resolutions. Or not.

I didn’t really set a lot of ‘set in stone’ goals for myself in 2016 (and I surely did not post them on the blog for you all to judge me by, ha!), but I did have a few – let’s call them – guidelines. Some of them I set up at the beginning of the year, some came about during the year (or were something I’ve had in the back of my mind for a while).

Run more miles than in 2015. Completed. I ran 424 miles (682 km)  in 2015 and my goal was to run more in 2016. When I passed that goal in September, I set myself another goal for the end of the year: 1000k (622 miles).

Run a half marathon. Completed. And it was awesome.  

Read 12 books. Completed. I actually read 13. Amazing, isn’t it? Haha.  I know my reading goals are humble these days, but hey, I am keeping at it. It counts for something.

Go back to yoga. Nope. I don’t know why I keep talking about it, if I don’t follow through, but here we are. I didn’t go to yoga this year (or maybe once or twice? I don’t even remember.) I really want to get back into a routine where yoga is part of the workout mix, but with the few time slots my gym is offering, I haven’t figured out a good plan. Maybe in 2017.

Write more snail mail. Kinda. I am really good about the Christmas card thing (as some of you may know) and I have sent a few letters this year, but otherwise it’s been a bit of a struggle. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I don’t find the time to sit down and write a longer letter in a single sitting… and I hate going back to it again and again to finish. Then it feels like I want to start all over again. I often opt for longer emails (and blogging, obviously).

frifive2

I am kinda going to start 2017 in the same fashion and I am linking up with  Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five 2.0 Linkup to share goals, resolutions, or other things I am looking forward to in the new year!

1. Fill a jar with notes of happiness. This is something I’ve seen floating around the Interwebs last year already, but this year, I want to actually do it. Get an empty mason jar and jot down one good, happy thing every week. Actually both J and I will do that, and then we’ll read 104 happy messages next New Year’s Eve.

2. Run 1000 miles. I ran 1000km last year, now let’s raise the bar a little bit. 1600 km should be doable, am I right?

3. Cross train. This goes hand-in-hand with my running goal. I know, I need to do more cross-training and I will try (really hard) to incorporate this into my workout routine.

4. Read 25 books. I really wanted to up the ante and set a higher goal for this year, but I also don’t want to set myself up for failure. So I am keeping my goal at 2 books/month (which will be a challenge for me already, but I am committing to it). I can always surpass my goal, if I want to. So far, I am on track – haha.

5. Invest some time in my Etsy shop. Am I setting myself up for failure here already with all these lofty goals that all require (extra) time that I didn’t seem to have in 2016? I don’t know, but since the Etsy shop is just a hobby and I don’t rely on income from it, I am hoping that purposefully  not putting pressure on myself and the mere “fun factor” of the whole thing will keep me creative and emotionally invested (does reverse psychology even work?). I know that I’ll go through phases when it comes to creativity and time to work on new things and that’s okay.

Let’s see how 2017 shapes up and what other ambitions I can come up with during the year.
What are some of your goals?

  1. Laurentheanimal

    January 6, 2017 at 1:12 pm

    Re: your cross-training goals (and difficulty getting back into in-studio yoga), have you tried Yoga With Adriene? She does free yoga videos on YouTube, as well as some pay-what-you-will programs and videos on her website. I had a lot of trouble with in-studio classes, and I hate workout videos but I really like everything about Adriene: teaching style, voice, mannerisms, etc. She even has “yoga for runners” and things like that. If you’re interested in any kind of yoga practice or in using yoga to cross-train, it might be worth trying out a few of her videos!

    Congratulations on your 2016 accomplishments, and good luck on your 2017 goals! <3

    1. san

      January 7, 2017 at 12:53 pm

      Ah thanks for the recommendation. I will definitely check Yoga with Adriene out. I am just not so good with home workouts and prefer to have to be somewhere at a certain time, but maybe if I self-discipline myself a bit… ?! ;)
      Happy new year to you too, friend.

  2. Rachel

    January 6, 2017 at 5:16 pm

    I think these are great — and very achievable — goals.Go get that 1,000 miles!

    1. san

      January 7, 2017 at 12:53 pm

      Thank you. I am trying to be ‘realistic’ as much as I can ;)

  3. Andrea

    January 6, 2017 at 5:42 pm

    I like the idea of filling a glass with notes of happiness!
    Thanks for the idea, I will set one up for our family! I think it will be great to see what made us happy through the year!!!

    1. san

      January 7, 2017 at 12:54 pm

      Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment :) I loved the idea with the mason jar myself and hope we’ll be able to keep it up until the end of the year :)

  4. Fairytales and Fitness

    January 7, 2017 at 10:04 am

    You make a great point here, when the new year rolls around everyone seems to think that they are going to suddenly have more extra time on their hands to accomplish more things than they did the year before….haha. Thanks for keeping it real!

    I love the fact that you still send snail mail. I only did a few Christmas cards this year but I definitely could have done more. I felt bad about it for a minute.

    Thanks for linking up!

    1. san

      January 7, 2017 at 12:55 pm

      I know, right? It’s not like all of a sudden we have unlimited amount of extra time to get everything accomplished, but we always try ;)

      Thanks for stopping by! ;)

  5. Tobia | craftaliciousme

    January 7, 2017 at 10:46 am

    Yeah for goals!
    I love your #1. I was thinking about doing it but I already write daily in my journal about all the happy and thankful things so I don’t need to put them in a jar.
    I also have a goal to write more snail mail. I was pretty good in 2015 and everyone received a birthday card. I didn’t write it down as a goal in 2016 and … no card at all. So today I made some postcards to get ready for the first birthdays.
    Good luck with all your goals and I really am impressed with you running goals. I opt for walking…
    Happy weekend, Tobia

    1. san

      January 7, 2017 at 12:57 pm

      I love the idea of a bullet journal… maybe I should try that too (I haven’t really looked into it enough – is it complicated to keep up?

      Seems like ‘writing something down as a goal’ works for you, so put the Birthday cards back on your list – haha ;)

  6. Joy

    January 7, 2017 at 4:09 pm

    Great goals! I love the idea of filling up a jar with notes of happiness! I need to think about doing that one. I don’t normally pick goals for myself at the beginning of the year because I feel like it is similar to making resolutions. I saw one of your goals last year was to do more snail mail. That needs to be a goal of mine. I used to love writing letters when I was younger. I had at least 2-3 pen pals at any given time. Over the years, my letter writing has lessened considerably including writing thank you notes. I want to get back to doing it more. I love receiving letter but in order to receive letters, I need to write more! This year, for me, I want to maintain my weight loss. That is number one on my list. I had a huge weight loss last year and now that I am close to my goal, I need to maintain it. I would also love to get back to exercising consistently whether it be walking, doing some weights or something else. Thanks for sharing your goals!

  7. Susie @ SuzLyfe

    January 8, 2017 at 5:07 am

    Go after those miles! I’ll lend you some of mine :D I have found that I have loved reading on the cardio machines. I think my goal this year will be to read a few more “important” books, vs fun books. I also want to cook a real recipe each week. And keep using my slow cooker!

  8. Chrissy

    January 8, 2017 at 9:49 am

    I love the idea of a notes of happiness jar! I might make one for Leonie, so she can add her favorite moments. I started my first bullet journal and so far it’s going good.
    Happy Sunday xxx

  9. Stephany

    January 8, 2017 at 11:49 am

    You could always try listening to an audiobook while you’re running or cross-training or working on your Etsy shop. This way, you still meet your 2 book/month goal WHILE working on your other goals. Two birds, one stone, and all that. :) Your library’s Overdrive app will have audiobooks to download for free (’cause audiobooks by themselves can be so pricey!)

  10. Lisa of Lisa's Yarns

    January 10, 2017 at 1:47 pm

    Good luck with your goals! You put together a great list as the goals touch various areas of your life from running to reading to crafting! I set fewer goals in 2017 because I know the year will be busy with wedding planning and heavy work travel in the first half of the year. I always set a fairly low bar for reading because I don’t want it to be about quantity. That way I can read super long books and not feel like it will put me behind! Although a low bar for me is 52 which is a super high bar for most people!!

  11. Sam @ Sam S Runs

    January 16, 2017 at 12:11 pm

    Nice goals for the year! I also have the 1,000 miles goal. Lets hit it together!

    1. san

      January 17, 2017 at 6:57 pm

      Awesome. Let’s do it! ;)

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