Goals for the Coming Year

Well, the holidays came and went and totally wiped me out.  Thankfully though, I was totally prepared (it was the kids that wiped me out!).  Following Household Management 101's Stress Free Holiday Series helped tremendously.  I was able to relax and get everything done at a reasonable pace.  No last minute rushing out to buy anything and I was able to avoid stores for the few days before Christmas.  Ah, simple.

Now if I can just keep up that level of preparedness through the next year.  A very good reason to follow Home Storage Solutions 101's 52 Weeks to an Organized Home.  The weekly challenges are great and you can hop in at any time.

I want very much to continue our family's simplicity challenge well into the next year.  We're doing ok and we've made some changes, but there's much more room for improvement.  I really want this to change our lives.  I want there to be a constant state of simplicity in our home.  Not an ebb and flow like it seems to be lately.  So now's the time to set goals for the coming year.  I'm sure I'll adjust these as needed, but here's what I'm leaning towards as the end of 2011 approaches:

• Sleep schedules will be a high priority.  Bedtime rules are going to be more fully enforced, for both kids AND adults.  There will be no staying awake until the wee hours and we will eliminate the rush to get ready in the morning.  We did ok with this for a little while, but it's probably the most difficult thing for us as a family.  It needs to be adjusted.  Getting enough sleep and starting our day off right sets the tone for the entire day, and quite possibly the entire week.
• We will continue our household purge.  If we want to bring something new into the house, that probably means it's time for something else to be donated or thrown away.
• Exercise will be important to us.  We all know that we feel better when we've been working out consistently.  It will be scheduled into weekly activities just like an appointment would be.
• We will eliminate areas of stress as much as possible.  This one is tricky - yes, parenting is stressful, work is stressful, but those are things that can't be eliminated.  But everyone has something in their life that doesn't need to be there and can be eliminated.  Think about it.  What stresses you out and can easily be changed?  For me, it's our pets.  I love animals and so do the kids, but they have become a huge source of stress for me.  Right now, the plan is to give away our guinea pigs and help our indoor cats become indoor/outdoor cats.  Our cats have made it quite clear that they are no longer happy with being kept indoors and I refuse to live in the filth that they are creating because of it.  I love our cats, but I will love them even more if I'm not constantly smelling cat urine in a closet or bathroom, or finding cat feces hidden in various places in my laundry room.

As it stands, I'm going back to school in a few weeks.  Keeping our lives simple yet fulfilling is going to be very important as I adjust to having homework and needing study time.  I'm excited for this next year, but I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't nervous.  I'm nervous about doing well, about the financial side of it, and about keeping our home life from falling into pieces.  My husband told me that he has noticed that I have such a big fear about failing that I either hide from things or massively over-do it.  Personally, I guess my New Year's Resolution is to take life one step at a time and build personal confidence while doing it.

2012 is going to be a big year for us.  I can feel it.  As a family, I know we can get to where we want to be lifestyle-wise if we just keep working at it.  I invite you to join us.  If you've been craving simplicity in your own life, now is the time.  No need to jump in and drastically change your lifestyle.  Just take some time to really assess your life and what you want from it.  Now how do you think you can get there?  What little changes can you make that will make your life easier?  Don't worry about the big changes yet.  Just take it one step at a time and let the change happen naturally.  If something isn't working, try something else.  There's always a way to make your life better.  Let's have 2012 be a happy and fulfilling year, shall we?