My Goals: 2015

It’s 3 weeks since my premature baby’s homecoming, and I’m finally getting a bit of sleep. Josiah has made huge progress this past week in adjusting to life at home and despite my current whopping case of mastitis, breastfeeding is getting easier.

Things were very stressful for a couple of weeks, and I went to some pretty dark places in my mind.

Noone tells you how hard it is once your preemie is home from the hospital, and I was definitely unprepared for the fact that Breastfeeding a Preemie is Not For the Faint of Heart. Thankfully, I know what I’m doing, so with a whole lot of stubbornness on my part and a little creative genius, he’s 100% on the breast now. (Upcoming post: How I Saved Our Breastfeeding Relationship With a $2.50 Oral Irrigator. Stay tuned!)

Now that I’m actually sleeping enough to feel like a human being, I can start thinking about my goals again (because as I said here, basic self-care trumps self-actualization).

I wrote here about a goal-setting prompt my family used and promised to post my answers to those questions. So here goes.

This year, I want to learn: en plus francais

This is a continuation of last year’s goal to learn French. I did well with this, practicing daily, until Josiah was born. I need to get back on track.

I want to read: fewer books, with more intention. More reading aloud to the kids. Continue daily Bible reading

As I reviewed the list of books I read last year, I realized that at least half of them had no real impact on my life. I’m going to pick books more carefully this year, abandon them if they don’t grab me by page 39, and spend more time reading aloud. I’m proud of how well I did with Bible reading last year. My progress was slow (I’m only in Proverbs) but steady.

I want to make: my home a place that reflects our family’s values

I realize this goal is a little hard to measure, and I’m still working to define (at least, on paper) what our family values are. I think a family meeting is in order for this one. I do know that the Nesting Place, one of my favorite books last year, has inspired me to be unapologetic about my decorating style and choices. And I’ve been thinking lately about routines and rituals that will serve my family. More on that later.

I want to visit: more local attractions, especially outdoor ones

Hubby and I have been working on being more purposeful with our weekend planning. We usually have a conversation mid-week about what fun things we want to do that weekend. I have a book full of local attractions, most of them I’ve never seen! I have a ton of pages dog-eared and would like to tackle those one by one. Outdoor spaces are important, because for the first few months of our preemie’s life, we have been instructed to avoid crowds and indoor places.

I want to change: my phone habits

I’m not a big phone addict, but while I was in the hospital I developed the bad habit of using my phone a lot at night. I’ve set a 7:30 cutoff time for myself, and also downloaded an app to track my phone usage. Every time I go to unlock my phone, it prompts me to think again. According to the app, I rate low on the addiction scale, which is good, but I want to get better.

I want to be better at: listening to my gut and having courage

I made some difficult personal decisions this year. Having a preemie has changed me – I’ve found a courage I didn’t know I had – and made me sensitive to the fact that for most of my life, I have operated with too much fear. I’ve been working on changing this. One aspect of it is speaking out, in the moment, when I’m uncomfortable with something or when my boundaries are being stomped.

Most of all I want: to remember who I was when I was 11, to do what I love and minimize or eliminate the rest

In some ways, I’m already doing this. When I was young, I dreamed of being a writer. I’m doing that. But I want to dig deeper into this. I keep seeing this theme over and over again in personal development circles: that discovering who you are is mostly about peeling back the layers to see who you WERE as a child. What do you think about that?

In upcoming posts, I’ll talk more about these goals and the progress I’m making.

Did you make new goals this year? Please share below!