New Year's Resolutions

My 2016 New Year’s Resolutions

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION TIME! Every year since I started Inspiralized, I’ve shared my New Year’s...

New Year's Resolutions

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION TIME!

Every year since I started Inspiralized, I’ve shared my New Year’s resolutions.

Some people make resolutions every day and they don’t need the New Year to make resolutions. For some, the first of the year is a monumental time for change.

For me, it’s just another way to realign my goals. I realign my goals every few months, but there’s something extra rejuvenating about the first of a whole new year.

First, I like to reflect on last year’s resolutions before making 2016 resolutions, in case any will carry over.

Here are 2014 and 2015‘s resolutions. Let’s look at 2015:

1. Be more organized. I could have been better, but I definitely made strides in the right direction.2. Focus on my daily to-do lists. Yes, I was a slave to Evernote (what a life saver it was in 2015!)
3. Don’t overcommit, it’s okay to not have plans. I RSVPd no to a lot, and I’m continuing to work on this. Somewhere halfway through 2015, someone told me, “If it’s not a “hell yes!” it’s a no.”
4. Be more polished. I invested more time in my wardrobe, accessorizing and maintaining an organized living space, which has helped me feel more polished.
5. Do things that foster my creativity. I started InspiralizedAli.com as an outlet for this, but then I got bombarded with my second cookbook’s manuscript, so I had to put it on hold. I’m looking forward to starting it over again in 2016! However, I definitely want to roll this resolution over to 2016, because I could’ve done a better job.

My 2016 New Year’s Resolutions

1. Spend more time with my girlfriends. It’s hard to find balance when you own a business you’re so emotionally invested in. This year, I want to stay more in tuned with my friends’ lives and make more of an effort. I cherish those friendships so much (I’ve known my core girlfriends since pre-school!)

2. Become a morning person. This is the year that I become a morning person! Starting January 4th (the first Monday of the New Year), I’ll be waking up early and starting my day at 7am instead of 8am. That 1-hour change will result in 5 more hours in the work week! Imagine what I could do with 5 hours! At least 2 days during the week, I’d also like to fit in morning workouts. I can’t wait to see how my productivity levels improve by waking up early! Besides, most successful people rise early.

3. Stop beating myself up for not making it to the gym. I’m finally at peace with my body – I’m proud of it and I stopped saying critical things about it (even in jest!) That was thanks to the fit journey I went on the past year or so. However, if I can’t fit in a workout, I tend to feel really guilty and shameful. This is such bad energy! Instead of having these feelings, I’m going to refocus that energy on making healthy diet choices to balance out the missed workout. Simple as that!

4. Take more time for myself. Even though I’m alone every day working from home on Inspiralized, that’s not time for me – that’s time for my business. I want to take more time for me, whether that’s going for daily walks or going to a coffee shop and reading for 30 minutes.

5. Finally find a cause to support long term. The non-profits I’ve always turned to are the American Diabetes Association (because my mother is a Type 1 diabetic) and hunger-oriented organizations such as City Harvest or No Kid Hungry. This year, I want to truly invest in a cause and make the effort to become a part of the change.

Happy New Year to you all! Have an absolute blast ringing in the New Year and I’ll see you in 2016!!

So tell me, what are some of your New Year’s resolutions?

with love, Ali

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comments

  • Great resolutions! I do always chuckle a little when people say they want to be morning people, but I was "blessed" (for better or for worse) with an internal clock that wakes me up around 6:30 - 7 a.m. every day, even on the weekends! Maybe I should resolve to try and sleep IN until 8 on most days in 2016. ;-) My resolutions involve sticking to a more regular workout routine and integrating more strength routines into it, working on more recipe development for my own blog (my ultimate goal is to write a cookbook, someday!), traveling to a new city in the U.S. that I haven't been to before (I've been to the Caribbean and to Europe, but have barely left the Northeast!), and saving money! Like, actually put it into a savings account instead of letting it all float around my checking account. Haha. Here's to a great 2016! :-)
    • These are great! Traveling more is always an awesome goal. Thanks for sharing with us, Allison!
  • I have a few: 1) Cook More (your recipes make this so much easier.. and the last quarter of 2015 has been GREAT), 2) Make lunch, 3) Try new things (join a new club, try a new sport.. use meetup.com for a lot of this), 4) Similar to yours... don't beat myself up for missing a work out. I'm a Barre Instructor so I have no excuse to miss those workouts, but when I miss a run? Or skip cardio after barre? It's bad. I can do it, but the shame needs to stop. I'm loving and using Brene Brown books for this. Repeat: I am enough!!! Thanks for sharing your resolutions and for being such an inspiration to us, Ali. Your are hands down my favorite blogger and most relatable by a land side. Thank you.
    • This is fabulous, Hillary! Thank you for sharing your resolutions with us.
  • Love all these! One of mine is definitely to wake up earlier and go to sleep earlier to feel more refreshed and get better sleep. My biggest goal is to stop wasting so much time - sit down for a couple hours each day to work on my stuff so I'm not going back to it little by little every day. Wishing you the best 2016!
  • Love the attainable goals! Mine are to get out of my credit card debt (it was a rough year, but I want to put it behind me), run a sub 10min mile half marathon, climb Mt Rainier (and several other peaks as training! That in and of itself will be daunting), continue working towards my masters (and apply to a concrete program in the fall), lead hikes for my hiking group at least once a month (gotta give back!) and continue eating healthy and working out to get to my goal weight. Happy New Year!
  • I want to run in at least 6 different 5K races this year, and get in the top three in my age group at least once! I've been 4th twice now, it's gonna happen!!
  • I love your resolutions! My main goal for 2016 is to keep working on my website and try to improve my content and photography skills. By the way, I LOOOOVED your interview with Food Blogger Pro. They have the best, most informative, interviews and yours was one of my favs! I swear we are so similar, which is why I love following your journey. I used to work at upscale hotels too. Before I went to culinary school I went to a regular university and got a degree in hotel and restaurant management. I used to meet so many celebrities on a daily basis at that job (uggghhh...why didn't I network more back then?!). I also love Evernote. It's the only password I make sure to remember otherwise I'd be lost because I put EVERYTHING in Evernote!! And I had to teach myself Indesign to make my ecookbook too. I've been doing everything by myself & it is very overwhelming at times. You are very inspiring. Thank you for helping us little bloggers by being so open and sharing all that you've done to become successful. I am going to take the advice you said in the podcast and maybe make order some tote bags and shirts with my logo and website for friends and family to use. Maybe that'll help get me more exposure. I wish you many many many more decades of success and happiness. I hope you have a great New Year and Year 2016!! :)
    • Sounds like you are passionate and motivated and will continue to have success with Barely Vegan!! I'll definitely be following along - and thanks for all the kind words! Happy 2016!
  • Love #3! I've finally gotten to the point where I am okay with missing workouts and not beating myself up over it. I will instead approach it the way you plan : get in more fruits and veggies and drink more water! Better diet choices can make all the difference in how you feel! At least I have found that for me. I still need to sit down and think about some of my goals for 2016. One I've kept thinking about is startingto practice yoga/meditation. Its something I keep thinking about about I think it is about time I just start! I also want to get up earlier and devote those first 10 minutes in the morning to stretching. I have such tight muscles and I don't make time to stretch and roll them out enough! Thanks for sharing your goals with us Ali! :) Happy New Year!
  • 2015 quite frankly has been the worst year of my life. I lost a job I ADORED, I lost the apartment that I ADORED. I've yet to find a job, unemployment has run out, there has been death, financial ruin and then add a massive weight gain to top it all off because I was self-medicating. I don't know where I am going to begin, but I come here to enjoy the company of like-minded people. This spot always makes me feel better. Reading this today has lifted my spirits. I guess the journey begins with one step right? My first step begins today. I will not feel sorry for myself. I refuse.
  • I've been following Ali for about 5 months now, after buying a Spiralizer (not yours, sorry!) from Williams & Sonoma. They actually told me about your website/blog! After starting the Whole 30 eating plan the beginning of July, 2015, I've dumped 15 pounds (for good!), have discovered lots of new veggies and fruit concoctions, coconut milk and am having fun creating in the kitchen. So many of your recipes are fun, easy and delicious! So I guess I want 2016 to be a continuation of what I started in mid 2015. And I'd like to add in more hikes, as I live in beautiful Colorado! Thanks for your energy and inspiration, Ali. You're the best! Kathie
  • Just thought I would mention a couple of good causes you may not have heard of if you are looking for something to support: https://www.sendacow.org/ which provides animals for families in developing countries who then use the dung to grow more veg that they can eat and sell the surplus to fund schooling for the kids, then they pass the animal's offspring to another family who can do the same - simple and brilliant! Another great cause is http://www.kiva.org/ which doesn't even cost money as you provide micro loans to people in developing countries which get paid back! Small ways to make a huge difference! All the best and Happy New Year!
  • 2016 Resolution: Eat more plant food. A great program in repeat airings on PBS is "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan, who urges us to eat more plant-based foods. Excellent news for spiralizers. Happiest New Year to Ali and your allies! Nancy
  • Over here for the first time as I just listened to the Food Blogger Pro podcast. So inspired by your episode and the whole series. Really going to put some of the lessons learned into action this year. My resolution is 'focus' and I really related to the "schedule your priorities, not prioritise your schedule". Happy New Year.