Goals…Not Resolutions

I learned a long time ago that new year’s resolutions and I, we don’t play so well together. So I make goals.  Goals are more lenient I think, than absolute resolutions.  I thought I’d follow the going trend and share what I’m hoping to accomplish in 2017!

Good health.  I’ve told myself that my birthday present to myself is good health, and to lose 37 pounds in my 37th year.  I have a lot more than that to lose, but 37 is my goal.  (I’ll have a post in the next week or so about how I’m planning on giving myself the boost (AKA kick in the ass) I need to get in gear!

Reduce procrastination.  As I’ve mentioned, I’m the biggest procrastinator I know.  It’s really awful and it has to stop.  I need to start making to-do lists, and creating deadlines for myself, and then adhering to them!  This would eliminate so much stress from my lift, and create so much more, ‘order’, if you will.  Yep – this week, I’m going to buy a notebook especially for this task.  It’s settled!

Clean up the rest of my debts, finish repairing my credit, and start some serious savings.  I really don’t have that far to go in order to do the first, which in turn would take care of the second.  I just have to bare down and get it done…a follow-through with the last goal will ensure this happens.  As for the savings, I’ve already started, but I need to kick it up a few notches and get Hubby involved!

Execute the garden I’m so diligently planning.  It’s all find and good to write about what I want to plant, and to put it all down on paper – it’s another story altogether to actually make it happen.  For the last few years I’ve dreamed of beautiful gardens…it’s time to make it real!

Learn, and put into practice, a few different methods of food preservation – and preserve most of what I grow.  I have a brand new canning bath I’ve never used, I’m thinking of starting that way and then maybe attempting pressure canning once I’ve got the first method mastered.  I’m also hoping to build myself a DIY dehydrator, and/or learn to dehydrate fruits and vegetables in my oven.  I’d prefer the DIY version however, as it’s much more in line with my self-sufficient off-grid dream.  The ultimate goal here is to preserve enough produce (either my own, or purchased at local farmer’s markets) to be able to officially stop purchasing produce from conventional grocery stores.

I’m sure there will be more goals popping up as the year creeps along – but I’m going to keep it as it is for the time being.  I have a tendency to get overwhelmed and give up, and the plan is to avoid that at all cost.  Keeping the list short will help.

What are your goals and plans for the year ahead?  I’d love to hear them!!!