Baby Steps

New Year's Resolutions. Most people make them, few people stick to them. It's easy to get caught up in the hype of the new year, and want to change all kinds of things in your life--job, family, health, etc., and then the novelty wears off after only about 2 months. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with making resolutions, because honestly, aren't they really just personal goals? Goals are ALWAYS a good thing to work towards. But, most often change does not happen overnight. It takes time, effort, dedication, persistence and sacrifice. If you set a lofty goal, it may seem overwhelming to achieve. It's best to start with a small goal and work towards a bigger goal with having small goals as steps. As Bob so wisely says in the video above, "Baby steps."

 One of my biggest resolutions is to get fit and have a more toned body, overall. Now, for those of you that know me, I am only about 115lbs soaking wet, and a HUGE couch potato. I have a gold medal in the couch potato olympics. And I HATE working out. I took tai chi about a year ago for several months, and I really liked it, but it just was too expensive for me to maintain. And I just couldn't get into it for myself, and for the right reasons.

I'll admit it, I am a hard worker when it comes to my job and getting things done, but when I get home, I am pretty lazy. I do a lot of pretty sedentary activities in my free time, including reading, crafting, watching movies, and playing video games. So this is going to be a HUGE lifestyle change for me. And really, any exercise I begin to participate in is better than what I currently do, which is nothing. The weird thing is that I was super active when I was younger. In elementary school alone, I played basketball, softball, and volleyball, and then I did dance and tennis in high school. There just were not any sports I was super interested in playing, and if there were, there was nobody around for me to play or practice with.

I know that the positives that will come from working out will be so great for me. Better cardio, more energy, better joint health, etc. From a practical standpoint, I need to have good cardio so I can survive a zombie apocalypse. I signed up for the gym on Monday, January 7th. I went that night for about an hour and a half. Afterwards, I felt pretty great. I wasn't actually even that sore the next day, which also was pretty great. I am going to try to go at least 3 days a week. Right now, 5 days a week is a bit lofty for me, but maybe I can work my way up to that. I just don't want to burn out on the gym or grow to resent it taking up my free time. Baby steps! I also have a really nice bike that is just collecting dust and cobwebs in the basement. I need to bust that out when the weather gets nicer, because I love riding my bike.

Here are some of my other goals for the year. They are not super specific, because they can be brought about in many ways:

1) Get toned
2) Further my career goals
3) Save some money
4) Blog at least 100 posts throughout the year
5) Make some travel plans not in conjunction with a hemophilia event

What are YOUR new year's resolutions or goals?