New Year, More Polished Version of the Same Me

I’ve never kept any of my New Years Resolutions. Ever. From quitting smoking to losing weight to a regimented exercise routine my good intentions either don’t get off the ground or fall flat on their face very quickly.

On top of that I really dislike the sentiment New Year, New Me. I like the old me. The old me has done me fine the past thirty three years. The old me has grown and developed over said thirty three years, it wasn’t a complete ephiany in 2004 (or any other year) where the new me evolved. I am a work in progress and I suspect it will stay that way until I die. Growing a little wiser each year.

So, no, 2016 is not New Year, New Me. I am starting off this year with the mantra

New Year, More Polished Version of the Same Me

I intend to keep pushing myself to achieve all I want to achieve. I intend to set myself goals. And I certainly intend to take a leaf out of Katy’s book and make some Rememberlutions though possibly a little less creatively and a little more journal like as I do not have the ability to transfer the vision in my head to reality.

With all that in mind, my goals, rather than resolutions, are as follows.

Eat a healthier diet – but still indulge in the bad food that I love

With a diet of sleep deprivation it’s been easy to cook for convenience rather than health but as blood pressure issues creep up on us, as well as setting an example to the boys, it is my goal to cook up some healthier meals. Less salt. Less saturated fat. Less refined sugar. More vegetables. More fruits.

I also know that I will crave a McDonalds now and then. That take away night will call my name. That I’ll want to indulge in a glass (or 3) of wine.

A photo posted by Laura | Life with Baby Kicks (@laura_babykicks) on Oct 1, 2015 at 11:25pm PDT

And that’s OK too.

Run more regularly – but not best myself up when I lapse

I started with my #MilesforMAMA with the best of intentions, ran religiously for two weeks. Stopped for two weeks. Ran, stopped, ran, stopped. The last time I ran was in November where I fell over midway through, limped home and haven’t run since.

It’s something I need to make a habit of doing so that it is just something I do. It’s also a pastime that I need to book myself an actual run so I have a goal to work towards.

But I also know that during the year there will be days, weeks and months where I don’t want to do anything. And might not do anything.

And that’s OK too.

Get blog organised – but know that winging it has worked so far

2016 is the year of the blog. It’s the year where I see what, and where, I can take my little corner of the internet.

2015 saw me start my blog and some incredible opportunities come from it. It saw my social media start at nothing and grow to 6,000 followers across various platforms. It saw me get published on the Huffington Post, on Sassy Mama Dubai.

It gave me confidence.

So 2016 I’d like to be more organised. Schedule posts in advance. Know what is happening and when rather than scrambling round. But I know that despite best intentions there will be weeks when the boys are ill, when I’m on holiday, when I’m busy doing other things that scheduling will slip. That I’ll be typing furiously on my phone to get an idea out of my head onto the blog (much like now).

And that’s OK too.

Indulge in more activities with the boys – but know that the iPad is not the devil

I feel as though I’m stuck in a rut with activities at the moment. It’s difficult to think of one both a 3 year old and an 8 month old can do together.

This year I have plans to make play doh. Edible paints. And I know that they’d both love to play with rainbow spaghetti, get covered in flour or slip in some baked beans (and they can when I get myself my version of a Tuff Spot – the paddling pool!)

But there will be days where I don’t want to. There will be days that they don’t want to. There will be days where the Baby needs to sleep and I can’t leave the Big One alone with paint. In short there will be days that the TV and the iPad are somewhat overused.

And that’s OK too.

As long as I finish 2016 with 366 (leap year) days of wonderful memories to look back on I think that I will be doing alright. Because, really, I won’t remember if the scales said I lost a pound that day but I will remember the first steps taken by the Baby. I won’t remember if I knocked a second off one run compared to another, but I will be proud of completing the race. I won’t remember whether this blog post was written and scheduled weeks in advance or typed furiously away on my phone as I’m feeding the Baby to sleep, but I will remember the days and events I’m posting about, the first days of school, the holidays planned, the birthdays coming up.

So bring on 2016, the goals that I have loosely planned, but more importantly the memories, the lessons learnt and the experiences that help me grow. That will make me a more polished version of the same me.

Happy New Year.