11 Month Journey

It’s that time of year again! The 12th annual intent at creating life-long habits for myself (formerly known as Ground Hog Resolution Day). I’ve discovered that because of the after the end-of-year holidays I am not mentally or physically capable of sticking with resolutions for the upcoming new year. (Truth be told, I was failing at this for the rest of the year too.) The idea was to take January as a break so I could reflect and plan. And I have given a lot of consideration to dropping the Groundhog Resolutions altogether to come up with a more do-able plan.

I’ll be taking this year-long trek up until December 12th (12/12) and will stop and reflect on my progress each month until then. These will be known as monthly checkpoints.

On 2/2 I will start at the trailhead and will check-in on March 3rd (3/3) next. After that will be 4/4, 5/5 etc.

Since this will be a long trail of betterment I need to pack light. The previous years have been weighed down and overburdened with too many goals and habits and then failing at most of them. Time to lighten the load and focus on the essentials. I’ll go into details in the next few days.

Checklist

Nutrition & Training

This is priority one. I am at my heaviest and it shows. I feel it daily and I don’t like it. This means I have to focus on my nutrition first. Going out daily for lunch and then sitting at my desk during the work week is hurting me. I’ll need a lot of help with this one. There are too many temptations out there for me. But I want and need to eat cleaner.

Next up is training. There are a lot of activities I am interested in to help my goal of dropping those forty pounds. Foremost would be strength training to help burn off some fat and regain some muscle definition.

Yoga & Meditation

I have participated in a few group yoga practices and it was lacking. I find yoga to be a personal endeavor as I try to relax and concentrate on what I am doing. A guru just gets in the way instead of guiding. I’ve subscribed to a fitness app that provides guidance and can be silenced as I work out.
On meditation, I have realized it can be done anywhere at anytime there is even a free minute. This makes me happy and gives me zero excuses to not focus and relax.

Photography & Writing

Here we go again. The annual intention to enjoy my hobbies properly. Regarding my two decades worth of unorganized images: progress. I will get the archives organized this year. Only then can I advance in what I really want to do with them. I want to make memories by developing physical prints, books and even zines. I’ve also switched up my genres to focus on landscape and urban photography. A lot to learn here this year.

Regarding my writing? It seems I enjoy writing about my intentions rather than just writing the damn things themselves. No mas. I am hoping with a clear mind and a healing body this year will assist in putting words down.

Ready…Set…Go.

This year I am not adding or subtracting to these intentions. I am taking all of these on this year long journey and I am not leaving them behind.
I’m starting at the trail head on February 2nd and not stopping until December 12 with these goals accomplished.