I Set My Goals For The New Year, and Think You Should Too

Hey Everyone!

I do not usually make New Years resolutions because I am a stickler for making change when it needs to be made. I feel like the best way to happiness is to live is to be present and live like every day is your last. Why does January 1st have to be the day we all decide to make change? Who came up with that, and what truth does January 1st  being the first day of the year have attached to it? However, so much happened in 2013, so change is definitely in the air! I need to make some life changes around all of the new developments, break some bad habits,  and cultivate some more structure into my life.

Can I ask a favor? Once you read through my list, let me know if you have any advice of how to reach goals. What is your best way to organize and structure so you follow through?

Also See:
10 Great Quotes to Start off 2014
How To Organize Your Life in 7 Steps

Here is what I have so far:

1. Personal Yoga Goals:

A. Wake up at 5am every morning – Be strict about this

B. Do not go on the computer before practice

C. Always keep correct breath, and do my best to keep the in the vinyasa count of each posture. 

D. Practice the tradition of doing my full practice 6 days a week, Fridays just primary series, and take Saturdays off – no practice on moon days (Do not switch out days – be consistant ).

E. If I have to take rest between postures, no more than 2 breaths for Balasana

F. Always bring it back to the breath – Do not lose sight of the tristana – breath, bhandas, drishti, posture

G. Do not look around the room, just keep the drishti on my practice

H. Do not repeat postures more than three times (not good for muscle memory)

I. Always do full practice even if I am tired or not feeling well (with compassion of course), not pushing myself into any discomfort or pain, but working on how I can get through anything in tough situations. 

J. Sun Salutations: Always do 10 – work on floating up rather than jumping – (only exception to the 10 rule is if I am rushed on time).

K. Pasasana Goals – (I have been working on this posture for over a year)

❊Work on creating more body awareness (chest / shoulders)

❊Goal to work on one – three times each practice

❊Goal of binding both hands in Pasasana by July : I know it is not about the posture, but I am happy to set a goal because it motivates me to do my whole practice, and I do not want to give into avoidance. I am not attached this goal – It is a motivation tool and starting point.

 ❊Track Progress through videos and pictures and blog about it

L. Headstand: 50 breaths

M. Dropbacks: Work on keeping heels down when coming up

N. Learn more about anatomy – attend a workshop with David Keil or Tim Feldmann

O. Make a trip to work with a new teacher for an extended period: David Robson or David Garrigues

P. Do not lose sight of breath and one pointed concentration!

 

2. Health Goals:

A. Do not use technology while I am eating

B. Eat more of a variety of grains (less noodles)

C. Make an effort to eat mostly gluten free

D. Always have the fridge filled with fruits as snacks

E. Do not eat past 7:30pm

 

3. Personal Life Goals

A. Save more money

B. Buy a video camera

C. Purchase a new (used) car (Honda Element)

D. At 10pm, cut everything off and get ready for bed

E. Create a daily structure around work, blogging, yoga, alone time, and time with family & friends

F. Buy Oliver a cat tree so he can look out the window easier

G. Buy Oliver more toys and spend more time playing with him each day.

H. Spend more time with my sister, niece, and nephew.

I. Spend more time visiting my parents and family in general

 

4.  Blogging Goals

A. RSS: Research Feed platforms

B. Pinterest – Change board names, reorganize pins, make sure all pins have a link attached

C. SEO: Go back and update all of my blog titles & alternate titles with Keywords

D. SEO: Update the descriptions with details about the article and specific keywords

E. Facebook: Change Cover, profile picture, and connect with more bloggers

F. Check for and update all bad links

G. Find a good slider for the vegetarian food restaurant page of all of my food pictures

H. Research more vegetarian food restaurants, and catagorize by area

I Write two guest blogs by March

J. Reorganize and update tags

K. Learn the deeper aspects of Google Analytics

L. Create a blogger media kit

K. YouTube

❊ Learn about video editing & find a software to use

❊ Get more of a presence through YouTube with videos about:

❊Yoga Postures

❊Cooking Videos

❊Blogging Tutorials

L . Community:

❊ Do more product reviews & features of small crafty business

❊ Research local charities, and plan out fundraisers for the year

❊ Seek out three yoga studios in Central Florida that I have not been to and attend some classes

Questions:

1. Is there a way to know how many RSS feed subscribers you have?

2. Is it worth it to go back and update URLs to enhance SEO? Will it hurt more because of people might already have them linked or pinned?

Next step is setting a monthly and weekly schedule to make these goals happen! What do you think? What are your goals & how do you plan to follow through? I use Trello & Evernote, but what do you use for organizing your goals?

Also See:
10 Great Quotes to Start off 2014
How To Organize Your Life in 7 Steps