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Friday, January 10, 2014

My New Year's K.I.S.

Below is the traditional New Year's kiss. :)


Don't worry, this post is not about that kind of kiss. (Although I did get one of those too.) :) This is a post about my approach to New Year's resolutions for 2014.

K.I.S.S. is a common acronym for Keep It Simple Stupid. Figuring out my goals was becoming really overwhelming. My list of "things I can do better" started to get long: spend focused time with my hubby, keep the house clean, fold the laundry the same day it comes out of the dryer, spend more purposeful time with my son, exercise more, get more sleep, organize our closet...yeah, you get the idea.

With my mind circling and wondering how I would do everything I wanted to without going insane, I remembered the beauty of simplicity, and altered the common abbreviation to K.I.S. (I spelled it with one "S" instead of two because I didn't want to call myself stupid all year whenever I remind myself about my goals.) Being positive has power too! :)

So I narrowed my goals down to four areas (1) intellectual, (2) physical, (3) spiritual and (4) social. This idea actually came from my husband who shared a scripture with me a few months ago. "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man" (Luke 2:52). For me, Jesus Christ is the prime example of how I want to live my life. I figure the best way to improve is to try to grow in the same areas as He did. 

So here are my goals for this year:

Intellectual-Read at least two books a month
Now that I'm not in school, I can read whatever I want. Yay! I want to read at least one fiction and one nonfiction book to expand my knowledge and imagination. I'd love recommendations if you have some!

Physical-Exercise 3x a week for 30 minutes 
It's small, but I'm working back to exercise after having a baby. I think I can do at least this much. :)

Spiritual-Go to the temple with my husband and on my own once a month
Being a member of the LDS Church is a huge part of my life. As I said in my first post, God is my anchor during life's adventures. It is hard for me to rely on Him if I do not have a strong relationship with Him. The temple is a place I feel close to Him, so I want to make an effort to go more often. If you don't know what a temple is, click here.

Social-Get together with friends once a month 
This may sound like a weird goal, but I spend most of my time at home now with our son (which I love), but I also want to spend time with creating meaningful friendships. I'm discovering I can only babble with a baby for so long before I need some adult conversation. :)

These are my goals. Short. Simple. Possible. Of course there are always other things I'd like to do or do better, but I wanted to keep it simple this year. These are things I'm going to work on all year, and as new adventures come up, I'll continue to make positive changes. 

If you're feeling overwhelmed with your New Year's resolutions, K.I.S. your worries goodbye and try to simplify. Remember it doesn't take a lot to make a change, you just have to start somewhere and keep moving. :)

"By small and SIMPLE things are GREAT things brought to pass" (Alma 37:6)


3 comments:

  1. I LOVE this! :) Especially the more positive acronym haha. Keeping it simple definitely helps a lot, makes goals seem a lot more doable! And that is a really good idea to separate your goals into different areas of your life. Thanks for the inspiration :)

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  2. Love your blog! And you method of setting goals this year - that is so great! I'll have to follow your example :-D

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    1. Thanks! I love yours too. I think my favorite was your handmade Christmas. So creative!

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