New Year’s Resolutions for 2019

It is that time of year. Time to remember all the good and the not so good of the year before, and to look forward to the possibilities of the coming year. It is time to make those New Year’s Resolutions!

For me, I have three areas I want to work on in 2019 – finances, health, and taking better care of my family. Those categories are extremely broad, so I really need to narrow things down a bit.

They are also in many ways intertwined. Accomplishing one helps accomplish another.

A couple of days ago, we talked about how to make our resolutions become reality. We learned we need to separate our resolutions into workable parts or steps of action.

So here is what I have decided are my 2019 New Year’s Resolutions and my plans of action:

Pay $600 on the principal of our car loan

As much as I would love to pay this off entirely, there is just not enough left in the budget to accomplish that dream in 12 months. So, I am committing to pay $50 a month onto the principal balance of our car loan.

Get off my blood pressure medication

I currently take (when I remember) blood pressure medication. I am on half a dosage of the lowest dosage possible, so this can be a reachable goal for me. It will involve some dietary changes, dropping a few pounds, and putting some things in place to lower my stress level, so there definitely has to be a plan.

Honestly, the full plan is still in the works. It has been rather overwhelming thinking through everything. So I will start out slow and build up as I go along. Here is the generally specific plan:

1. Cook more from scratch – this will help lower sodium, chemicals, and other stuff my body doesn’t need. I am going to specifically start with making salad dressings, bread, and some snacks from scratch.
2. Walk daily – either on the treadmill in the basement or in the neighborhood. I plan to start off with at least 10-15 minutes each day. I know this is not much, but it is a workable place to start.
3. Eat more fruits & vegetables – I’m not a big eater of either of these, so anything will be an improvement.
4. Plan my days in a more reasonable manner – be realistic on how much I can actually accomplish in a day. This may be the hardest one in the whole list!
5. Daily morning devotionals and playing soft music during stressful times of the day – I can’t accomplish any of my goals without feeding my soul and staying connected to my Jesus. I have also discovered that some soft piano music in the background relaxes me and help me to stay focused on what I am doing (whether it is working or resting).

Teach Sarah more life skills

This one is mainly concentrating on cooking and sewing. I want to teach her how to make bread, how to plan a meal, and how to cook a complete meal. I also want to teach her how to use the sewing machine, starting with straight stitching for simple items like cloth napkins. We are also planning to have a garden this spring, so that will be a learning experience for both of us.

There are more changes I want to make in my lifestyle to improve our finances, improve our health, and to better take care of my family. We want to start eating more organic and natural foods, we are hoping to sell our house and downsize the mortgage, spend more quality time together as a family, and other more general changes.

Some changes are going to easier than others. Some are changing a lifetime of bad habits, but hopefully by breaking these up into workable steps of action the changes will become manageable. The prayer is when I reach the end of December 2019, I can say “I did it!”

I want to be able to say that I not only kept my New Year’s Resolutions, I rocked them!

Learn how you can do better at keeping those New Year’s Resolutions here.

Want some more ideas for your own New Year’s Resolutions? Check out my friend at St. Martha’s Lens and her links to some other new friends.

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