New Year’s Resolutions 2015

It’s wonderful to be in a good place. For years I struggled and for years I lived a life that wasn’t anything close to what I wanted to be living. Finally, I am where I always wanted to be. And it’s scary because there’s this lurking feeling that everything could just go away. As wonderful as life is, it feels tethered to me by a very thin thread.

And now I cast my thoughts ahead to the new year before me. What do I want to be? What do I want to do? What do I want to accomplish?

It was 2 years ago, I went through my past resolutions and found to my utter amazement that for the last decade all my resolutions were pretty much the same. I wonder if it was that realization that helped me take control and steer my life onto course? Perhaps. Maybe I was just ready for it.

The last few weeks I’ve been thinking about resolutions for 2015. This is what I came up with:

1. Create Experiences. Have Adventures. Make Memories.
I look back to when I was a little girl and it was the crazy adventures that stick out and make me smile. My father was always taking us on wild goose chases. We didn’t just go out for pizza, we dedicated ourselves to finding the best pizza. It wasn’t just a vacation to Nashville, we went searching for Dolly Parton. And that Christmas I asked for snow? My dad got us in the car and we drove north until we hit snow. I want to create those crazy experiences for Jimmy, Emily and Meghan. I want to be able to forget work, forget business, and have fun as a family. I want to create memories. And it’s not about traveling to exotic locations. We don’t have to go far. We just need to get out and do something different.

2. Stretch and Move
I’m 40. I can’t believe it either. My body doesn’t feel superhuman anymore. I am constantly tired. And I recently purchased the Note 4 and it comes with a pedometer built in… and apparently according to this pedometer, I might as well be an invalid. I simply don’t move enough.

I can’t go to the gym. There’s simply not enough time in the day. The one thing I can do is stretch and take walks. In the morning, get on the floor and stretch out. At noon, go for a quick walk. After dinner, take a walk. It’s possible. I can do it.

3. Drink only on weekends.
I was never a drinker. I could go weeks without having an alcoholic beverage. It didn’t call me. But then my dad died and I found myself alone and I sought solace in episodes of La Femme Nikita and bottles of 3 Buck Chuck. I wasn’t a drunk and I rarely got drunk but I drank for comfort and relaxation and I realize now it wasn’t healthy. Even after life got better for me, I continued to drink a glass of red wine at night. But it wasn’t just a glass. It was a couple glasses. I married an Irishmen and together we finish a bottle of wine a night. I am tired of it. It’s added calories I don’t need. It gets me tired before I really should be tired. It makes me feel swollen. I am done with it. I am not saying I will never drink again but I would like to have days pass by where I don’t drink a thing. I also don’t want our girls to think that drinking is normal and something that all adults do.

I have decided to cut back on my drinking. No more wine or beer during the week and only in moderation on the weekends.

4. Read books, Ditch Facebook
I made this resolution last year but didn’t keep it. Perhaps this year I will do better. I want to read books. I want to stop endlessly scrolling down the newsfeed on Facebook, getting nothing in return for my time and energy. I want to read books about successful people, awesome business concepts, new ways of thinking about the world, personal development, etc… I want to know that at the end of the day, I am a little smarter than I was the day before.

Jeden Tag ein bisschen besser

5. Think like Walter Bond
I feel like I have one more resolution inside of me. It’s somewhat nebulous. Two years ago I saw Walter Bond speak. It was a moving experience.

Here are just a few of his soundbites I recorded:

  • All ‘buts’ stink
  • Get bigger stronger faster. Commit to change. And believe! Change your clients’ perspective.
  • To be successful… Carve out a niche! And own it! What is your niche? Do you own it?
  • Research people! Find inside connections. Make people feel important.
  • Always look like success! Always look like money! People place value on you.
  • Do you brighten up a room when you enter. .. or when you leave?
  • Do people like you? LIKEABILITY is the biggest secret! It’s not your content, it’s your smile
  • Stop selling products, start selling hopes and dreams!
  • Want to make more money? Change your friends. Your salary is the average of your 5 closest friends
  • Making money is easy!
  • To be successful in business, turn off the news!

Ever since I heard him speak, his words ring in my ears and I am trying to commit the concepts into my daily life. It’s not nearly as easy as one would suspect. But I am trying and I suppose that’s what this resolution is about– to stop trying and just do it already.

2015

And that it’s for 2015…. 5 resolutions for change. I can do it.

5 thoughts on “New Year’s Resolutions 2015

  1. Martin

    This is not a comment. I followed your website since 2000 and I know you are a big fan of Elvis Presley. I also know that you speak and understand German. Today, there is a series of photos of Elvis in the German magazine “Stern”, and I thought you might be interested in them, and here they are:

    http://www.stern.de/fotografie/elvis-presley-waere-heute-80-jahre-alt-geworden-fotografien-von-alfred-wertheimer-zeigen-die-private-seite-des-king-of-rockn-roll-2148807.html

    You may have to copy the link to get the pictures Have fun, and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and your family.

  2. gerald harrington

    Congrats Donna! Glad your life now includes your own family. Good to hear you are able to have some of the normalcy everyone needs. Haven’t stopped by for a while. Enjoy your posts. Afraid I don’t do Facebook. All the Best!

  3. Donna Post author

    Hi Martin! Sorry it took me so long to respond– only now– 5 months later did I see your comment. Love those pics! Thanks for thinking of me and sharing! 🙂

  4. Rob

    Hi Donna — I was just doing that thing people do where they find themselves with time on their hands and go back through old bookmarks for…I don’t know…nostalgia? Anyway, for some reason your website and the Avocado Memories website are linked in my mind. I think I found one through the other. I recently found the link to Avocado Memories, and immediately thought of your site, but didn’t find the link until today. It’s like hearing from an old friend in some weird detached Internet Age way. Glad to see that things are going good for you! Take Care.

Comments are closed.