Tag Archives: new year’s resolutions

New Year’s Resolutions Revisited, 2015

elvis-leaningI’ve been doing this for years… making resolutions at the beginning of the year and reviewing them at the end. So here it goes… The official review of my 2015 resolutions.

1. Create Experiences. Have Adventures. Make Memories.

I really want to say SUCCESS! But it feels a little bit more like a fail to me. I spent 2015 pregnant and working my ass off. Jimmy was in that crazy stage where taking him out was just an adventure in itself. Heck, just yesterday Lisa and I attempted to take the boys to the Aquarium. As we approached the Aquarium, Jimmy let loose a torrent of vomit. We spent the next 15 minutes in the parking lot of a CVS (in beautiful downtown Camden) scraping throw up from every crevice. This is probably the fourth time the vomit volcano has erupted in the car.

With that said, we did do some fun things. We went to Johnson’s Corner Farm a bunch of times. We went down the shore a couple times.

The best memory we had was Jed’s birth. I stopped trying to be a Wonder Woman and I opted for an epidural. Unlike Jimmy’s birth which was truly a nightmare, Jed’s was absolutely lovely. The only expletive that escaped my lips was when the nurse weighed him and announced, “10 pounds even!”

2. Stretch and Move

This one had a few successes. Through the spring and summer months, Eddie and I walked Jimmy around the neighborhood in his little push around plastic car. Then once Jed arrived, I walked the two of them around the neighborhood a couple times in our double stroller. It didn’t last long because mornings became painful to me because of the sleepless nights. Jimmy’s naptime stretched into the time we’d walk.

I should be able to find time to just get on the floor and stretch… but I didn’t.

FAIL

3. Drink only on weekends.
FAIL. I really need to find another way to unwind.

4. Read books, Ditch Facebook
Partial Success. I still spend more time than I would prefer on Facebook but I did read a bunch of books– more books than I read in the past 10 years combined. This is a resolution that I need to keep focussed on. I didn’t magically become a great reader but I do feel like I made progress.

5. Think like Walter Bond
Partial Success. I don’t think achieving a winner’s mindset is something that you set out to do and easily achieve in a one stop type of way. I believe I made some good progress but I am not where I need to be.

So?

2015 was another great year. I lived the life I always wanted. Business owner, wife, mother. Even though my resolutions aren’t all resounding successes, I am happy. I hope 2016 is just a wonderful!

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.

New Year’s Resolutions 2013 Revisited

Every year, I post my New Year’s Resolutions and then 12 months later, I review my progress.

New Year’s Resolutions for 2013

Here we go! How did I do?

1. Meet men and date

Failure & Success

This resolution was a failure only in that I did not meet men.. plural. On January 8th, I called a man from eHarmony. He had a lovely deep voice and I remember thinking he sounded normal and well adjusted. On January 11th, we met for drinks and potentially dinner at Uno’s. I got there first and sat in the glass enclosed entrance area waiting for him. Within a few minutes a tall, handsome man walked in and I thought, “What a good looking man, I wish he was Ed… but this man is clearly married… just wait… his wife and two kids will walk in behind him.” He made eye contact with me and smiled and I quickly looked away, embarrassed that he caught me checking him out. Then the oddest thing happened. He approached me and said, “Donna? I’m Ed.” We walked in together and spent the next 4 hours talking nonstop. We even ordered dinner. Fast Forward… April 1st we learned I was pregnant. Sometime in June, Ed officially proposed with a ring. October 12th we got married. December 6th I gave birth to our son Jimmy.

And so I didn’t meet men and date… but instead I met my soul mate, got married, had a baby and created the family I always wanted.

2. Exercise and eat healthy

Failure.

I didn’t exercise anymore than usual— and although I ate a bit healthier because I was pregnant most of the year, I also ate an awful lot of ice cream… it was this strange craving I had throughout my pregnancy. Anyone who knows me personally should at this point say… “But Donna, you ALWAYS have that craving!” True but normally I can resist it, pregnancy, on the other hand, rendered me unable to resist.

3. Travel

Failure.

I didn’t travel. We went to Cape May on our honeymoon. I don’t consider a two hour car ride travel. We also headed to Wildwood a couple times. Again, I wouldn’t consider that travel.

4. Make House Comfortable

Success and Failure.

Okay, so this is interesting. I hired painters and had them paint over the boring white with Benjamin Moore’s Smokey Taupe. I threw away old clothes and items that kept me clinging to the past. I took down pictures that depicted single women and replaced them with a painting of a happy couple. I really went to town. And in some ways I think the work I did helped me change my outlook which allowed me to connect with Ed.

So how is this a failure?

My house is now for sale and I am living with Ed in New Jersey in a VERY UNCOMFORTABLE HOUSE. It’s too small and very old and outdated. The thing is, I am okay with the cramped conditions… I am with Ed and Jimmy and that makes me very happy.

5. Keep my business forging ahead

Success.

We did amazingly well.

And so…?

2013 was truly the best year I have ever experienced. The last two years were so difficult. 2011 my father died and the man I thought I loved left me. 2012 I worked hard and tried to recover but all I did was make stupid mistakes and struggle. But then came 2013. I met my soul mate, got married, became stepmother to two girls, and gave birth to James Richard. And not only am I happy but my mom and sister are over the moon! My mom is finally a grandmother, my sister an aunt.

Life is good.

And so what about 2014? Resolutions will be posted soon!

New Year’s Resolutions 2013

Today's the day to forgive whomever we haven't forgiven, and ask forgiveness of whomever we know we should ask it of. It's the only way to truly start over...Each year I make a number of resolutions and then at the end of the year I see how I did. Normally I don’t do so well. Last year, I kicked ass. In anticipation of the new year, I’ve spent the last few weeks thinking about new resolutions… this is what I came up with for 2013…

New Year’s Resolutions for 2012

1. Meet men and date
I am not going to lie. I’ve been lonely. I’d like to find a mate. In order to find a mate, I need to get out and intersect with more people. And so, there’s a few things I’d like to do to increase my chances of colliding with a kind, decent, normal man:

  • Although I don’t need to go to networking events for my business like I once did… I am going to get back into going. Mingling with business owners is a good thing.
  • I am going to spend more time alone at Starbucks. Perhaps on Friday afternoons, I’ll take my new Lenovo Twist and write as I sip a Latte.
  • I recognize that the chance of me finding a nice man on eHarmony is not great but it’s better than not being on it. I am going to stay on at least one dating site and take a wait and see approach. If someone awesome reaches out… that’s great.
  • I am also going to go to the gym regularly
  • I will continue to clear space in my home so there’s room for a man.
  • I will forgive Pookie Bear/Rob and move past the hurt feelings. I admit that I have spent an awful lot of time reliving the “too little, too late” proposal and his abandonment and lies right after my dad died. How can I move on to the next chapter of my life when I keep re-reading the old one? Marianne Williamson recently posted on Facebook, “Think of one person who you are tempted for any reason to withhold love from, and pray for their happiness. In that moment your pain will stop.” She also posted, “Today’s the day to forgive whomever we haven’t forgiven… It’s the only way to truly start over.” The answer is clear. I know what I need to do.
  • Lastly, I need to work on being a woman that men want to date. I realize that I am quite protective on that first date… protective and hesitant and I think that turns men off. I need to open up, loosen up, smile, laugh, ask questions, and seem genuinely interested in him.

2. Exercise and eat healthy
Go to the gym at least twice a week. Get out of the house and take walks. Swing that kettle bell. Eat good, healthy food. Perhaps even trade some of that red wine for green tea.

3. Travel
Every freaking year I list travel as a resolution. I’d like to get to the point where it’s just a natural part of who I am and not something that I have to force myself to accomplish. Regardless, I’d like to visit Sedona, Winnipeg, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Greece, Italy, and other places.

4. Make House Comfortable
I have made HUGE strides in making my house livable and comfortable. For years I did nothing to my home. I pretty much let if fall down around me. My thought was that Pookie Bear and I would get married and move to a different place so why bother keeping this one up? Plus, I am not one of those decorator types. It seems silly spending time picking out pillows and lamps when we’re just plummeting through space on a huge rock. With that said, I do recognize that my mood is much more pleasant when I am in a nicely decorated, clean space. And so with that in mind, I plan on keeping Alba coming in every other week to clean. I will also get the seams and cracks in the living room fixed and the walls painted. I will make my bedroom an area for relaxation and calm. It’s time to make it into an adult bedroom. Also, I’d really like to work on my kitchen: new floors, fix cabinets, improve lighting, new counter, etc…

5. Keep my business forging ahead
My business is what provides me with independence and the ability to live on my own terms. I have a number of goals for this upcoming year. I want to organize my own seminars. I want to do a monthly Google Hangout, interview/training series. I want to have a real email marketing strategy. I want to produce at least one new vlog a week. I must take my pdf eBooks and convert them to Kindle and start selling them on Amazon. I will amplify my reach… more twitter followers, more LinkedIn connections, better presence on G+, blah blah I also need to create more products. I want more PAID speaking engagements. Ultimately, 2o13 is the year where I will cement myself as an expert in my field and I will help as many people as I can and truly make a difference in their lives.

There’s a lot of resolutions within resolutions here. I feel good though. These are all items that I’ve been moving toward and I have put quite a bit of work into them already. One of the reasons why I did so good on last year’s resolutions is because I kept revisiting them. I printed them up on a piece of paper and I kept it right by my desk. It’s easier to accomplish things when you are often reminded of what you need to accomplish. And so I will print these resolutions out and keep them by my desk.

Considering all the crap that occurred in 2010, 2011 was an awesome year. Prior to my dad dying, I would every now and then think of what it would be like to lose my mom or dad or both of them. The thought of life without them struck fear in my heart. I truly thought I wouldn’t be able to live without them. With my dad gone, I realize now that you have no choice but to go on. It’s not the same without him. I miss him so much but each day gets a little easier.