Does anybody really know what time it is?

It is that week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, when time doesn’t make any sense and you’re not exactly sure what day it is. I simultaneously can’t believe that 2022 is almost over while also feeling like this was one of the longest years of my life. I’m blaming this feeling on the pandemic. So much changed for the world in 2020, and so much happened to me personally from 2020-2021. A lot of what happened was not so great, so 2022 was the first year in a while that felt better. It felt like recovery. It also still did not feel normal.

As I was sitting and playing games on my phone to wind down for the evening, I started to reflect on my year, and think about the usual blog posts I make to wrap it up. I found myself trying to recall what all I did this year and realized that I did so much that I’m struggling to remember it all. This got me thinking about goals for 2023, which led me to sitting down at the computer to write this, and then a Google search… you see how the rabbit hole of my brain works, yes?

The first article I found when I searched for “goals for 2023” was titled “23 Goals to Set In 2023: Goal Ideas for Self-Investment”. Self-Investment – I love that term. As I read the article, I started thinking back to one of the classes I took this fall for my first semester of grad school. In the class we learned about technology in nutrition education, and the culminating project was creating a blog. While I feel very experienced in this area, I learned some new things in my class, and I found myself taking note of the pieces of the blog article that aligned with what I learned in my class. I am not currently following any of those guidelines in writing this blog, but hey, at least I am thinking about it.

Anyway, back to that article. Besides the catchy title, I also loved that the author described the difference between setting goals for the New Year and making resolutions. Resolutions are big, overwhelming, and often fizzle out because they’re just too much to take on. I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment, as my long-term readers are well aware. Each New Year instead of making resolutions I usually set goals. I organize little mini goals into categories, those categories might be what some people would call “resolutions”. My brain started to organize the categories I wanted to pursue for 2023 as I was sitting down to write this blog, and it got a little daunting, hence the Google search. Why reinvent the wheel, am I right?

So what do I want to do in 2023 to invest in myself? I will organize and elaborate on these goals more in a follow up post, but for now I just want to get them out of my brain:

• I will be setting new baselines for my running by running as many races of different distances on as possible. I am excited to be running with friends again, but I want to race for myself, to establish where I am at, and set new PRs for myself.
• I want to try new recipes, cook more for myself, and eat an overall more balanced and varied diet. I have fallen into a slump with going out to eat, running through the drive thru, and eating other convenient foods.
• I’d like to be more creative and share it more through this outlet and others. I really enjoy makeup and nails as my artistic outlets, and I would like to get back into writing more.
• I will share more content on this blog and try to shake it up a little bit. I tend to focus mostly on running, and while I plan to still do that, I’d like to throw in more blogs about nutrition, mental health, and share more personal stories.
• I need to invest time in our home and getting it cleaned and organized. We will celebrate 10 years living here in 2023 and it would be nice to have it feel more put together. My friend Tiffany has been offering to help me with a cleaning schedule for years, and I want to put it into action in the New Year.
• I want to read more.
• I want to take more pictures.
• I want to spend more time outdoors.
• I want to create challenges for myself that are fun and interesting, but not overwhelming. I struggle when I try to do things like Project 365 (post a picture every day) because of the commitment. I need to find ways to have challenges but keep them flexible.

I’m sure that I could keep going forever with this list, but when I saw the blog about self-investment these were the goals that came to my mind. I look forward to working out the details in future blogs and sharing this all with you in the year ahead of us. For now, I’ll get back to living in the weirdness of time that is this week between Christmas and New Year’s, and get myself ready for bed so I can be productive at work in the morning.