New Year, same stuff

I have been known to make extensive resolutions. I list out categories and use the SMART theory of planning (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely). I have utilized my teaching planning skills by stating what my end goal is and working my way backwards to figure out the daily habits I need to implement to achieve those goals. I have slacked off slightly over residency, because to be honest I was surviving and the main goal was to survive and get Andy through the training needed to support our family, while also making sure my kids survived and hopefully thrived. I’ve had more time and focus since recovering from the last three years. It’s brought some hidden dust to light (literally and figuratively). So my plan today is to sit down and hash out my plans for the year. I want to see progress in myself. I want to begin to make headway with some personal goals that I’ve set aside the last few years, and most importantly, I want to help my kids begin to excel in school and as individuals, especially as it relates to their spiritual health, though that is one area I never neglected during residency, because it is one of the major reasons I survived.

In Young Women’s class today we had a lot of changes, new girls coming in, new class presidencies, and a new YW president and first councilor. It will be great to see the changes that this brings with our girls and I think it will be good, though our previous one was great too. But change can be uncomfortable. I did my pump class on Friday and still feel the changes it brought to my thighs. I haven’t felt like I’ve been able to see a change since implementing this class at the beginning of the school year, but I do FEEL a change. I feel stronger, most of the time I feel I have more energy. I feel like I’m more capable of handling difficult physical challenges and most importantly my back pain has lessened significantly. Sometimes the big changes we face bring centimeters of change, that over time can make a big difference. I hope that as I continue to add more into my workout routines that I can begin to see the changes I hope to see in my body. But most importantly, that it adds more health to my life.

I am a big fan of working on ourselves in the little ways, but I’ve also learned the value of accepting and loving yourself for the progress you’ve already made. It actually helps me continue down the path to bettering myself. For example, I’m at 917 days of studying DuoLingo. I started during the Covid lockdown of 2020 and have continued for the past 2+ years. It is so much a part of my routine that I seldom forget to do it. Duolingo has “streak freezes” that if you miss a day it’ll just free your streak and continue to add to it once you get back at it. I have been reading the book, “Atomic Habits” and he says that expecting perfection leads to failure. That if you are keeping track of the habits you want to implement, that if you miss a day you need to check it off anyway, studies have shown that this leads you to pick it back up the next day, as opposed to giving it all up completely. That being said, I do whatever I can to not use a streak freeze, because I know I get more out of learning if I make it a daily habit. I wish I could be this faithful in all of the atomic habits I want to implement in my life. Perhaps I need to find similar ways to track them. Best of luck in the year ahead, may you see the growth you wish to see and find joy along the way.