All I did in the last blog was cite a general direction. “Healthy weight.” “Published writer.” “Reasonably fit.” “Organized.” Most people stop here and leave the job half done. How will you reach a healthy weight? How do you intend to get published? What does reasonably fit mean to you? Here we break down the dreams into reachable, smaller goals.

Let me give you an example.

Q: Why do you want to lose weight?
A: To be healthy. *pats self on back thinking you gave the right answer*

What does “healthy” mean to you? How do you intend to get there? How will you know when you are healthy? It’s the difference between heading in a general direction or towards a specific point, between heading north and heading for Toronto.

Alternate answer: I want healthy cholesterol. I want to go off my prescription medications. I want to have a healthy BMI. I want to stick around for my grandchildren.

Consider this the essential transitional step between dream and action.


From Dreams to Details ….


Nutrition:
-Switch to organic dairy, meat, and produce whenever possible

-Be a lot more selective of what I put in my mouth. Read the list of ingredients; consider how this list of ingredients will affect my body; decide if it will bring me closer to my goal. Scale back from foods of convenience and eat more as nature intended.

-More food preparation and taking less for granted. DIY soup, applesauce, salad dressing, and so on.

-Develop a healthy meal repertoire, a set of go-to nutritious meals I can use many times without a trace of guilt.

-Keep a food diary and track calories in versus calories out instead of guessing.


Fitness:
-More variety of workouts not dependent on a gym membership: jumping rope, running, fitness DVDs, zumba – either the DVD pack or from YouTube instructors, elliptical, stationary bike, taking a brisk walk, etc.

-Average an hour of daily, conscientious exercise


General Wellness:
-Lose 10 pounds every six months to reach approximate goal weight in 18 months.

Weigh 139 by June 30, 2012
Weigh 129 by December 31, 2012
Weigh 119 by June 30, 2013

-Take measurements at least monthly, preferably weekly

-Investigate and research possibly hormone imbalances, including those associated with PCOS; learn proactive measures I can take to auto-correct

-Go to bed earlier especially during the work week.

-Create a motivation collage, maybe a virtual one on Pinterest


Work:
-Attempt to expand my iano lessons “business,” assuming the work hours of my work week job allows me the time. (Practically speaking, this means making flyers with the rip-off tabs at the bottom and posting them in ublic domain corkboards, such as the one in the YMCA lockerroom or at the local library).

-Switch jobs. It could be a career in my field or just a temporary fix that lets me pay bills and earn decent pay while I look for a position in my field. But I need to cut my losses and move on because what I’m doing now isn’t it.


Play:
-More variety in Sunday School lessons (for grades K-3). Consider cartoon movies that relate to the lesson, watercolor crafts, glitter pens, oil pastels, even chalky pastels with a hairspray type adhesive, dramatic interpretations of the lesson, stickers possibly as reward, etc.

-Learn how to knit at least a basic proficiency by the year’s end. In case you’re wondering how I intend to make this happen, I have plenty of yarn, three sizes of knitting needles, and access to knitting patterns and online tutorials.

-Aim for three new chapters in the novel per month.


Relationships:
-Invest more time in friendships. As Mom says, you have to be a friend to have friends. All this means I need to stop sabotaging relationships, blowing off email replies, avoiding social functions, etc.


Finances:
-Spend money judiciously, meaning if I’m on the line as to whether it’s a smart purchase it probably isn’t.

-Whittle down the principal from student loans by paying more than the minimum every month I can afford it.



All of these are specific goals with a specific path of how to get the job done. But it might be a bit overambitious to think I can become a fully self-actualized person within one year and correct all the places where I’m compromising before the dawn of 2013. That isn’t going to stop me from trying, but I think it might be best to prioritize these goals. In the next blog I’ll boil this list down to the essentials, my 2012 Resolutions. Stay tuned!