It’s almost the middle of the month and I’m just now getting to this post! To be honest, as much as I wanted to have myself together and ready to go by January 1st, I really needed a moment to 1). recover from the last quarter of 2022 (more on that in my next blog post) and 2). wrap my mind around how I wanted to approach this new year. I thought that both of these things wouldn’t take all that much time. I set goals every year, how hard should it be, right? But when I was going through my Build a Better Year course for myself, I quickly realized that I needed to process more than I thought I did! There was a lot of emotional baggage that I wasn’t fully aware of and all of it was impeding the clarity I needed to focus on goal setting for 2023.
While I’m still processing some of that emotional baggage, I have written my resolutions and goals for 2023 and that’s what I’m going to share with you today! So without further ado, here we go!
Some people write goals at the beginning of the year and others write resolutions – I write both. Part of my building a better year process is writing resolution statements for my current season of life and then setting goals under that resolution. Also, my goals and resolutions are written with the intentional purpose of giving glory to God. This year I wanted to be very clear about the focus of my goal setting. I want to always be cognizant of why I want to build a better year. Twelve months is a loooooong time and it’s easy to lose track, & run low on motivation. Knowing that my “why” is God’s glory, no matter what happens or what threatens to derail me will help me prioritize what matters most. If you want to learn more about writing both goals & resolutions for the glory of God, you can check out the Build a Better Year course here!!
You’ll also notice that I have 6 resolution statements. That’s by design. I have one resolution for each of the Live Well 6. If you don’t know what that is, you can learn more about the Live Well 6 here!
Now on to my resolutions and goals!
LIVE WELL FAITHFULLY
RESOLUTION – I resolve to develop spiritual disciplines so that I can be more like Jesus.
GOALS
- Read the Bible in a year
- Add more giving to our household budget
- Create a family Sabbath ritual
- Memorize 24 scriptures
LIVE WELL PHYSICALLY
RESOLUTION – I resolve to build a healthy lifestyle so that I’ll have strength to do what God has called me to do.
GOALS
- Switch to all/mostly clean skincare & makeup (I’ve already started this process by switching to some Crunchi skincare products & I’m loving it so far!)
- Lose 25 pounds
- Get my lab work done
- Rebuild my wardrobe
- Buy a treadmill standing desk
- Meal prep clean every week
- Get new glasses
- Learn how to make sourdough bread
- Make homemade body wash
LIVE WELL SOCIALLY
RESOLUTION – I resolve to cultivate healthy relationships in my life because God created us for love & thriving, life-giving communities.
GOALS
- Host a game night at least once per quarter
- Host a dinner party once per quarter
- Purge social media accounts
- Go on a staycation with Steven
- Start an address book
LIVE WELL ENVIRONMENTALLY
RESOLUTION – I resolve to pursue simple & thoughtful living so that I can better focus on my people & responsibilities.
GOALS
- Declutter & organize master closet
- Set up a new home binder
- Clean out and reorganize my hard drives
- Build first aid kits for the house and the car
- Unsubscribe to all unnecessary email lists
- Stock/restock my essential oils collection
- Start a Christmas sinking fund
- Finish cataloging my personal library in Notion
- Make homemade laundry detergent
LIVE WELL VOCATIONALLY
RESOLUTION – I resolve to do my best work so that I can make the most of the time & talents I’ve been given.
GOALS
- Re-release the Bible Study Masterclass
- Re-release James and Ephesians Bible studies
- Buy a camera
- Buy & learn Final Cut Pro
- Create new intro for YouTube videos
- Take scheduled break from social media 2x this year
- Build out the rest of my Notion database
- Start an online reselling business
- Open a business bank account
LIVE WELL AVOCATIONALLY
RESOLUTION – I resolve to balance my work with recreation, discovery, & rest so that I can be renewed by the beauty of God’s world & His people.
GOALS
- Read 100 books
- Start a Bookstagram account (done! You can now follow me @elyssanalanireads on IG :))
- Practice piano daily
- Learn more about annotating books
- Keep a life journal
- Keep a Better Year Project Playbook
- Go on a hiking trip with Steven
You may wonder why bother setting both resolutions and goals. Like, what’s the big deal? Well, a couple of reasons. First, it keeps me focused, like I mentioned before. I want to be intentional about making choices and choosing projects that will give glory to God. My resolutions help me keep that front and center. Second, there’s a very real chance I’m not going to complete all my goals. The year looks fresh and clean and promising right now, full of all kinds of possibilities, but the truth of the matter is, anything could happen. My goals could very well change but my resolutions won’t. No matter what, I want to do my best work. No matter what, I want to pursue simple, thoughtful living. No matter what I want to build a healthy lifestyle. How I live up to my resolutions might change as circumstances and situations might change through the year. And honestly, that’s to be expected.
If there is anything that the past few years have taught us it’s that anything is possible and everything is up for grabs. I don’t have full control over whether or not I accomplish everything I set out to do but that’s okay. I know who holds my future and if I stick to my resolve to give glory to Him and follow His lead all year long, 2023 will be a success regardless of what I do or do not check off my list!
Let me know in the comments what you’re hoping to accomplish in 2023! I’d love to read all about your plans. And if you’re interested in learning how you can give build better goals so you can give God better glory, check out Build a Better Year 2023!
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