I Hereby Resolve...

Not to resolve.

Nah, not this year. It doesn't seem to work for me. Actually, after reading the books Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength and The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business both of which I reviewed here: Three Life-Changing Reads  I learned that New Years resolutions rarely come to pass for anyone, especially if you over-resolve, which I have a tendency to do. My resolution list used to be pages long. I never accomplished it. Not once. Not ever. So I'm trying something new this year and not resolving. It's really hard for me. I want to resolve I tell you!

My lack of resolutions doesn't mean that I have no goals either for the year or in general. In fact, I have four goals... I guess three of them are more life-changes and one of them is a goal, if I'm going to be accurate. If I'm really going to be accurate I should mention that all of them are already well in process. They're more like pre-New Years resolutions/life changes that I've been working on for a while.

Want to know what they are? Well, hopefully you do because I'm going to tell you.

Life-Change 1: Both Hun and I plan to make more of our own stuff.

Remodeling the house isn't enough for us, we want to grow/make more of our own food, I want to make more of my own clothes (my children are too cool to wear stuff I make, can you believe that?) I want to make more of our own cleaners and personal care items, etc... I'm actually surprised at how easy making stuff is. Baking bread is pretty straightforward. Making Icelandic yogurt (AKA Skyr) is easy, peasy. Making more than a gallon of liquid hand soap from two bars of regular soap, thereby saving $$$ is a breeze.  There are so many cool things out there to try your hand at making yourself. I see soap-making in my future.

Besides, I like making stuff so this one isn't even all that difficult.

Life Change 2: Keep better track of our money.

I'm bad with money. Hun would be good with money except he has to contend with me and I'm bad with money. I know that the secret to this one involves two things: 1. managing our food expenses and 2. keeping track of the money daily.

I also know that the keeping track, for me, is going to involve a ridiculously simple, paper system, most likely involving a calendar and a notebook which will make absolutely no sense to anyone else but me. Anything that I've actually managed to keep track of successfully on paper looks like a notebook full of lines, abbreviations and doodles. I now know that I need to just give up on the notion that there's some fancy solution that either I can create or which already exists, and just do what I do.

Life Change 3: Be grateful and be content.

I'll hit this one in some later posts because it's big and it's the reason that I've been largely absent from this blog, and to a great extent from life, for most of the fall. I've been wrestling with coming to terms with the fact that my life is not going to look like what I had been dreaming it would and how I need to accept that this is my life and that it's a good one, even if it's not the one I dreamed of. I've been working through this since August and I think I'm finally in a good head-space now.

Goal: Fill my shop. 

I'm thinking of selling some handmade stuff too. I like to make stuff, why not sell it? Seems obvious when I think about it.

Those are them. Ta-dah! I'm pretty optimistic, mostly because I've already been somewhat successful... That's the upside of disclosing resolutions made months ago, I already know how I'm doing.

What about you? Did you resolve this year or have you never really resolved to begin with?

I have lots of "deep thoughts" posts in my head. I hope you like those posts. I've been doing a lot of thinking so I have lots of share.

Happy New Year!!!

H