Happy New Year and welcome to 2017! I am so excited that we are in a new year. Did you do anything special to celebrate?
I always find the start of the year as an opportunity to hit the reset button. I like to start fresh with a clean slate. No regrets, right? 😉
But seriously, this is a great time of year to check in on your goals and think about your goals moving forward. Whether you’re training for your first marathon or just trying to perfect that work-life balance, I find that it’s extremely helpful to write down your goals for the year and be as specific as possible. Then you can regularly check in and monitor your progress!
In today’s post, I’m sharing my goals for 2017! I’m joining Ilka and Angela for the Fitness and Food linkup, HoHo and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap, and the Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday 5 2.0 linkup!
[bctt tweet=”What are your big goals or resolutions for 2017? #runchat ” username=”Janelle_RWNR”]
Looking Back at 2016
Like many people, I am glad that 2016 is over! I had quite a few successes but some failures as well. I thought I would do a quick highlight of last year’s resolutions and what areas were hits and misses.
Successes
- All of my running and fitness goals were achieved in 2016. I had a great experience being a race ambassador, I did a lot of cross-training, put my FitBit to work, and ran my first marathon!
- I have definitely reduced my alcohol consumption, even giving up drinking for Lent last year.
- We bought a house! And I absolutely love it, it’s the perfect place for us.
- I played another year of softball and we won the championship! I still get anxiety when I’m up to bat, but I did enjoy myself.
- Work has been going really well! I feel that I’ve built a good reputation in my company and I really enjoy what I do. I’m looking forward to things really picking up this year with my project.
- What I’m really happy about is that 2016 turned out to be pretty drama-free! I didn’t want to deal with any nonsense, and I succeeded!
Missing a few team members, but so happy we won this year!Failures
- Meal planning continues to be a failure, but I am working on it slowly and surely!
- Keeping away from sweets is another area that needs work! Why did I get a bag of Twizzlers in my Christmas stocking?! Of course, I ate them all in one sitting, smh!
- I did not make much progress on completing my NCEES Record for my Professional Engineering license. Sadly, 2 of my references passed away in 2016, but it’s no excuse…I need to add this to the top of my list.
- I wanted to read 4 books this year and I only read one…it was a leadership/self-improvement book and I liked it, but I should have done more!
- I’ve been more engaged in my engineering organizations, but not as much as I wanted.
- There were a lot of accomplishments with the blog last year, but I fell into the traps that I wanted to avoid…I wasn’t focused and my time management suffered. Fortunately, I plan to change things in a big way in 2017!
My Goals for 2017
This year is a little different than most years because I don’t have any hugely specific goals or milestones I plan to reach in 2017. But I’m always looking to improve and challenge myself, so here are my goals!
Running/Fitness
- Stay injury-free! I’m feeling a little bit paranoid that this could be the year that I get injured. I have a niggle in my right shin and my right inner hip area is still sensitive since running the marathon. I plan to stay hyper-aware of any new pains and to foam roll and stretch as often as possible!
- Run a sub-2:15 half marathon. I hate writing this out because I hate putting pressure on myself to finish a race in a certain time, but I’d really like to hit this goal. I’ve been in the 2:17-2:18 range for awhile and I’d really like to gain some speed this winter. We’ll see…I’m already signed up for 3 half marathons this spring!
- Continue taking yoga, barre, and spin classes as part of my cross-training. I’ve fallen in love with all three in 2016 and I plan to keep it going!
Starting out too fast at Annapolis in 2015 caused me to miss an opportunity to PRNutrition
- Create a meal planning routine and stick with it! I will keep making this a goal until it actually happens, LOL! When I finally figure out how to do this successfully, you can bet there’ll be a long blog post all about it!
Career
- Build my brand and confidence at work. It’s time for me to let go of my “imposter syndrome” from 2016 and carry myself with the swag and confidence that I deserve! I’m looking forward to “stepping it up” in the workplace and building my reputation as a competent and valuable employee.
- Strengthen my professional connections in work and in the industry. It is all too easy to stay stuck behind your desk and keep to yourself, but I know that it’s important to connect with others and realize all of the resources available to me. Even going out to happy hour with coworkers can be a great way to network, so I plan to get back to that in 2017!
Stepping up my clothing game at work is part of the rebrand!Personal Life
- Make our house a home. We love our house so much, so this year I want to work on a few things to make the house more “homey”. I really want to build a patio in our backyard, so I’m looking forward to that. Bret has the green thumb so he’s already strategizing what types of food we’ll be growing this year!
- Read 4 books in 2017. Since I failed this goal in 2016, I’m bringing it back! I’m thinking of joining a local book club, but to start I will be joining Wendy for her monthly Book Club. Any recommendations on books worth checking out?
- Build and maintain friendships and family relationships. Believe it or not, I’m an extrovert! I get energy from other people and having real, quality relationships with people is important to me, but I can also be pretty shy. This is an area I strive to improve in over the year. I’m hoping that hosting more holidays and throwing parties in our home will help my social life, haha!
Run With No Regrets
- Create and keep “office hours” for blogging activities. I’m very excited because I’m finally getting an iMac to use in my brand new home office! I’ll be able to be SO much more productive since I won’t have the limitations of my Samsung Chromebook. This new system will save me so much time!
- Overhaul the Run With No Regrets Newsletter. This is such a big project but it’s been long overdue. After becoming a bit overwhelming to update each week, I went back to a weekly RSS over the summer and it’s just not engaging at all. This will change before the end of January!
- Create a Facebook Group for runners. This has been on the radar for so long and I keep holding back/putting it off. No more. I really want to connect with people who follow Run With No Regrets and this seems like the perfect way to do it, so please stay tuned!
What are your biggest goals for 2017? Let’s support each other and help keep each other accountable this year!
You did great it 2016 and it looks like you have some amazing things planned for 2017! Looking forward to following along and seeing how it all goes!
Thanks so much, Lisa! 🙂
Yay to your goal for the book club! Do you have any fitness related books you want me to include? I’m open to suggestions!
I need to clean up my diet. I eat pretty well, but after reviewing the antiinflammatory diet, I could do better. It’s soooooooo hard!
Gosh, I’m so clueless I don’t even know what the good fitness books are these days, but I’ll let you know! Eating clean is always a challenge for me…
I’m so impressed that you’ve listed out specific and detailed goals for each area of your life. I know you will work hard to achieve each and every one of them. I typically just get general ideas about what I want to accomplish and see what surprises the year throws in the mix. My blog has definitely suffered this year because I’ve had much less time to work with it. Thanks for linking, Janelle. Happy New Year!
Thanks a lot, HoHo. I called myself simplifying things this year and still have a long list haha! Glad I could link up with you guys, Happy New Year!
That’s great you hit your goals for 2016. My goals for 2017 is doing better at meal planning as well and reading more. My sister and I are going to start a book club and read the same book and discuss it. I was hoping for one a month but she suggested 4, one for each season which is probably more attainable.
That sounds great! I have a sister, maybe I can see if she’d be interested in doing a little informal “book club”. One each season sounds great, I hope to be able to do that at least!
I love how you split up your goals into each area of your life. My main focus this year is going to be on school and my blog-anything I can do to help me reach my future career goals.
It looks like you had a great 2016. Good luck on your goals this year-here’s to happy and successful 2017!
Thanks so much, Kaci! Focusing on school and your blog sounds great! Good luck to you in 2017, Happy New Year!
I think you are smart to have that 3-ish minute PR goal for your 13.1. That is within reach…and i Look forward to watching it happen 😉 I have thought about doing a Facebook group as well…but UGH. Not sure I want to spend the time since Facebook is getting more and more difficult for continued support (for me, at least). yes, UGH. LOL I’ll be interested to see how it works for you, good luck!!
Thanks, Kimberly…I’m still SUPER NERVOUS about that goal, haha! I appreciate the support. Yeah, I can’t stand FB anymore but I want to create a FB group…too funny! Hopefully I’ll finally get it off the ground soon!
Congratulations on hitting so many of your goals and buying a house! That is huge!! I know sweets are my weakness too! Here’s to getting better about it this year!!
I think I do need to do more cardio with cross-training, but haven’t looked at my workout schedule yet to see where I can fit it in. I’m still focused on strength, and hopefully can find a good balance to do some more biking at least.
That sounds like a great plan! I would love to do more with strength but I’m not if I could fit it in with all my other classes lol!
Congratulations on meeting your 2016 goals! You really had a great year. I plan to cut back on blogging time this year, but I’ve got so many posts going for January, that goal may have to wait. As for books, I really enjoyed “A Man Called Ove” and a lot of my MRTT friends are suggesting it when others ask for a recommendation.
Thanks a lot Coco! I guess I’ll have to enjoy your blog posts as long as I can! I’ll have to add A Man Called Ove to my list, thanks!
What you like Twizzlers too? I love them and I didn’t get any in my stocking! Now I’m going to crave them until I get some!
Sounds like you have a plan for you goals! I need to get on the ball with mine. Just so much pressure!
Oh man, Twizzler’s are a danger in my house. I basically destroy them, LOL. They’re sooo good but sooo bad!
Oh and don’t feel pressure about making goals for the year. I’m sure you know what you want to do and how to get it done!
I really think with your recent full marathon success, a 2:15 half will be cake for you!
You set some really great goals here! I’m excited to watch you reach them!
Thanks so much, Ali, I really appreciate the support! 🙂
I felt the same way about getting multiple boxes of chocolates for Christmas. And yeah, I can easily eat a bag of Twizzlers in one sitting–they’re my weakness. Anyway, you had so many good things to be proud of and happy about in 2016. Here’s to an awesome 2017! I look forward to following your spring HM training. I’m going for a big HM goal too.
Thanks a lot, Jennifer! I feel slightly better knowing I’m not the only one with a Twizzler addiction, lol! I’ve enjoyed reading your blog this past year and looking forward to a fun spring of racing! Happy New Year!
Good luck with all your goals!
Thanks a lot, Wendy! 🙂
You had a great year and I KNOW you can run a sub 2:15 half! I am right there with you on the lack of meal planning and letting sweets slip into the equation. Ugh. May this be the year we both conquer those!
Everyone seems SO organized with their goals . . . and I am just not. Add 3 states, yes, and am signed up for 2 of them.I think I’ve finally worn Mr. Judy down because he liked to wait, but I just feel better being signed up. You never know, things can go sideways, but it just makes me feel good knowing I’m working towards some goals (there’s that word again).
I hear you on the time thing. I don’t want to be negative, and I’m not sure I can run a better half . . . I think I can given the right conditions, but that happens so rarely. And I seem to do better without that time pressure. Who doesn’t want to get faster, though?
Good luck with all your goals!
I’m such a meal planning fan, and even LOVE grocery shopping, so excited to see that it’s an area you’re working on in 2017. What’s right for me definitely doesn’t work for everyone, but hopefully you can find something that works for your life! Sustainability is key for sure. 🙂
I just have to force myself to do it…I always find excuses to put off meal planning but I’m optimistic that I can turn things around this year!
You had a great 2016 and some ambitious goals for 2017! Good luck 🙂
You’ve done such a great job laying out goals in so many areas of your life.!
I really need to work on my nutrition too! My meal planning is a bit hit or miss. And, I’m so with you on wanting to commit to reading more this year. Let me know if you come across any great reads.
You have some amazing goals for 2017. You can definitely get a sub 2:15 half.
Happy New Year Janelle! You had so many achievements last year. I remember most of them from reading your blog and 2016 was a fantastic year for you. The so-called failures you listed are really no failures and you can definitely manage those easily. You set some amazing goals for 2017 and I can’t wait to read all about it! Keep Running Janelle! #noregrets