New Year’s Resolutions for 2023

Happy New Year! I hope that you have a wonderful year ahead of you in 2023!

As I have done for the past several years on the blog, I’m sharing my goals for the new year. I always break them down by category and share how well I did with the previous year’s goals. So let’s get to it!

I’m linking with Running on the Fly and Confessions of a Mother Runner for the Weekly Rundown, My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and Zenaida for Fit Five Friday and Coach Debbie Runs, Mile by Mile, Runs with Pugs, and Laura Norris Running for Runners’ Roundup!

Looking Back at 2022

I hate to say it, but 2022 was a horrible year for me. Despite my early enthusiasm and many achievements over the course of the year, I had several struggles at work after being moved to a new department. My hometown, Buffalo, New York, was attacked by a white supremacist mass shooter at a grocery store that I have attended many times and I have 2 former classmates that lost immediate family members. Buffalo also had a horrible blizzard right before Christmas that left thousands without power and/or heat (including my relatives), caused the loss of lives (including a person I know), and traumatized many more people. It was just a lot. I’m glad it’s over.

Regardless, I had some goals for 2022, so here’s a quick recap of how I did:

Successes

• Career achievements. While I did have a really tough adjustment with work, I still had an incredible year where I did great work with the DEI affinity group that I created, engaged in some interesting and innovative projects, and even got to work with 2 interns over the summer after previously thinking I’d never get any additional help. I’m proud of the impact that I’ve been able to make with my work since being in my role.
• Quality family time. I was really pleased with the amount of time I was able to spend with my extended family. My sister and I took E on her very first trip to Buffalo where she FINALLY got to meet her grandfather, great-grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins since being born. We also had an awesome family vacation in Asheville, NC, a summer vacation at Rehoboth Beach, DE with my siblings and 3 nephews, and we had an extra-large family Thanksgiving holiday hosted by my brother in DC, where E got to spend time with all 5 of her first cousins.

Failures

• All of my running goals. Plantar fasciitis took me out of the running (literally) from August through November. I didn’t have any major races on deck, but it was a really frustrating setback. Since last year was so stressful, I would have loved to have more time to use running as an outlet.
• Maintaining the blog. I can’t believe that I wrote so little on the blog last year; it was purely unintentional. I was supposed to follow my heart in 2022, and while I did have a HUGE and exciting project that I was going to pursue for the blog, I decided to let it sit as the timing just wasn’t right.

My Goals for 2023

Running/Fitness

• Stay injury-free. I am so sick of injuries! I will make sure to continue to listen to my body, stretch, and strengthen as needed.
• Run or run/walk Philadelphia Trail Half in April. This is the ony race on my radar right now. This trail half marathon will take place in the Wissahickon Park, which is my favorite place ever. I hope I can make this happen!
• Enjoy using the Peloton bike at work! We got a Peloton at the office gym in November, and after just 1 ride on it I am hooked! I had already been using a non-spin bike for the classes once a week at lunch, but there’s nothing like the real thing! I’m looking forward to keeping this as part of my fitness routine!

Nutrition

• Test out intermittent fasting. Bret has been interested in IF for a long time and now I’m starting to give it a serious look. I’ll be sharing my experience with it on the blog!
• Prepare simpler, quicker meals with new Ninja Foodi. I’ll be sharing my Q1 2023 goals in an upcoming post, but essentially, I really need this to be my hack for finally getting my cooking and meal prep to be more consistent! With winter here, maybe I can start using it for soups?
• Minimize emotional eating when under stress. This has been my go-to for quite some time, and I want to be more mindful. So I will keep the Twizzlers (my Kryptonite) out of reach when I’m stressing. I have so any other healthier ways to handle things, and I will be focusing on getting back to those better habits.

Career

• Continue to push the organization and create programs that take things to the next level. I work in sustainability, and I am extremely empowered and passionate when it comes to my job. I have some big projects and initiatives this year and I am looking forward to leading and bringing my vision to life.
• Continue to grow and learn in the field of corporate sustainability. I have learned so much since taking on this role and it never ends as things are constantly changing…and I love that! I was considering pursuing a certification this year, but I’m not sure yet. In general, I want to continue to bone up in the field and lean in on my growing subject matter expertise.
• Get back to networking with professionals. Last fall I went to my first work conference in 3.5 years, and it was so energizing! I really miss being able to network. There are also local organizations that I used to be very engaged in that has diminished since COVID and parenthood. But I want to make more of an effort to get out there this year!

Personal Life

• Have fun! It’s really as simple as that. I want to enjoy life, take the vacation days, do things that I enjoy whether it’s by myself, with my family, or with friends. COVID precautions have made things challenging, as I am still wary of large groups, but I’m hoping that things will continue to get better.
• Work on maintaining and strengthening friendships. I’ve really been thinking about this a lot, and the great friendships I have gained in recent years. We’ve been having a lot of fun, especially letting our kids play together. I just want to keep it going. I also want to reach out to my older friends who aren’t local.
• Redecorate my office. Long story short – after a lot of trial and error I have a new designation for my home office, but the space needs work. I need a new desk, artwork/photos on the wall, and maybe a bookshelf or some organization system. I want this to be my work space and my creative space (not to mention also my workout space where I keep my weights and barre for Peloton workouts!)

Run With No Regrets

• Commit time to work on the blog – schedule it and make it happen! I am very much a regimented person who loves to have a plan. And I am the most active with my blog when I have a schedule. So I’m going to work on scheduling time for blogging, not just linkup posts (which I do enjoy), but getting back to writing original content.
• Continue accepting opportunities to share product reviews. I did have a few new opportunities in the past year, a couple of which were more in the lifestyle niche which was really interesting. So, I’d like to see where that takes me. Every year I review my finances for the blog, and the last couple of years have been much more expensive than revenue-generating. I’d just like to be able to break even, and these opportunities help!

What are your biggest goals for 2023?  Let’s support each other and help keep each other accountable this year!