The holidays flew by and I can hardly believe that we’re already a full week into January. While I love this time of year because I enjoy the blank slate that comes with a new year, I also find myself with a minor case of the winter doldrums, wishing for a bit of warmth and sunshine.
Each month, I share three things I accomplished in the previous month and preview three things I’m excited about or hoping to accomplish in the month ahead. It’s fun to look back and forward, and as an added bonus, these monthly check-ins keep me accountable to reach my goals.
I hope you’ll join in and share your three things in the comments section!
In December, I…
1. Ran three 5Ks in one month and PR’d my 5K time. In my attempt to run 12 races in 2012, I realized at the beginning of December that I actually had THREE more races to run before I’d reach my goal. Luckily, I was able to find quite a few end of year races and had a blast running a Jingle Bell Jog 5K with my sister, the Freezer 5K by myself and completing a personal treadmill 5K to round out the year. I’m also excited to share that I knocked a minute and 18 seconds off my previous best 5K time. Being able to say that I run at a 10:18 pace makes high school Jessica (who couldn’t run a mile in 15 minutes) very happy.
2. Made French Macarons for the first time. Want to get me out of my comfort zone in two seconds flat? Put me in the kitchen. I am absolutely terrible at cooking/baking. It’s something I want to get better at (I’m toying with the idea of a cooking class sometime this year…) but for now, I avoid the kitchen at all costs. When my friend Stephanie came home from a year in Paris and hosted a macaron making party, I was a little nervous, but excited to try my hand at making these delicious French pastries. The macarons I made weren’t the most beautiful, but they were certainly tasty and the party was a really fun way to learn something new that I otherwise never would have considered.
3. Enjoyed lots of family time around the holidays. I mentioned in my December monthly check-in that I wanted to enjoy a stress-free holiday season. For the most part, I definitely accomplished that goal (minus one or two frantic shopping trips the weekend before Christmas for last-minute gifts). However, shopping stress aside, I spent LOTS of time with my family in December. From a girls trip to Cape May for the day for shopping and gazing at Christmas lights to ice skating with my siblings at Penn’s Landing to our day after Christmas family outing to the movies to see Les Miserables, the time I spent with my family was wonderful. I hope to continue this streak all year long.
In January, I will…
1. Work on my e-newsletter strategy. Yup, this goal was included in my monthly check-in in December, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to completely check this one off the list. I did make some progress on this goal, and I look forward to continue working on my strategy this month. Last month, I really took a close look at the newsletters I’m subscribed to (some of my favorites: Alexis Grant, Ramit Sethi and The Unlost) and analyzed what I like and dislike about each to better figure out the goals of my own e-newsletter. If you’re not already signed up for my e-newsletter, just click here and get on the list for exclusive content that you won’t find on the blog.
2. Focus on strength training. After logging so many miles running this past fall, I really let strength work fall by the wayside. Intuitively, I know that a strong core will only make me a better runner, but after completing a 10-mile training run, the last thing I want to do is hit the gym for weights. This winter, before I start seriously training for a spring or fall race, I want to get back to strength at the gym. Luckily, I got an amazing deal for five personal training sessions, so I’m hoping they will kick me into high gear and teach me some new strength moves to try on my own.
3. Pitch a guest blog post. One of my major blog goals for the year is to write guest blog posts for other blogs to continue growing my readership here. I have a target list of blogs I’d like to write for, and this month, I’d like to pitch at least one of them to see if I can get the ball rolling on this goal.
What did you accomplish in December and what are you looking forward to accomplishing in January? Share your three things in the comments below!
I would love to learn how to make macarons. I’ve heard it’s really difficult, and involves having the oven half open while they’re cooking. But even so, I love them, and I’d love it if I could make them myself. Now I just need to find some friends that want to host a macaron making party!
They are SO delicious! They were pretty difficult to make and I’ll likely never make them on my own at home, but it was fun to do as a group. I don’t remember any point of the process that we had the oven half open though! Interesting.