Mid Year Resolutions

Okay, so.... many of us set New Years resolutions and then about half way through the year we forget about them so I have decided to give myself a refresher of sorts and set some mid-year resolutions!

In the beginning of the year I feel like there is so much pressure from everyone to set high goals for yourself and then the goals never really come to fruition because the goal isn't very specific. For example, many people just use the "I want to get healthier" resolution or "I want to find myself" resolution which are both really generic and that is why I think that most people don't follow through.

I am giving myself some realistic and specific goals that I want to achieve before my 26th birthday which will be in January of 2016. So here we go:

1. I want to get back into healthy eating and exercising. I mean really focus on becoming the girl I was a few months ago. Because of finishing graduate school and being in and out of community theater shows I have really let myself fall off of the healthy trail and I can tell a huge difference in just the way I am from day to day.

2. To go along with number 1. I want to set an actual goal to lose at least 30 pounds by January. (which I think is very doable and healthy and not drastic like some people saying they want to lose 10 pounds in a week.) Losing 10 pounds may happen on certain weeks but that is not something that can be kept up easily so I want to do it in a healthy and stable way that way I can maintain my progress.

3. Once I reach my 30 pounds I don't want to stop until I feel happy with myself and my body. I don't want a number to determine my happiness so whenever I feel most comfortable and beautiful in my own skin then that is when I will stop losing and start the track to maintaining. I am not saying this is going to happen in even 6 months to a year but the time will pass anyway and I owe it to myself to be the happiest  and healthiest version of me I can be.

4. I want to get a tattoo. I have pretty much decided what I want and where and I have decided that my bestie Daniel and I will be getting them over winter break this year. Getting a tattoo is something I have wanted to do for a while and especially after my dad passed away in 2013. I wanted to get something that symbolized him and reminded me of the love he had for me and I think I have found the perfect thing, so be looking out for a post about that in a few months! *eek!*

5. I want to do something drastic to my hair. I have done some very drastic things this past year and everything I have done I have loved and so now I want to become more adventurous. This past year I have dyed my hair red from being a natural blonde and I had straight across bangs. Both of which I loved but now I want to do something daring and exciting! Again, there will be pictures and a post all about it when it happens! I can't wait!

6 Most of all I want to continue my journey to figuring out who I am and what I want out of life. This may seem a little like the generic "I want to find myself" resolution but what I mean by this is figure out what career path I want to go into, find a job within that career path, and most of all figure out what I want out of my life. I think doing something like a vision board with stuff on it for this one would be awesome. And when I do it I will definitely make a post so you all can see it!

I just feel like now is the perfect  time to experiment and have fun figuring out what I want because I am now out of school and have the rest of my adult life in front of me!

What are some mid year resolutions you want to set for yourself? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo Jess

Goals!

So we all have huge goals we want to achieve but I believe that by setting smaller weekly goals as stepping blocks we can better achieve our bigger goals!

Today I am going to give you some of my current daily/weekly goals.

The first is more sleep. This is probably the hardest goal I have daily and weekly because of my hectic schedule and just the fact that I am a night owl type person. I have been reading so many articles online about the benefits of becoming a morning person and I wish desperately that I were so that I could enjoy waking up in the mornings instead of dreading it! I found this cute little infograhpic online on tips to getting up earlier. I find the culprit to my lack of sleep is getting home late and then wanting to relax and ending up staying awake until 2 a.m. I have made it my new  top goal to get into bed earlier so that I don't have a problem waking up early in the morning!

The second is drink more water. Now, I know, many people say they need to do this but I have committed to cutting out everything but water right now and therefore I need to be drinking more of it! I feel that setting a goal of at least 8 glasses a day to start off with is a good way to train my body to wanting to take in more water in a day! What are ways you have found to incorporate more water into your day?

The last goal for this week is to focus on the important stuff. What I mean by this is not letting the little distractions in life get to me and make me lose my focus for the week. Too often I get caught up in small little things that then overtake my entire mind frame and then put me in a bad mood, or stress me out. I want to focus instead this week on my future and where I see myself and stop letting those little stumbling blocks get in my way.

What are some goals you are going to set for yourself this week? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo Jess

2015- The best year yet

A new planner and a new fresh start to another year. This can mean so many things to many different people but to me it means a new year to set goals and dream big. I have never been one to hate January or the beginning of any new year because to me it hold so much promise of the next 364 days ahead of you. So what will you do with that time?

I will tell you a few of the goals and dreams I am planning on accomplishing this year.

The first one is the graduate with my masters degree in May. This is something I never would have dreamed I would be doing at this time in my life. If you had asked me three years ago if I was planning on going to graduate school my answer would have been no. However, I am so glad that God has led me down this path because I have learned so much about who I am and how to handle various life situations through this almost two years within this program. I have met people I never would have and have been able to feed off of their positive working energy and have been able to push myself to become more of the person I ultimately wanted to be.

The second goal I have is to audition for a Broadway show. Whether it be a traveling tour or in some other part of the world it has been a dream of mine for years to be able to say I gave my biggest dream a shot. I love to perform and sing and be on the stage so it comes as no surprise to the people who know me best. I just feel like if I don't give this a shot then I will never be able to be truly happy with myself by saying I gave it my best.

The last big goal I have for this year is to put myself first. This may seem like something easy and something that many people probably already do, but for me I never put my needs first. I always try and give everything I can to those around me whether it be friends, family, or co-workers so I know that in 2015 I will focus more on giving to myself. This includes overcoming my laziness with my weight loss goals. After losing 90 pounds you get a little complacent and I have done that over the last month with the holidays and birthdays and everything in between. I promise to myself to focus on me and become the best me I can be and that includes being happy with my physical self as well as my mental.

What are some goals you are hoping to achieve this year? What plans have you set into motion for 2015?

I believe that 2015 can and will be my best year yet and I know you can do that too!

xoxo Jess