Project 2014: Replacing Resolutions

I love the New Year, and all of the hope and ambition it brings. I’m one of those people who always set new goals and resolutions. However, most years, I also end up being one of those people who abandons their resolutions and forget about their goals. This year, I’m determined not to let that happen.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve spent a substantial amount of time thinking about what I want my life to be, what I want to accomplish, who I want to be, and how to make that all happen. Instead of generating a long list of resolutions this year, I’ve set up a number of projects. These projects are easily memorable, easily tracked, and their success will help me live the life I really want.

By the Year

This year, I’m jumping aboard the #oneword365 train, choosing one word that will represent how I live the year, guiding my actions, thoughts and decisions. I’ve thought a lot about what I want this word to be, and have backtracked more than once. In the end, I’ve decided my word this year is going to be ACTION. I’ll likely be writing a whole other post detailing my reasoning, and my hopes, but basically, I’m planning on making the ideas happen this year!

By the Month

12 months. 12 overhauled habits.

I have a number of habits that I’d like to see change. While I would normally create a list of resolutions and fail epically, this year I’m using a different strategy. I’ve still written out that list of habits I want to change, but I’m choosing one new habit to focus on each month. Focusing on one habit at a time allows me to concentrate my willpower (which is in short supply!), which will hopefully allow me greater success.

To be quite honest, I’ll likely still try and attempt to change all these habits at once, because I’m a sucker for new beginnings. But this year when I fail, I have a back-up plan!

By the Week

I’m committing myself to two weekly projects this year. The first is the #52in52, which I discovered through Twitter and the #sachat community. The challenge is to read 52 books in 52 weeks- an awesome challenge for a book lover like me. However, my goal isn’t really to have read 52 books by the end of the year, but to be reading continuously. Ever since starting university, I’ve been reading in spurts, devouring a number of books all at once, and then going weeks without reading anything at all. The biggest reason for this is simply because I’m too lazy to go to the library to get more books, which is a terrible reason. So my real goal this year is not really to finish 52 books, but to actually be reading every week. And I think the #52in52 project will help me get there.

The second weekly project I’ve called #theNew52. The times that I do something new, and go out of my comfort zone, are few and far between. The times that I curl up in bed with a book or my laptop are way too often. For the last few months, as I’ve been adapting to adult life, I’ve spent a lot of time in my apartment, and very little time searching out new experiences. That’s all about to change, with the challenge of having one new experience every week. I’m giving myself a lot of flexibility with this project; some weeks, I’ll simply choose something new that I want to do, while other weeks, I’ll be drawing from a jar to choose the activity.

By the Day

This year, I’m challenging myself to write every day. Every. Single. Day. I’m not expecting to always produce content, but for at least 15 minutes every day, I’m going to write. Write blog posts, write in my journal, write poetry, write the next great American novel (Canadian novel?). I don’t care what it is, I’m going to sit down and write. I’ve loved to write since I was a child, but never made it a priority, beyond those few years I managed to journal regularly. Writing allows me to work through problems, to share ideas and thoughts, and to document my life. I love sitting down and reading things that I’ve written years ago, but I have to keep writing to keep allowing myself to have that process. Every. Single. Day.

A life is built in years, months, weeks, and days. So it only makes sense that my goals, projects, and habits are too.

What are you hoping to achieve in 2014? Who do you hope to be by the time the year ends? Share your goals, resolutions and projects in the comments- and let me know how I can help!