2014 Goals

                  

A pretty good way to start the year-Behind the Scenes of Downton Abbey and chai :) 

I hemmed and I hawed about doing one of these posts. Did I want to make public commitments that I wasn't sure I'd follow through on? I always made vague resolutions but they were never measurable and eventually I'd forget about them. Last year I wrote about intentions rather than resolutions for 2013. A bucket list of sorts, with no real worries about checking things off. Without even keeping track I managed to do about half of them. It was nice and low pressure, but that isn't what I need this year. This year calls for something more.

2014 is going to be a year of changes for my family. We're making some big, scary, exciting grownup decisions and the dust hasn't settled yet to see what direction it's going to take us. Granted, it is only the second day of 2014. I might need to add "have more patience" to my list...

I'm a believer in putting things out to the universe. I don't mean that the universe is just going to hand your dream over to you simply because you asked out loud though. I think if you acknowledge what you really want/hope/dream that things become clearer and start to come together.

Words have power.

Saying your dream out loud, writing it down, acknowledging it- they all give that dream power and momentum. It gives you a spot on the horizon to look towards and that helps guide your baby steps in the right direction.

My 2014 calls for measurable goals. A reminder in the chaos that I need to brave and take risks. I plan check in every so often here on how they are going-maybe quarterly, maybe monthly.


Cook something once a month that scares the pants off of me. Macarons. Fondant. Croissants. That's just a start. It's ok if the recipes bomb, but I need to push myself.

 Blog 3-4 days every week. That might not mean 3-4 recipes every week, but the routine of writing is important.

Guest post at least 4 times this year (once a quarter). More would be awesome, but for now that's a start.

Figure out Twitter (and the rest of social media).

Run 500 miles this year and train for one road race. I have my eye on a half marathon, but I'm not sure the timing will work out. Running keeps me sane but I don't have much confidence at it yet. I'm hoping completing a race (which I haven't done since cross-country in high school) will bring that back.

Read 65 books this year. I did 60 this year, but almost 2000 pages more than last year (thanks George RR Martin), so I'm pretty sure I can do 65.

Of those 65 books, 2 need to be about writing and 12 need to be books languishing unread on my own bookshelves. 

Submit my food photos to FoodGawker or Tastespotting. This goes hand in hand with working on my food styling and photography.

Take more photos of the family…and make sure I'm in some!


What are you aiming for this year?