My friend Becky Heptig blogs at https://startedat50.com/ . Her subscribers (like me) received this helpful email in their inbox this week:
It’s time for those dreaded New Year’s Resolutions. Do you make resolutions? If you do, how long do you stick to them?
I don’t exactly do resolutions…But I do use this time of year to evaluate, improve, tweak or even eliminate. I like to evaluate my habits, attitudes and generosity. I look for ways to improve or optimize, and if something is not of value or is a time waster, then I try to subtract it from my life. I’m not an over-achiever, but I am a little ADD, so I have a lot of things going at once. Sometimes I have to remind myself that being busy is not always the same as being efficient or effective.
Here’s what I’ll be looking at over the next couple of weeks.
My numbers: Stephen and I will update 2022 year-end financials and do some planning for 2023.
My travel schedule: We already have a lot of potential travel on our plate for 2023. We need to determine what fits our budget and what fits our calendar.
My daily habits: I’d like to be more consistent in my habits. This covers exercise, reading my Bible, connecting with friends and eating healthier***.
My calling: What is it God has called me to do? I want to spend time on what’s important to Him and not just what appears urgent in front of me.
Give yourself a quiet hour sometime this next week to think through these topics. These might not all apply to you. Make your own list of what you’d like to evaluate and improve. And remember…you are not meant to be everything to everybody. Really look at what your impact can be on your family and community. Spend your time and effort on what brings you value.
***And here are Becky’s latest thoughts about healthy choices:
I am personally doing a modified Whole30 eating plan for at least the first 2 weeks of January. That means I will be eating mostly plants, meat, eggs and a small amount of dairy. No bread, pasta, or sugar. I did a no-sugar month in January last year. It really helped reset my body and my attitude, so I’m doing it again this year. Doing this is always easier when you do it with friends! Please join me in giving your body a healthy reset for the New Year. Pick whatever eating plan works for you and try to do it for at least 2 weeks. We can share our struggles and our wins. I will be there to encourage you to stay the course when it gets tough! We can all do this together.
Let’s do this!
I’m in Becky! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!
Smoother Sailing 
Never one for New Year’s resolutions, I decided to work out every day last year and got through 364 workouts without fail. This year I stepped up the intensity and added diet. But yesterday I worked out so hard, it was tough walking down the stairs after! Yikes! This year I’m adding diet to the list with low sugar and out of all the efforts the diet scares me the most for how much planning and mindfulness it will take to steer away from what I’ve been doing for years. Also the cost!
So far so good . The other thing is slowing down with devotions, practicing guitar more, teaching music to kids and sticking to my self-inflicted schedule. Seems I have my work cut out for me.
Hope y’all see consistent progress on your goals this year!!! Cheers.