Ahhh… New Year’s Resolutions. I hate ’em. I haven’t made one in years. The ones I did make, I left in the dust before the first quarter was even over. I have yet to hear someone on New Year’s Eve say, “Let’s toast to my completion of last year’s New Year’s Resolution!”

I know, I know. After the holidays are over, it’s the time of year when there is less going on and it’s only natural at the start off the New Year to start thinking about how we can better ourselves and our lives in the upcoming year. But are New Year’s Resolutions really worth it? Do they, more often than not, get lost in the shuffle and eventually just make us feel bad for not accomplishing them?

It’s not New Year’s Eve, so why I am discussing New Year’s Resolutions?

Well, because today is my birthday and I want to put a new, positive spin on the old New Year’s Resolution!

Throughout the blogosphere, I’ve seen many posts on bloggers’ birthdays indicating what they want to accomplish in their next year ahead. Posts titled “25 things to do while I’m 25” or “30 things to do before turning 30” pop up just about everywhere.

I love these!

While, at first glance, most of these birthday posts look just like wishlists of things the bloggers want to do over the next year; they are really much more than that. The idea is to think about what you really want out of life. What do you want your daily life to look like? What do you want to accomplish or enjoy in the year that lies ahead?

So instead of resolutions {which are often vague to begin with and can make us feel bad if not completed}, I’ve created a list of things I want to do within the next year. The thought of these things makes me happy, not anxious. I’m going to post these elsewhere on the site and cross them off all year long. Feel free to join me!

This list includes fun things I want to do as well as personal and fitness goals. I quickly threw this together, so I’m sure more will end up on my bucket list later.

Here we go! In no particular order…

• Do a Beer Run
  • There is one at the end of every summer right here in Minneapolis!
  • But there are also City Running Tours that include beer stops as well. I’ve been too chicken to try these out yet. I have a fear of being too slow to keep up with everyone.
  • These races and tours are supposed to be FUN, so I don’t want to do one alone. Won’t you join me!?
• Do a Color Run
  • I just learned about these this year! I wasn’t available the date one came to Minneapolis, but I want to do one within the next year.
  • This is a fun run where participants wear white and are doused with color at different intervals on the route.
  • There are two companies that run them: The Color Run and Color Me Rad.
  • This is an un-timed fun run, so it’s another one I do not want to do alone!
  • I will go to another city if there isn’t one in Minnesota or the date doesn’t work for me next year. Let me know if you want to do it together. Let’s get a team going!
• Complete a 5-mile race
  • I have this booked for October 20th.
  • I have no time I expect to beat, I just want to finish!
• Incorporate weight-lifting into my fitness routine
  • This is in the works! I’ll post more about it in the coming weeks.
• Run a 10k race
  • While my focus this winter is on HIIT and weight training, I still plan to run a 10k in spring.
  • Have a 10k race to recommend? My only requirement: I have got to know that I won’t come in last.
• Take a trip abroad to a country I’ve never been
  • This rules out Provence and Sicily from this poll.
  • Sorry, we can only choose one international destination per year. Unless, of course, there’s any part of the world that wants to sponsor us and let us blog our way through our travels for tourism promotion! 😉
• Use my Bahamas Cruise Gift Certificate
  • I earned a certificate for a cruise in the Bahamas doing Wine Tastings.
  • This is how Rob and I plan to get away this winter!
• Reach my goal weight
  • This means losing approximately 35 to 40 more pounds within the next year.
  • I’ll have to ramp it up a bit since it took me a little over a year to lose 35.
• Read more books.
  • Reading is one of my favorite things to do and over the past few years, I’ve forgotten that love.
  • I grew up reading a lot, so when I saw a 10-to-12-year-old boy sitting at a beauty salon waiting for his mon the other day reading an actual hardcover book instead of playing around on a Smartphone, I was reminded of it.
  • The reading of blogs, magazines, Facebook and surfing the web has replaced my reading of actual books.
  • “Read more books” is such a vague goal, so I need to quantify it somehow. Maybe:
    • Have a book with me at all times to read if I end up having to wait somewhere.
    • Read before bed five nights each week. {It really does help relax me before bed anyway!}
    • Commit to reading 12 books per year. That doesn’t sound like much. But really, I have let reading fall to the wayside. One book per month is realistic.
    • Join a Book Club, perhaps? But then, I couldn’t necessarily choose the books.
    • Suggestions?
• Run around Lake Calhoun
  • It’s approximately a 5k.
  • I live in the Twin Cities metro area. There is absolutely no reason why I shouldn’t have taken advantage of this already.
  • Once I complete that, it’ll be easy to run the other nearby chain of lakes, too.
• Run in Eau Claire, WI
  • UW-Eau Claire is my alma mater. I have fond memories of the place and I rarely get back there.
  • Inspired by Liz, I’d love to run past all of my favorite haunts and residences there.
  • Eau Claire is absolutely beautiful this time of year, especially when the leaves are falling.
• Run the Challenge Obesity 5k in April
  • This is where it all began – my first 5k!
  • It’s the perfect race for beginners – not intimidating at all.
  • I want to encourage as many people as possible to join me!
  • Think you can’t run? Neither did I. Start the Couch to 5k program NOW!
• Write more concise posts
  • Yeah, you know this is not a strong point of mine.
  • Starting next month, I’ll challenge myself to do one day a week under X number of words or choose one week per month where EVERY post is under X number of words.
  • “X” has yet to be determined. Ha!
• Create a written bucket list
• Organize Rob’s favorite recipes in one place
  • I want go-to meals on hand so I don’t have to think!
• Do something {even a little something} for someone else – every single day
• Organize Music
  • Would you believe that I have never owned an iPod?
  • I do have an iPhone now, but for music, I really only use Pandora.
  • I just bought my first few iTunes this year!
  • I want to get all of my old CDs uploaded and recycle them.
• Put together a wedding and honeymoon album
  • Our Wedding and Honeymoon took place in 2010.
  • Just because we didn’t have a traditional wedding, doesn’t mean we don’t deserve a photobook of these memories!

Have you created a Bucket List?

If so, name one thing you plan to cross off within in the next year.

If you’d like to help me or join me in accomplishing/doing any of these fun things on my list, just let me know. It’s going to be another fantastic year!

Cheers~
Carrie