How many of us actually keep our New Years Resolutions? It seems to me that many of us start with the best intentions, but by the time Presidents Day rolls around mid-February, we’ve lost some steam.

What has worked for me, is setting goals. I suppose one can say goals and resolutions are the same thing. But I’m a list person, so the goals thing works for me! Here are some things I would like to accomplish this year:

Spiritually

I would like to read the Bible from cover-to-cover. Admittedly, I did get a head start on this, so I’m 13 chapters ahead. It seems like a bit of a daunting task, as I know some parts are harder to read than others. I’ve decided to read The Message translation for this goal, being as that I’m in my NLT almost daily because of church and/or bible study.

Ever since my trip to Israel, I have considered hand-copying the Bible, word for word. I certainly wouldn’t be the first person to do this: think about it; how did people get copies of scripture before the printing press was invented?  I thought I might be able to do that this year and kill two birds with one stone as I read while writing. But from what I’ve read on the subject, it has taken people anywhere from four to nine years to accomplish this feat! So, my goal is to start the project; this year, I’d like to hand-write Genesis and Exodus. If I get more done, great! But I think two books is a start.

As I step into a new season of ministry, I am continuing my pursuit of mentoring/discipling someone. My mentor and I meet on a bi-weekly basis over coffee. It’s my desire to be able to pour into a younger Christian and walk alongside them, being able to provide my experience and knowledge to help shape our next generation. Life is hard enough on our own without having people in our corner cheering us on.

Fitness

Since taking about a year off to compete in bodybuilding, I’ve lost a lot of strength in my lifts. In 2018, I would like to work to regain the strength I had at my peak, in 2016. This includes a snatch of 58kg, clean & jerk of 69kg, front squat 185lbs and back squat over 200lbs (I hit 200lbs for a double, and never tested my max after that). PR’ing is always a goal, so hitting numbers higher than that this year (maybe a 63kg snatch and 75kg clean & jerk?) would be a cherry on top of what is already an attainable goal, based on how much I have gained back since I started lifting again in November.

Tied into the previous goal, I’m hoping to qualify for the both Southern California LWC Championships (July) and American Open (September) at the Double Barrel Classic this February. This goal totally attainable (110kg for a 58kg lifter), and hitting this total at Double Barrel would qualify me for both of the bigger meets, and would take the pressure off of training for another meet while training for another goal:

Almost right after my NPC show, I signed up for the San Diego Rock ‘N’ Roll half-marathon. I have no time-related goals as far as this long-distance run, because not only will I be running with a friend, but since it’s my first half-marathon, no matter how fast or slow I go, I’ll be PR’ing my time. I hate running, so this goal is the thing I’m most dragging my feet on right now. No pun intended.

Finally, my goal is to walk 1,000,000 steps in 2018, tracked on my FitBit. The company I work for has promoted friendly competition in steps since September or October of last year. This year, my group has a goal of achieving 7,000,000 steps for the year. My 1,000,000 will go towards that as well. I think this will be pretty easy to achieve considering all the running I’ll be doing through June third…

As you can see, my 2018 is turning out to be a pretty busy year! I know it’s still pretty early, but I’m really excited about accomplishing these goals. I received a bullet journal for Christmas, so checking off milestones is something I’ll enjoy doing while working towards the accomplishments.

What are your New Years Resolutions or goals?