I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season with family and loved ones. With my sister’s wedding in early December, I feel as though we have been on a non-stop celebration Train these last few weeks! I am truly a blessed woman.

I hope that you were able to follow along on Instagram these last few weeks during my 20 Days of Fitness Challenge leading up to December 24th. It was fun to try to post a workout or inspiration of some kind every day!

New Years Resolutions are being cobbled together… Lose weight, get more organized, travel more, or pay off debt. Lose weight holds the top resolution spot by a landslide. I have a theory that "New Year’s Resolutions" were created by the fitness industry... strategically after the indulgent holiday season as an opportunity to pull in one third of their revenue for the year before the end of January. Now that's smart business.

I am a planner and a goal setter… but I am not much for resolutions. I prefer to look at the year ahead to understand where you can send your focus and positive energy to find success. Depending upon what may be in store for your year ahead, your needs and abilities may be vastly different from one year to the next.

At the end of the year I like to look back and recall where my focus was for the previous year with the understanding that if I know where I was focused, maybe I can understand why I was feeling a certain way throughout the year. If I was exceptionally happy, what behaviors can I continue to keep me energized? If I was exhausted, what was burdensome in my life and draining my energy that I should remove to allow for strength? If I was stressed, how should I redirect my focus towards a more positive space of freedom and opportunity?

In 2015, I was pregnant, but wholly focused on my husband. His employer changed and I very quickly had to sell our home and find another home in a different city. Because of his demands with his current employer, I needed to help him on board with his new job. I had zero brain capacity to look for a new job so I chose to keep my job and commute before and after our son was born. In the end, it was a very challenging year, but it was so worth it and I am so pleased with where our family has landed. If I made the resolution to get more organized in 2015 amidst a year of chaos… I would have felt as though I failed. When in reality, I didn’t fail; my resolution just didn’t match what the year had in store for me. My resolution should have probably been to plan dates with my husband to check in with each other, celebrate our successes throughout the year to keep us on track and energized for the demands of the year.

In 2016, I was 100% focused on my son. I was learning to be the best working mother that I could possibly be. It was a very humbling and forgiving year as I often felt like a failure. I was nursing/pumping 4-6x a day. I was commuting 90 minutes to work a few times a week. I was learning how to communicate correctly with my son’s grandmothers who were gracious enough to take on the role of caretaker a few days a week. I changed jobs a quarter of the way through the year. I functioned off of very little sleep. In some ways, I was in survival mode. In the order of importance, I came last.

2017 is about me. It will probably be another year or so before I try for baby #2… Neither of my Baker boys are requiring an exorbitant amount of attention from me. We are all in a good place. This is my chance to focus on what I want before life gets crazy again. This year I will FINALLY take the ACE Health Coach exam that I have been talking about for a year. This year I will work on my book. This year I will travel with my husband and to visit friends. This year I will get engaged in the community where I live. This year I will work hard to grow my family’s business, because I love what I do and it brings me joy. This year I will start training for triathlons/races again. So it isn’t one resolution… It is, what is my priority and where do I resolve to send my attention and focus to make this year the best year, for what I think it can be.

Looking ahead where should you send your focus?

Resolve to do just that.

-IV

2017 is MY year