to set my 2014 goals!

I Must Confess is back! Yay...My Monday linky has been absent for a while with Kirsty and family travelling overseas but we a back for the first time in 2014..

This week we are confessing our resolutions, hopes and dreams for 2014. This is something a lot of people have already written about so it's been good for me to read others and get some ideas.

I must confess I am not one for New Years Resolutions, I do get how starting a new year can be considered a great time for starting (or stopping) something and using the new year as like a clean slate, but I am also a strong believer of "if you want to do something just do it, why wait for a new year, new week, new day"...

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I had never seen this quote until just now but I love it!

Anyway, I have come up with 5 goals that I want to work towards in 2014... In no particular order and as you'll notice most of them all link together, so doing one will help achieve another

1. Run a half marathon

Of course I couldn't find one with kms on it!

This has been something that has been on my mind since I started the 12wbt at the beginning of last year and I wrote it down as my 12 month goal then. I am looking at the Gold Coast Half Marathon as it falls in my school holidays so I can make a bit of a trip of it and not have to rush back to work the next day (although rushing anywhere after a half marathon is not something I think I'll be doing anyway!). I also still have another 6 months of training and whilst I know I am a slow runner and not aiming for any time in particular I am confident I can finish and at this point THAT is my goal! Have been checking out blogs and tips and training programs to get myself as prepared as possible.. Please leave any and all tips below!

2. Step away from the iPad/iPhone

Again with the American pictures! haha.

If you haven't seen the video clip on that surfaced on Facebook recently about the impact mobile phones are having on our lives then please, do yourself a favour and watch it here .
The clip is filmed from a woman's perspective where everyone else around her has a phone while she doesn't and tries to go about her daily life. I found it very powerful! The amount of time I spend "connected" has been something I have been thinking about for a while, in fact I am sure I have even blogged about it from time to time. I live in a townhouse and for the last few months I have been leaving my phone and ipad downstairs when I head to bed and read and relax before going to sleep. I was finding I would 'go to bed' but then would flick through Facebook, Twitter, play all my goes in Candy Crush and Pet Rescue, tend to my Hay Day Farm, and then by the time I did all that it was time to go back to Facebook and Twitter because I may have missed something and before I knew it another hour had passed and I was still wide awake. I was also concerned about the amount of time I was spending staring at the screen and what that's doing to my eyes and sleep. Now, whilst I might miss the odd text that comes through after I've gone to bed, I figure my sleep is more important and it will still be there in the morning, if it's an emergency they'll call! I have also taken a bit of a step away from Social Media and want to continue this this year as well. It's a bit of a catch 22, Social Media is a great platform for me to share my blog and increase my readers but then I find it so frustrating and time consuming and get sick of reading all the drama that some people like to share - I mean seriously some could give the writers of Days of Our Lives a run for their money! This year I want to focus on me so am stepping back.

3. Make more effective use of my time

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I often whinged in 2013 that I never had enough time but if I really sit back and reflect, I have plenty of time, if I use it effectively! I think of the minutes... who am I kidding HOURS.. I have spent on the above mentioned and what I could have been doing instead, I shudder. Yes it's good to have those things as relaxation activities and while I would not say that I have a serious addiction I certainly have spent more time on them than necessary. I have no husband, no children, I have plenty of time and I need to stop making excuses, especially when it comes to exercise. When I am on holidays it is great, I wake up, I exercise..no excuses..but when I am working I think that I don't have enough time, when I do! Especially if I cut out the 20 minutes or so that I spend sitting at the kitchen table after breakfast playing those silly games! I have also been on the opinion that I don't exercise at night and when I get home that's it, I'm home...well that needs to change as well, and the first step I have made to making that happen is signing up for a bootcamp that is going to be run from 6pm-7pm...so my attitude and schedule is going to have to change!

4. Meditate

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Such a great way to relax and switch off it was something that I used to do a lot of, but again, other things took over. My only struggle with this one is that I have downloaded a fantastic app on my iphone that I would love to use before going to sleep but then that would mean taking my phone to bed and therefore undoing number 2... Will have to come up with a plan b for that one I think.

5. Travel

There are so many quotes about travel that I just love but when this one popped up on Pinterest lately it's definitely my fave at the moment!

Last but certainly not least I want to add a few more stamps to my passport this year. I am not sure when or where just yet but am thinking a mini holiday somewhere close by in September, Vietnam has been on my hit list for some time now so perhaps there. Am also thinking it's time I utilised my 6 week Christmas holiday break a little better and head overseas, the USA has also been somewhere I have wanted to go but the thing with that time of the year is all the places I want to go are having Winter then and I hate being cold on holidays! Am certainly more of a Summer traveller!


A lot of people have talked about having a theme word for 2014 and I have had a few running around in my head but if I had to describe what I want out of 2014 then I have decided that my word is...

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I need to stop procrastinating, stop putting things off, stop waiting for things to happen and just do!

Another little piece of motivation and mantra that I am going to use for 2014 came via my best friend (love how she just 'gets' me!)..She say this on Facebook and new straight away it was something I needed to see. I have printed a couple of copies off, one for my wall, one is now stuck on the cover of my diary and I have one to hang in my office at work for my students to see!

I JUST LOVE IT!!!

So I guess in a nutshell I have decided to be a 'HAPPY PERSON' in 2014!

Head on over to My Home Truths to read about other people's goals and dreams for 2014.

Good luck with whatever you are aiming for in 2014 - I look forward to sharing the journey!