2013 Year in Review

In case you haven’t noticed, 2013 is ending. Today. As I went through my Digg Reader today (which I haven’t done in over a month I think), I saw a lot of bloggers evaluating how they did on their new year’s resolutions, and I realized that I too made new year’s resolutions and completely forgot about them. What’s new. So what the heck, I’ll go back and see how I did on them anyway.

Be An Excellent Mother

• Tell my children I love them. A+. If there is one thing my children know, it’s that I love them and think they are the most spectacular human beings on the planet.
• Discipline with love and firmness. A. I have improved so much in this regard. I am more consistent with discipline, and I’ve managed to separate it from emotion, so there is no question that discipline is not connected to my love for them or my appreciation of them.
• No screaming or mean words. B. My outbursts have been few and far between, and I’ve been careful to use fair and respectful words even when I’m angry.

Nurture My Relationships

• Remember birthdays and other holidays. C-. I’ve managed to remember most everything, but still find myself picking up greeting cards the day of someone’s birthday, buying gifts last minute, and forgetting to celebrate other holidays at home.
• Buy thoughtful presents. B-. If I thought more about this throughout the year, I could have done better.
• Be an excellent wife. B. I’ve read a few unconventional books (or are they über-convetional, I’m not sure) about being an excellent wife, and while I do not subscribe to the biblical intention of them, they are full of actionable ideas on the feeding and caring of a marriage.

Excel at Work

• Create team development plans. B. I worked with most of my staff to identify their strengths, how to better leverage and develop those strengths, and areas for improvement. I didn’t consistently work with them on executing the plans. But since technically I only set out to create them, I still get a B. 🙂
• Read management books. F. Can’t say I read any. Boo.
• Meet deadlines and be dependable. B+. I’ve been much better about this but there is still room for improvement. Every now and then, someone is still reaching out to me for something they asked for.
• Adhere to personal operating system. F. I bounced all over the place with this one, and I really need to stick to something to make it work.
• Be more strategic and less operational. B+. I’m working on it. There’s room for improvement, but I have managed to take myself out of the day-to-day somewhat so I can focus on the bigger picture. This is necessary if I am ever to be a VP.

Be Smart With Money

• Be more frugal. B-. I’m still not “frugal” per se, but I am better about not wasting money. For example, I loved my 2nd generation Kindle and planned to use it until it died. Last week it died (negligent homicide, to be honest). I looked on eBay for used 2nd generation Kindles, since I really did love mine, but I couldn’t do it. I needed to buy the latest and greatest, and my new Kindle Paperwhite will be arriving today. I still buy clothes, and some on a whim, but I’m much more restrained, and since I practice Project 333, I am more limited in what I purchase since I know it’s one in, one out.
• Set up 529 plans for kids. A+! We set up a plan for both boys, and have a monthly deposit to the plan for Tiger. Since Rocco is still in preschool, he doesn’t get a monthly deposit yet.
• Pay bills on time. A+. I’ve been really good about this and don’t think I bounced a check all year. Go me!

Focus on Health and Happiness

• Find a way to exercise regularly. D. Gah, why oh why didn’t I do better at this? Yes, it’s hard to find the time, but it’s doable if I just put my mind to it. Husband and I got in the habit of going to the gym every Sunday for BodyPump, but beyond that, I didn’t really do much exercising.
• Nutrition! B+. I have cut back on processed foods tremendously. I eat much better than I did. I drink green smoothies and give them to my kids. My kids get fresh veggies at every meal, and I continue to encourage them to try more veggies. We’re doing pretty well here, with room for improvement.
• Get back to weekly meal plans. C. I often forgot to do this, and the main problem with not meal planning is it creates anxiety and mommy guilt.
• Less TV, more hobbies and books. B. I didn’t even remember making this a goal, so it’s funny that lately I’ve been trying to get out of the nighttime TV habit. The only downside of this is I miss spending that time with Husband.

Organize and Simplify

• Get rid of hot spots. F. Nuff said.
• Do FlyLady for at least a month. F. Forgot I made this a goal.
• Organize office. F. It’s a dump.
• Declutter. B. I have done a pretty good job of decluttering, with room for improvement.

Well that was fun! I wish I’d remembered to look back on these goals throughout the year, and used them as motivation. I’m going to put together my 2014 goals now, which I think will look remarkably similar. Well, I’m off to organize my office. Catch you later!