Plans for 2019

Be Better

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to accomplish in 2019. I've decided to focus on being happier, calmer, and just an overall better person. This year wasn't great. It certainly had a lot of great moments, but I know that I wasn't fun to be around. I was generally miserable and lashed out at people in my life, specifically Christine and the kids. If you read this blog regularly or follow me on social media, you saw how I tried to turn things around starting in November with the 30 Day Bring Gratitude Challenge. I found that exercise to be helpful and it's started to change the way I think about things. 

Meditation

In December, I focused on meditation and while I was still not being the best me, I think it's helping some. The hope is that the longer I do it, and the more productive my sessions get, that it make me a tad bit happier, calmer, and all of that. It's definitely not a fix all, but any good that it does for me is something. It's proven to help in all aspects of one's health, so even if it doesn't drastically help my mood, the benefits will help elsewhere.

Lose Weight/Fitness

I maintained my weight throughout the month, which was no easy feat. I got a little lax on my step and calorie counts, especially on the weekends. Since I still want to drop some more weight and continue to get into better shape, I'm going to go back to being more rigid with my "diet". I'll also be incorporating more exercise into my routine other than just cardio. I've been mixing things in here and there but I'm getting pretty happy with where I am and would like to get there a bit faster. The compliments I get are nice, but I need to look in the mirror and be happy before I'm willing to move into maintain mode.

Minimalism

I've mentioned purging my wardrobe and culling my games here on the blog. They're both a part of me trying to live a more minimalistic lifestyle. Before you start thinking of blank walls, no furniture, and a general lack of physical items, let me use the words meaningful and intentional instead of minimalistic. However, if I was left to my own devices, I'd probably get rid of almost everything we own. Obviously that can't happen for a variety of reasons. 

Over the past month I've been diving head first into learning more about minimalism. I read the essays and listen to the podcast by The Minimalists. I've been reading the blog Zen Habits by Leo Babauta for a few years now. I subscribe to Joshua Becker's Becoming Minimalist blog and recently purchased two of his books, The More of Less and The Minimalist Home. The former was a great read and the latter is shaping up to be just as good. I watched the documentary Minimalism, which includes all of these guys and more. It was directed by minimalist Matt D'Avella who has a great Youtube channel and podcast. 

Over the next year, I want to reduce the number of items in our house drastically, where I can. I already started some by first going through the kitchen cabinets and seeing what was in some of them. The first big purge was that of over 30 cookbooks. I kept the ones I that I know I'll use and most of the kids' cookbooks. I also donated three or four bags of games that have no trade or selling value, mostly games the kids don't play and some mass market games that are easily replaceable. Once I finish The Minimalist Home, I plan to tackle each room one by one. 

I mainly plan on focusing on my stuff. If others are amenable to letting things go too, all the better. I'm still debating on what I want to do for my wardrobe. I have an idea of what it might turn into, but before I start making any purchases I need to see where my weight loss journey takes me. 

2019 is really going to about me working on me and I truly think that minimalism is something that is going to help in spades.