Resolutions Review: 2013

Last year I set 8 goals for myself. I made a fancy little chart and put it on the wall by my door so I could see it every day. I also created boxes to cross off as I accomplished the goals, which I REALLY liked. I make a to-do list every day and I'm unashamed to put such things as "shower" on it, just because I like crossing things off a list. So having a visual way to chart my progress has worked really well for me, and I have loved crossing things off this list. It also helps me keep track of what my goals are and how I'm doing in progress to achieving them.

In an effort to keep myself accountable, here's how I did:
Spiritual
1. Give away one Book of Mormon per month. Success! Sort of. I missed 2 months, but I did make up for it by giving 2 away the next month. So I did give 12 books away. This one was definitely one of the biggest challenges for me, but it helped me change my mindset about missionary work and make it something measurable so I couldn't excuse myself by vaguely assuming I'd done my part. It also helped me realize that missionary work doesn't always have to be a grand, revelation-driven experience. It definitely can be, and in some cases should be, but for me it helped to realize that I could give a Book of Mormon to someone even if I hadn't had some huge spiritual revelation about it. I could just give it to someone because I wanted to. Everyone needs it, so it's never a bad idea to give one away. I had several impressive experiences with this, though, in which I was up to the last day or two of the month with no one in mind and someone would literally come up to me asking for a Book of Mormon. I gained a testimony that when we seek the Lord's guidance in setting goals for doing our part in His work, He will help us achieve them.

2. Read the Sunday School and Relief Society lessons before church on Sunday. Partial Success. I did great with this for Sunday School, since I'm still teaching Gospel Doctrine. Not so great for Relief Society, though, sometimes because I didn't know what the lesson was and sometimes because I just forgot.

3. Go to the temple at least once every other month, and study something about the temple the entire week before I go. Partial Success. I exceeded my goal for temple attendance, going 9 times, rather than my goal of 6. I failed, however, in my study. I'm going to work on that for next year.

Physical
4. Drop 10 pounds. Failure. Bad. Rather than lose 10, I just went ahead and gained 15. NBD. That'll just give me plenty to work with this coming year!

Financial
5. Pay off my credit card. Success! Plus some! I paid off both of my credit cards AND my car!

Social
6. Do something social with people my age at least once a month. Success! I did a much better job at being social this year, thanks to a few friends at the YSA branch who helped me change my mindset about social situations. I'm still not the most social, but I have improved and I've made a few really good friends in the process, although several of them have since gotten married or moved away...

7. Write a letter every month. Success! This was an interesting goal, because some months it felt very forced - I was just searching for someone to write to. But other months, this goal created an opportunity for me to express feelings or gratitude I might not have thought to do otherwise.

Mental
8. Keep a gratitude journal. Success! As an added bonus, I've realized that this journal has actually become a shortened version of a daily journal and I've been surprised at how detailed it gets sometimes. About midway through the year I started recording a miracle of the day, in addition to the 3 things I'm grateful for, and that has created a valuable opportunity to recognize the Lord's hand in my life and record a significant event each day. I will definitely be continuing this.

Overall, I had 100% success in 5 of my 8 goals, partial success in 2 others, and only failure in 1. I've decided to repeat a few of these with some tweaks to help ensure better success next year. I've loved keeping track of my progress, and I feel confident in the changes I've made this year!