Almost seven months ago, did you make a New Year’s resolution? Maybe it was to eat healthier, exercise more, drink less, spend time with your family, or whatever else. And like 92% of Americans, have you since long forgotten about that New Year’s resolution? I don’t personally believe in New Year’s resolutions for the sheer fact that most people fail at them. If you do believe in resolutions, more power to you. What I do believe in however, is setting goals each year and using the year to work toward and achieve that goal. Habits aren’t made overnight and I often think that is why resolutions can be destine for failure. If you have one bad day in the second week of January, the whole year is shot. At least that is how I am with my all-or-nothing personality.

Regardless of what you believe in, we are almost seven months into this year (yikes!) and it is a great time to do a self-evaluation and reset goals for the remainder of the year. Even if you didn’t set goals at the beginning of the year, commit right now to making the second half of the year the best you can. Personally, it is a great time for me to self-reflect, celebrate some of my accomplishments, and focus on what I can do better or differently throughout the remainder of the year.

At the beginning of every year, I write my goals down in a day planner. It is something that I use on a daily basis throughout the year, whether it be to document my training, appointments, or schoolwork. It is always in front of me and I look at my goals often. As I was looking at them the other day, I thought, ‘what better way to stay accountable than share them with a bunch of strangers on my blog?’ So here are my top five goals and the progress I have made, or not made, to date:

Goals as of 1/1/2015

1. Start running again – I have identified as a “runner” for the better part of my life. However, I have definitely had my fair share of hiatuses where I didn’t run for a year or more. 2014 was one of those hiatuses and I didn’t run. Period. As 2015 was approaching and I was feeling pretty down on myself, I made this my top goal for 2015. Getting my stride back wasn’t easy and some times were downright discouraging. When you go from running marathons to barely being able to get through two miles without walking, you better check your ego at the door. With patience and persistence, I am happy to report that I have definitely conquered this goal. So far this year, I’ve done two 5ks, the Lake Tahoe Relay (10.5 miles), and a half marathon. So what’s next? That brings me to my next goal…
2. Run a marathon – The ultimate goal here is really qualifying for Boston, I’m not going to lie. But, being that this is my first year back after a hiatus and I need to work on my foundation, I am not going to kill myself trying to achieve a qualifying time this year. If I do, added bonus. What I am doing however is running a marathon in December that will hopefully set me up to be able to qualify in 2016.
3. Spend more time doing things for myself – This is something that I constantly have to work on…but I am getting better! I am learning that it is OK to say “no” to going out with friends all the time. I am learning that it is fun going for a hike, trail run, paddle, or other exploration by yourself. I am learning that sometimes you just need to sit in a hammock in the middle of nowhere and enjoy the solitude. And I am learning it is perfectly acceptable to enjoy your own company or a good book dining at a restaurant solo. Being a strong, independent woman is something I strive for and I am definitely making progress.
4. Summit 15 peaks in ’15 – This is the area where I have the most catching-up to do to hit my goal by the end of the year. At the beginning of the year, I thought it sounded cool, but now I am realizing it is harder than I thought to find the time. Right now, I have four: Mt. Tallac, Relay Peak, Mt. Houghton, and Rifle Peak. Each peak takes the better part of a day and if you add backpacking to that, you are taking about at least 2-3 days. Combined with working full-time, MBA course work, races/running schedule, and unpredictable weather (or fires in the case of this past weekend), it is proving to be a challenge, but I am bound and determined to get all 15! This weekend we attempted to summit Pyramid Peak, but I was only able to view it from my hammock by the lake (picture above). I’m putting together a video blog for you on my backpacking trip this weekend and should have it for you in a few days. Stay tuned! In the meantime, tell me all the peaks you know of that don’t take a full day. Go!
5. Go to the dentist – I can certainly check this one off the list. For the first time in 8 years, I went back to the dentist this past April. Since then, I have had three fillings, one crown, and one wisdom tooth pulled. The good news is, it wasn’t as bad as I remembered. It feels good being back on track again, but you still won’t ever hear me saying that I love going to the dentist. Who likes the dentist? Really.

All in all, I am super proud of the progress that I have made so far this year. I have really dedicated time and effort into living a healthy, active lifestyle, and it shows! The following is a quote I have held near and dear to my heart along the way.

“Love the life you live, live the life you love.” – Bob Marley

It is so true in so many ways. We all have the option to live exactly how we want. Sometimes it is a real struggle to break old, bad habits or on the flip-side, create new, healthy ones, but those are the things in life that are so worth it! You can either wish you lived your life a certain way, or you can actually do it. It is really that simple.

In the last part of 2015 I plan on continuing to focus on my goals that make me a happier and healthier person. I am living the life I love by running the beautiful trails in Tahoe, taking in the view (and always yelling) from mountaintops, and spending a lot more time relaxing in my hammock in the middle of nowhere!

How are you planning on killing the last 5 months of 2015? Killing time or killing it at life by being the best you can be?