A Look Back On January

I kind of hate resolutions. They're so easy to skip out on and ignore. We've all done it. On New Year's Eve I wrote down a few things I wanted to do for 2017. I figure I should look back on last month and see how I've done.

• Write down good days, memories, experiences.
• I bought a container that I can add in little notes about great things. I add them in regularly. I want to look back at the end of the year to see how my year went.

• Train for the Chicago Marathon.
• This one hasn't begun yet. But I am training for a half right now and missed 1 run due to a snow storm, but made sure to get a walk in that day.

• Drink more water.
• I was really good at keep track of how much water I drank the entire month. I really let this go and could feel the difference. A lot of days I drank more than 20 oz of water. (That's not a ton, but it's better than 0 oz like I was doing before.)

• Workout at least 3x a week.
• I exercised EVERY SINGLE DAY. It varied from day to day, but I got out there and at least walked on my breaks at work or did small work outs at home. 5 minutes is better than 0 minutes!

• Take a class at the gym at least 1x a week.
• The first week of January I was sick, so I didn't go to the gym at all. I did take 5 classes at the gym. I started going to a pilates class on Monday nights and I really enjoy it.

• Write in my 5-Year Journal daily.
• I've been really good about this. I think I might have missed a day and had to fill it in after. This book can be started on any day of the year and asks you one questions a day. You have a few lines and can see how it changes over the next 5 years.

• Journal more.
• I wrote a little bit in my personal journal and once on this blog. I could do better at this for sure.

• Donate to a cause at least once a month.
• I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. When I heard of the Hogwarts Running Club I was pumped! You can participate in virtual runs and they donate most of your registration to charity. They also recommend using Charity Miles to help even more. Their motto is #domoregood. When I signed up for their latest run, $21 went to the Limbs for Life Foundation which is an organization to help get prosthetics to people who would not be able to afford it otherwise.

• See new places.
• There's so many places in Massachusetts I've never seen. I let this option be as small or big as it could be. I traveled to Cold Springs, NY to visit family. I also went to Lynnfield, MA and indulged in some of the North Shore Mall in Peabody, MA for work-related tasks. (See even a mall can be a new place!)

• Read at least 40 books by the end of the year.
• I read 6 books by the end of January. You can see them on this page.

I've done pretty good in January. February I can see where I need to work on already. It's all about progress!