There is just something about December that I love. Other than being in love with the holidays and Christmas. I love spending this month dreaming about the new year, setting intentions and goals and also celebrating the previous year.
I’m not going to lie. 2019 was tough. I’ve had a streak of a few amazing years and this one decided to really teach me many, many, many lessons 🙂
I think to truly do this post justice I’ll share both. The good, the bad but maybe not the ugly (I still keep many things private from the internet). When looking over my 2018 monthly goal post and my 2018 category post, I’m almost embarrassed to share a recap of what was accomplished vs. what I had hoped for. I’m usually so diligent in knocking things off the list. And by diligent, I mean I get into aligned action and figure exactly what I need to do to make each thing happen. There was just something about this year that truly taught me to let go of some of my ambition that has caused burnout in the past. My body was craving less.
As I sit back and reflect, I do wonder if I was only making goals to make them. Because I’m known for sharing them every year on the blog. How could I take a year off of goal setting?! *gasp* This year asked me to be much more fluid and so I obliged. It’s only my perfectionist side that looks back on the 2018 goal blog posts and gets slightly annoyed that I “gave up” on so many or in much more positive language simply chose to let go of them. Which I completely recognize is a good thing in hindsight 🙂
JANUARY PRIORITIES
- Host a 7 Day meditation challenge
- Plan & go winter camping
- Research & apply to speak at a Fall TEDx event
I loved hosting a 7 Day meditation challenge at the beginning of the year. It truly fills me up to serve people in this way. I had planned another one in November after this one went so well, but then had my credit card stolen, which caused my email software to pause (as my annual membership was due) and it didn’t send out any of the November meditation challenge emails. I will definitely bring these back in 2020 because they light me up to provide them for others.
Winter camping never happened this year. We didn’t have one good weekend in January that was perfect weather (not too cold, not too warm) so we scraped this winter bucket list idea. And since I was in Bali all of February I missed some crucial winter weekends.
Last but not least, I toyed with the idea of becoming a public speaker (it’s on my 10-year dream list). I really wanted to join a toastmasters group before applying to become a TEDx speaker and due to priorities, I chose to put this one on pause this year. It’s still in my long term goals so I will bring this one back.
FEBRUARY PRIORITIES
- Attend yoga teacher training in Bali
- Host a 7 Day self-love challenge
- Start planning a spring AIP retreat
2 of 3 priorities accomplished! I attended and completed my Yoga teacher training in Bali and began planning the Autoimmune Thriving retreat for May. I was a little too ambitious thinking I could host a 7-day self-love challenge while doing my YTT so I scraped this one.
MARCH PRIORITIES
- Attend dōTERRA Leadership in March in San Diego
- Start an autoimmune paleo potluck support group
- Relaunch Podcast?
Another 2 out of 3 priorities accomplished. Due to our budgets and the expenditure for the trip to Bali I chose not to attend leadership in March. But I did successfully start and host several autoimmune paleo potluck events throughout the year! The Podcast also relaunched in March with a series on Ayurveda that was amongst my favourite episodes of the year.
APRIL PRIORITIES
- Host my first Autoimmune Thriving retreat
- Finish decorating guest bedroom
- Go turkey hunting
The Autoimmune Thriving retreat ended up being in May. And it was everything I could have asked for.
I never ended up decorating the guest bedroom. While I convinced my husband to finish the shelves I wanted for the guest bedroom we never ending up hanging them and they are just coming with us to the west coast for me to decorate with, out there.
Last but not least, due to budgeting I chose not to go turkey hunting in the spring as that would have required a huge outlay of cash to get outfitted.
MAY PRIORITIES
- Start running twice a week
- Host an autoimmune paleo potluck support group (becomes monthly priority moving forward)
- Learn about setting up a non-profit bursary company
I did not feel the draw to start running again this year so I let that goal go. The monthly AIP potluck groups became a favourite of mine. We had several throughout the year and I truly loved getting to know the autoimmune community in Ottawa.
Instead of a non-profit bursary company, I simply created a social enterprise with Autoimmune Thriving. I was able to gift someone a massage from the profits of my first yoga retreat as my first gift back to the autoimmune community.
JUNE PRIORITIES
- Increase runs to three times a week
- Ride to Conquer Cancer – June 8 – 9
After injuring my back in May I let both of these goals go.
JULY PRIORITIES
- Train for MEC 9km race – July 7
- Plan a summer canoe trip
- Start searching for mountain home real estate areas
As previously mentioned, I didn’t pursue any of my 2019 race goals.
We did manage to head out for the July long weekend on our annual canoe trip and we even drove to a few areas in Quebec looking for cottage real estate.
AUGUST PRIORITIES
- Train for MEC 20km race – August 11
- Start visiting mountain real estate areas with summer bucket lists activities
SEPTEMBER PRIORITIES
- Utah Trip with Mike before or after dōTERRA Convention in September
- Plan a fall canoe trip
While Mike didn’t join, I did travel out to Utah for the annual dōTERRA convention.
I opted to plan a hiking/camping trip with my friend Shannon in October instead of a second canoe trip.
OCTOBER PRIORITIES
- Speak at a TEDx event
- Host my second Autoimmune Thriving retreat
While I planned a second retreat I ended up having to cancel after not being able to sell enough tickets.
NOVEMBER PRIORITIES
- Go on my first deer hunt
- Teach 4 essential oil classes
My friend who was supposed to take me deer hunting wasn’t able to go and due to my health playing tricks on me, I wasn’t able to teach any essential oil classes this month.
DECEMBER PRIORITIES
- Host an AIP culinary workshop for holiday hosting
- Host Friendsmas at our house
- Host 2nd annual Believe NYE 2020
None of these goals spoke to me by the end of the year, so I simply let them go. I managed to participate in a holistic cookie exchange so that fulfilled my want of good food and being around great people. Unfortunately our core group of friends we celebrated Friendsmas with last year, completely dissolved due to other relationships falling apart. I also chose to not host Believe this year which turned out perfectly since I moved January 1st to BC and just couldn’t have managed to do both.
Recap of my category goals
FINANCE
- We did really poorly in the financial budget department this year. While I had made us a rough budget this year, we got really bad at spending outside of our limits. Ordering Uber Eats when I felt like it, buying coffee/chai latte’s out and more. The spending just added up so we found ourselves really cracking down to ensure our debt didn’t get out of hand.
CAREER & SIDE HUSTLE GOALS
- Become a Gold Leader in dōTERRA
- Start an Autoimmune company that hosts retreats for those with an AI diagnosis
- Start a non-profit that provides bursaries or scholarships to those with an AI diagnosis who need help to treat themselves holistically
- Continue marketing & selling my Organized Brides online course
While I wasn’t able to hit the rank of Gold, I’m still in love with my dōTERRA business and the way I get to help others by empowering them to take care of their health. I successfully started Autoimmune Thriving, hosted my first retreat and even launched my first online program under the brand. I chose to completely fold Organized Brides to build Autoimmune Thriving. I think that was one of the smartest things I did this year in the quest to do less and make space in my life. Boy did my ego feel like I had failed though!
HEALTH GOAL
- In 2018, my functional medicine doctor discovered that I have an Estrogen Dominance. Based on meetings with several practitioners we also found my liver needs extra support to detox and metabolize estrogen and other things. My goal over the first half of the year is to regulate my hormones and support my liver to the best of my ability.
I’ll share more on this in a separate blog post.
FITNESS GOALS
- Last year I wanted to be consistent with taking my supplements. I was able to do that. Now that my habit has been created and I don’t struggle with this I yearn for a more stable movement routine. In January I’ll start out with 3 weight workouts a week, 1 yoga practice a week and 1 basement bike ride.
- Yoga Teacher Training in Bali in February
- Train for the Ride to Conquer Cancer in June
- Train for MEC Race One & Two – 9K July 7 and 20K August 11
- Move 7 Days a Week, even if that means just going for a walk
My fitness was slow to get going. After throwing out my back in May my summer was spent rehabbing. Come September, I was raring to go. Yogatown Barrhaven opened up and I got a monthly membership and then I found Third Line Health & Fitness and have been so consistent in my workouts again since September going consistently to yoga or farm fitness workouts.
NUTRITION GOALS
- I have meal planning and prepping down pat. The only goal I want to accomplish this year is continuing to bring in variety into my meals. So I’ve set the goal to try one new recipe a week when meal prepping on Sunday nights.
- I also want to try seed cycling and bringing in different seeds based on my menstrual cycle phase to support my hormone regulation.
While I wasn’t diligent about seed cycling I definitely included them way more in my meals this year. Variety in my meals was definitely lacking, I just didn’t have the motivation to find new recipes.
TRAVEL GOALS
- My husband bought me a trip to Bali for Yoga Teacher Training as our wedding present. It’s something I’ve always considered going to but would never take the time off work to go and do myself. So I’m heading there in February.
- In March, depending on our budget and my vacation time at work I’ll be off to dōTERRA Leadership in San Diego and we’re planning a trip to Utah before or after dōTERRA’s September Convention in September. That’ll be 3 amazing trips this year!
Bali check, Salt Lake City check and then we got spoiled with Mike’s parent’s treating us to a trip to the Dominican for the holidays.
HOME GOAL
- I still have a goal to decorate the Guest Bedroom. Mike made me shelves this year so I have to sand them and stain them and then hang them before I can order prints to complement the wall they are going on. I’ll update the sheets for the bed and voila that room will be complete and I’ll feel better about asking people to come visit us!
Let’s hope I decorate our new Guest Bedroom in Port Alberni faster than I decorated our Ottawa one. Anything under 2 years, will be a record for me.
SPIRITUAL GOAL
- Two ways that I honour my relationship with God and get in touch with my spiritual side is my morning meditation practice. I’ve also had on the goals wish list for a while now an evening devotional practice. Currently, my devotional is hidden in my side table. So I’m going to put it on top of my side table in hopes that the visual cue will help me stick to this goal.
I feel really good about my morning meditation practice. This was so consistent for me this year. While the evening devotional still never really happened. I’m ready to let this go and just pick up a devotional when I feel called to instead of forcing it.
ROMANCE GOAL
- Even if we weren’t newlyweds, I’d have this as a goal. It’s been on my goal list for a few years now as I truly believe the Weekly Date Night is key to the success of our relationship. This year I may try to theme them a bit better, so one week we have a fun date night, then a more romantic one and then an adventure one.
I’m really proud of organizing weekly date nights. They can be as simple as escaping from many an Escape Room in Ottawa (I swear we’ve done every single room at this point) to heading out to Glow Ottawa just to see the Christmas lights.
FRIENDSHIP GOALS
- I love the Female Friendships I’ve developed in Ottawa over the past 2 years with conscious effort. One of my 2019 themes is to make space in my life, so while I’ve truly focused on always saying yes to coffee dates, etc. I will be limiting my female friendship dates to 1 – 2 times a month if it’s outside the fitness arena. Yoga, gym or hiking dates will be unlimited.
I love the friendships I’ve built in Ottawa. I did a series on Instagram in December thanking my beautiful friends (Shannon, Karen, Jessica, Erin, and Susy) for the impact they’ve had on my life while being here.
READING GOALS
- I’m almost finished Present Over Perfect on Audible so that will be the first book I finish in the new year and then I also started Get Over Your Damn Self on Audible. I have Sacred Marriage on my bedside table and try and read one chapter a week. I got early copies of Close Your Eyes, Get Free and The Perfection Detox so I’ll start those next. I also got sent a copy of Are u ok? to review so I’ll add that to the reading list next.
I finished a few audiobooks this year: A Tribe Called Bliss by Lori Harder, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson and then a few books in print: Open Wide by Melissa Ambrosini, Do Cool Sh*t by Miki Agrawal, Your Longevity Blueprint by Dr. Stephanie Gray and Wild Power. I was also able to read 4 books during my YTT The Inner Tradition of Yoga, the Bhagavad Gita, Theme Weaver and the Idiot’s Guide to Ayurveda.
WRITING
- I wrote 2 blogs a week in 2018 and that frequency felt really good. I’ll continue the tradition this year but move them to Tuesday and Thursday publishes vs. Monday & Wednesday since I don’t have any podcast show notes being published on Friday anymore at the beginning of the year.
Writing dropped down again this year. I landed on one blog every week and one blog for podcast show notes. That was sustainable and felt good.
LEISURE GOALS
- I love creating my Winter & Summer Bucket Lists and can’t wait to accomplish the 2019 Winter one and then later this summer create another fun one. I’ve got Winter Camping scheduled for January, we’ll try out a new skating trail for a date night and I’ve booked a cute cabin in March for a cozy cabin weekend. We had so much fun doing canoe trips this year so I want to make sure we have a summer one and a fall one on the schedule for 2019. Bucket list planning is off to a great start.
- I also want to learn how to hunt in 2019. I have hesitated talking about this publicly as it’s a heated subject in society but it’s something I’m excited to learn.
From a leisure perspective, you can always find me planning and checking off items on my seasonal bucket lists. This past year our winter wasn’t the best for the activities I had planned but we were able to have a cozy cabin weekend, I watched the sunset over the Ottawa river, we used our fireplace, decorated for Christmas and did a Christmas lights drive.
This summer I went SUPing, we went on our annual canoe trip to Algonquin Park, spent 4 long weekends up at the cottage, went golfing, had multiple backyard bonfires, watched an outdoor movie on our anniversary, we went Glamping in July, I managed to catch a firefly in the backyard one evening, and since we went SUPing in Wakefield, I can kinda cross off swimming at the Wakefield bridge.
If you’ve read this far you’re by far one of my favourite blog readers. Thanks for joining me on this writing journey. Now let me go write my aligned 2020 goals 🙂