Some New Goals for My Today...My NOW. And Bring on the PULL-UPs!

Goals Goals Goals.  As far back in my life as I can remember, I've been a goal-driven person.  When I was a kid, I might not have known that the things I set in my mind to work towards were even called "Goals" but I had them.  I've always had something in my head and my heart that I wanted to strive for.    To go along with the goals I've set for myself has been quite a heavy dose of REFLECTION and this has been KEY for me in being able to accomplish the things I set out to do.  As I continue to work towards things that I want for my life, I've always been able to take a step back and see myself from another perspective. I can see where I'm struggling and where I need to make changes.  I can also see the progress I've made along the way...taking the time to notice this progress makes me want to keep going!  Many times I set goals that only last for a short while before getting scraped.  And sometimes my goals continue to hold for months and years.  No matter how long I sit with a goal, having them always makes me a better me.  

Recently I've felt such a pull to take a step back and start fresh with some goals.  Things have just been moving so quickly and it seems as if every day, every week has been FULL with changes and NEW NEW NEW with this move to North Carolina.  Now that things are settling into "normal" and this place feels more like home, I've had a chance to sit with my old friend REFLECTION and think about where I'm at with life and myself and where I want to be.  

Some new Goals for my TODAY...for my NOW:

• Connect on a deeper level.  So much of me craves connection and an opportunity to share my life moments with those that I love and miss but a huge part of me has been craving an equal amount of privacy or rather a closer knit social circle. Not sure how I will go about doing this but taking time for e-mail, phone calls, special "I'm thinking of you" text messages", filtering my facebook audience so I'm connecting with less people and more with the people that truly care.  
• Be PRESENT and engaged with my kids without phone or other distractions nearby.  
• Read more books.  I have a reading list for the summer and it looks like this will be my summer of classics.  I'm done with Jane Eyre and on to a book called Silas Marner (almost done) by George Elliot.  Excited for the next one.  
• Enrich my MIND (again, more reading along with visiting museums, writing, having more meaningful conversations with friends, etc.)
• Stay off FB way way MORE...limit times that I check Facebook, e-mail and other social media outlets.  And share less and with limited people.  
• Use my Gifts.  Volunteer, connect, being open and conscious of giving of myself to the world . 
• Continue to reflect and set goals.  This is a goal in itself.
• Get in touch with my spiritual side that has been neglected lately.    
• FITNESS.  I have no real running goals right now other than to run often and running what I feel like running.  Some days this will be 5 miles and other days only 3.  But it is so wonderful to not be training for anything specific.  One of my biggest goals with fitness in addition to a healthy lifestyle (diet, staying active, etc.) is to continue to build on strength.  I've been doing lots of: Lunges, push ups, hill running, dips, abs, pull-ups, etc.  My body is shouting out a big "THANK YOU" for the drop in mileage and just more of an overall balance to my fitness routine.  
• One of the goals I've set for myself this summer is to do 10 full pull-ups by the end of the summer.  Right now I'm at about 6 to 7 but I have some work to do with not bringing my knees up.  I'm not entirely sure of the "Proper" form for a pull-up but I plan to make sure to have that down by the end of the summer.  I think that instead of doing pull-ups every day, I might break it up to 3 times a week with 3 sets of pull-ups (as many as I can do).  Many times,  I walk by my pull-up bar and I  make a point to pull myself up on the bar and hold myself up for as long as I can last before continuing whatever it was I was doing.  It helps that the bar is in my kids' bedroom door frame.  Below is a video of my 6 pull-ups from last night and almost 7 today.  You'll notice what I mean by my knees coming up.  But here's to making progress!  10 seems like a lot more than 6 and 7 when it comes to pull-ups.   

Are you a goal driven person?  Do you write your goals down or just keep them in your mind?  What's one of your biggest goals in life right now? 

Tips for doing proper pull-ups? Feel free to critique my form.   

Amanda