The Start of a Brand New Year

Happy New Year my lovely lovebugs!! Hopefully your New Year's Eve went swimmingly and you're all prepared for the year ahead. Just out of curiosity, do any of your preparations include New Years resolutions? I think a lot of people would say yes to that. But not me. Not this year. Ya see, I have the worst track record with new year resolutions--I tend to either keep up with them for a few weeks or a month at most and then decide resolutions are for the birds or I procrastinate till the end of the year and end up with a giant list of life changes to accomplish in under a month (dieting on Thanksgiving? I think not).  Now I could be the only one who falls victim to the great new year failure (er resolutions) but I'm thinking not. Which is why I'm soooo excited that my friend Jessica from the blog Kate & Trudy (remember her from my very first Cara box exchange?) has started the brand-spankin new '2014 Directive'.  You can check out her post for all of the details, but pretty much the 2014 Directive is a monthly linkup that keeps you accountable for your very own monthly goals.  Each month has it's own goal and progress report. Your goal take longer than only a month? No problem, the directive is valid until it's completed in full (or you decide it's done). The only rule is that each goal has to be S.M.A.R.T.--Jessica even has a nifty printable that helps you keep track of all 12 goals with room to write down all your progress! Are you sold yet? Yippee, let's get to the going! 

January 2014 Directive

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-Schedule at least 10 content-heavy blog posts this month-

You know those posts that aren't related to the Sunday Social or a recipe or something like that? I'm calling those content heavy posts and they are sort of my goal for this new year. When I was going through all of my posts the other day to write my 2013 review, I realized that there's been a major shortage of "real' posts on the blog. 

Sure I love answering linkup posts, sharing my favorite recipes, and telling y'all that I'm still alive and well, but I would much rather share with you all of the wonderful ideas that are stored half-written up in this little head of mine. So hopefully this month, you'll read about the things I've learned as a video gamer's wife, how I've changed after (almost) two years of marriage, some of my tips and tricks for surviving as a military spouse, and hopefully a lot more. 

Of course, writing better blog posts isn't just something I want to do for only a month so this directive will pretty much extend all year, but that's ok because I'm using Jessica's handy dandy printable to keep track of all of my goals for 2014. Have I mentioned how much I love this printable? It pretty much feeds my desire for planners, organization and more pristine white pages to doodle on. And I love the way it's a reminder each month to make a S(pecific), M(easurable), A(ttainable), R(elevant), T(ime-bound) goal. 

And I almost forgot, if you search the hashtag #the2014directive on Instagram, you'll be able to track my progress as well as some of the other gals who are participating (you should also definitely follow Jessica, because hello! she's the brains behind this operation!). The more the merrier so if you are intrigued by this idea, don't hesitate to join us for the year, or even just a month or two!! 

I am also linking up this post with Hayley and Lauren for Girl Between the Lines as one thing I want to do differently this year. 

What is a blog-related goal you'd love to accomplish this year? Is it S.M.A.R.T?