A Personal Budget: One in a Row

My 20s were spent making New Year’s resolutions and then promptly burning the list sometime around February.

My 30s have been spent chasing goals, or at the very least, trying to be my definition of success (Spoiler Alert: my definition is not healthy). Like clockwork, these annual affirmations have fizzled out like my receding hairline.

I was never good at keep resolutions because I couldn’t “SEE” the outcome. It’s hard for me to say “I want to do X” if I couldn’t see what X was. The two times I truly kept myself on a “personal budget” were in 2005 when I moved to West Virginia for graduate school. I changed my eating habits and lost almost 80 pounds in a year. Then, I got comfortable and the hard work was gone.

Three years ago, my best friend asked me to stand in his wedding in Texas. Again, I held myself to a strict regimen. This time, Ashleigh did it with me so we could hold each other accountable. I lost more than 40 pounds. Then, you guessed it... I got comfortable and half of it came back.

Like almost everyone else, I thought 2020 was going to be MY year, but the last year proved that I need to control the controllable and forget the uncontrollable. 

I turn 39 in less than six months. I’ve spent the better part of two decades chasing goals, hopes, dreams, and unattainable levels of success. Focusing on achievements only make me more insecure.

2021 will be simple. Each day, I want to be better than the day before. One in a row. Each day is a one-day win streak. One in a row.

Here’s to 2021 being a happier and healthier year for all of us.