A new year almost always brings new resolutions. It’s natural to want a fresh start, to dream big and make it the best year yet. Setting ourselves up for success means taking a careful look at where you’ve been and where you want to go and then putting everything into motion. For me success planning for 2017 started about six months ago.

It was July 2016 when I realized I I needed more time to myself. As a busygal I want to get the most of each day and I was; but there always seemed to be more I really wanted to do and obviously there just wasn’t enough time in the day. Prioritizing was where I was lacking. Taking stock of what I really wanted to do and making time for it needed to become my #1 priority, bu with so many commitments I knew I couldn’t just walk away. So I declared 2017 to be “all about me” and set my plan in motion.

Part of living an Actively Engaged Life is feeling fulfilled at the end of the day. So I started recruiting people to fill some of my community commitments and said “No Thank You” to new opportunities that didn’t fit on my “me” priority list. “Future awareness is one of the trickiest concepts to teach and also one of the toughest to learn. It is the essence of true time management” Leslie Josel.

For the past 7 years my world and family life had been led by my commitment to our local Relay for Life event. I’d worked my way into the Event Lead position, which was responsible for the local event. We’d raised a great deal of money for the American Cancer Society with our small local event and in order to keep up that trend it required a great deal of time and dedication. Recruiting the right people to serve on the committee, motivating and inspiring them to fulfill their commitments and then there’s all that fundraising. Somewhere along the way I was recruited to lead on a broader scale by volunteering as the ACS Area Lead, helping to inspire and motivate Event Leads in the Northern Territory which included Northern Nevada and Idaho. Then I was promoted to Territory Lead which broadened my area to include Alaska and Oregon. Needless to say it required a major time commitment. Here’s the thing, once I resigned myself into finding others to fill this role people stepped up. Trust me, this wasn’t easy but it’s important to let others feel the excitement of a job well done and taking pride in their success can be very fulfilling. Over the next six months I slowly let go and watched others rise to the occasion. Here’s where the balance comes in. I’ll still have my personal Relay for Life Team, we will raise money and be a part of the event. Giving up my role doesn’t mean I have given up on the cause, it was just time to let someone else take the lead.

The Gym- my nemesis. From the day their doors opened I was a member. (we only have one gym in town and it opened about 8 years ago) and during those years I have given a lot to that place. Mostly time and money. My addiction has varied over the years from going there every night after work for an hour or more too driving by and waving as my monthly membership dues were being withdrawn automatically from my checking account. I’ve gone full out (yes I blacked out while on the treadmill and fell off and yes the security cameras caught it all) I’ve hired personal trainers, took yoga and spinning classes and embarrassed myself in more than one cardio class. But during all that time one thing I never did was lose weight, at least nothing that I was able to sustain or even brag about. So this year I did the opposite of what most people do at the start of the new year. I quit the gym. Yes, I’ve already started dreaming about what I’ll do with the extra money but what’s more important is I have a plan of how I’ll be keeping fit in the new year. It includes trying new things like being brave enough to put on a swimsuit and taking advantage of modern technology. Later this month I’ll share my full wellness plan for 2017.

The word busy has a reputation as being a negative word and I’m out to set things straight. We move so quickly through life. Work, social media, commitments and obligations all come at us at a rapid rate and we call this a busy life. It doesn’t have to be like that. We can take control of all of those distractions and get busy living the life we’ve always wanted.

Thanks for

Getting Busy with me

Christina xoxo