At the beginning of 2015, I made 5 promises. I posted five simple goals for the year. Today, I’ll review the results. I’ll tell you up front: I didn’t succeed at all of my goals. I’m human, right? But I did follow through with most of the goals I set. Check out my original post:
Five Promises To Practice What I Preach
On January 1, 2015, I wrote a post with 5 promises to practice minimalism in more areas of my life. The goals seemed simple enough, but they were still challenging.
My 2015 Goals And Promises
- Post less often: In the past, I’ve posted as many as 10-12 times per week. This year, I’m going to limit my posts to no more than five per week across several blogs.
- Limit social media: I’m going to stick to a specific schedule on social media. Minimalism should be something we practice in all areas of our lives, including our online life.
- Start a garden: Last year I did a lot of landscaping. This year I’m making it a goal to start a small vegetable garden in my back yard. That will decrease my shopping needs.
- Recycle regularly: I’ve been an on-again/off-again recycler. This year, I’m turning my recycling efforts back on for good. A conscientious minimalist should be a good steward of the Earth.
- Air-dry my clothes: My house came with a clothesline on a pulley. I’ve got no excuses here. It’s time to practice minimalism in my energy usage.
The Results
- I posted less often: Even though I was operating four blogs in 2015, I was able to post less often than I did in 2014. In 2015, I wrote about 150 posts. In 2014, I wrote more than 200 posts. In 2016, I’ll be working down to about 100 posts.
- I spent less time on social media: I used to be active on nearly every social media known to humankind. In 2015, I cancelled several social media accounts. I stayed the most active on Facebook, followed by Twitter. I posted occasionally to LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+.
- I planted and maintained a garden: This was great! My daughter, Annie, and I, planted a garden in the spring. We planted potatoes, carrots, green beans, corn, sunflowers, and blueberries.We kept up on all the watering, weeding, and harvesting. It was great bonding time. Working in the dirt is also a great way to relax and get grounded. Next year, we’ll add a few more square feet and plant a little more variety. Check out my post: 5 Reasons To Plant A Garden At Home.
- I signed up for recycling: Okay, this didn’t happen until late June, but I finally signed up for our local recycling service. Next year, I plan to add composting to my ways of dealing with waste.
- I did not air-dry my clothes: The life of a single dad is a busy life. It was much easier to throw the clothes in the dryer. Even though I did not succeed at this goal, I won’t beat myself up over it. Everything is an experiment. Sometimes we discover that some experiments work better than others. Maybe next year. Maybe not.
I Encourage You To Set Goals For 2016
I’ve never been a hardcore goal-setter, but I do like to write a few goals down at the end of each year. Writing them down helps to keep me more accountable.
Read this: Lasting Change Is Within Your Grasp.
Next week, I’ll post a few simple goals for 2016. I hope you’ll join me and write down a few of your own goals. Just keep these things in mind:
- Keep your goals simple.
- Keep your goals attainable.
- Make your goals measurable.
- Don’t make too many goals.
- Know that you may not succeed at every goal you set.
