It is my favorite time of the year! The time where I reflect on my achievements over the last year and set new goals for the future. Last year was a big year! We moved across the country and I have been slowly shaping and building my career and daily habits in a new city. I’ve been traveling more for work, reconnecting with old friends, and finding new things to try and new goals to make. When I step back and take in all of the new experiences, friendships, discoveries, and priority shifts I realize that this shift has helped me refocus and prioritize things that were being pushed to the wayside due to hectic schedules and immediate deadlines.

I think last year I was a little over zealous in the resolution making and reviewing these now, I definitely see a few that were not “achieved” by the end of 2018. I also see some that, while not perfect and complete, are definitely moving in the right direction. Here is how my resolutions of 2018 shake out. I kept two lists of resolutions last year. The long-term goals are habits I am consistently working on and have appeared on earlier resolution lists, and New Resolutions which are year specific or are new habits I am trying to incorporate (or avoid).

The Long-Term Hold Overs

Write More - I want to be a more consistent blog writer.

This happened, kind of. I certainly churned out more material especially on corpSonore (more on that later) but I am still not nearly as consistent as I would like to be.

writing plus coffee.jpeg — Work in Progress

Grade: Work in Progress

Read 40 books - This is 7 books more than my goal in 2017, and 13 more books than 2016.

CRUSHED IT! I read and listened to 52 books in 2018. The road trip across the country really helped increase my numbers and half marathon training didn’t hurt either (I like to listen to books when I run).

pre book buying 1.jpeg — Have you read any of these?

Want to Start a book club with me?

Grade: SUCCESS

Letter to Nana every month - I used to say I’d write a letter after every book but 40 letters in a year might be overkill and unattainable for me.

Well I don’t think I squeezed a full 12 letters in this year, but I definitely wrote regularly and now that Nana has a smart phone we text more often…and text messages are like mini-letters, right?

Grade: Success?

Ride My Bike More - I say this every year.

That’s a big fat no on this one. I did not ride my bike very much at all this year. I need to train for something or get a bike commuting friend, SOMETHING that keeps me accountable.

Grade: FAIL

Yoga Every Day - At home, at a studio, on the internet, at the park, in the pit, during rehearsal breaks.

Getting better. In Tulsa before the move, I went to 6am yoga with a friend 3 mornings per week. This helped me with my “be a better morning person” resolution. It was okay. I’m just not a Vinyasa flow girl anymore. I am so excited that I now live in a city with 2 dedicated Iyengar studios. Class is so much more rewarding now. I feel like I learn things all the time but my practice is still not daily. I think I regularly practiced between 2 and 5 times per week. I like that Iyengar teachers expect you to practice in between classes and that going to class doesn’t necessarily count as your daily “practice” because it is like going to a violin lesson every day without working on your own in between. This obviously resonates with me.

Grade: Work in Progress

Be a Better Morning Person - AKA go to bed earlier. AKA have something to wake up for (that also holds me accountable) and complete before breakfast.

This one is getting better. I’m a decent morning person in spurts but I want to be more consistent about it. Before Jeff and I moved to L.A., I went to 6am yoga with a friend 3 mornings per week. After moving to L.A., I started driving Jeff to work at 6am…for a little while. This one is hard for me to be consistent about due to evening rehearsals, and the fact that I’m just naturally more of a night person but I’m going to keep trying because I like the mornings where I get things done before breakfast.

Grade: Work in Progress

Set more Short Term Goals - Setting daily, weekly, and monthly goals to keep moving in the right direction is something that helps me organize my time and energy.

I love lists so I started making weekly and daily goal and to-do lists that help with monthly goals and even longer-term endeavors. Sometimes when I’m feeling extra fancy I include when in the day I will complete certain tasks. It really helps me stay on track.

Grade: SUCCESS

No Phone in Bed - At night and in the morning.

Better! The trick is plugging your phone in on the other side of the room so you have to get up to look at it. When I travel for work, I am less good at this, but overall I think I’ve definitely curbed the late night scrolling. Now I need to work on the morning (and daytime) scrolling habit.

Grade: Work in Progress.

QuickBooks - my goal is to update weekly.

By the end of the year, I was really good at this. I find that updating monthly rather than weekly works better for me. I was not very consistent about this for the first half of the year. I kept putting it off to practice (100 day practice challenge really took over my life for a while) but by the end of 2018 I would sit down once per month, write invoices, and update all of my spending. Yay! Feeling a little more financially responsible and vaguely grown up (finally)!

Grade: SUCCESS

No Complaining - complaining is not productive, so if I’m not prepared to do anything about fixing or changing the stuff I have an issue with, I should keep my mouth closed.

I’m pretty sure I mostly failed at this. During the winter and spring, I was fairly consistent about voicing concerns because I sat on a committee and Board of Directors at work, but after the move to L.A. I had so much job frustration, (and I don’t think it was unwarranted), and no way to instigate change because I was not in a position of power, my only options were to let it go, make a huge stink about it with my boss and her boss, or quit. I’m not quite ready to do any of these. I’m learning to bite my tongue but I still vent about it more than I should.

Grade: Work in Progress

New Resolutions.

The following list consists of things I heard about, thought about and learned about, that I tried to apply to my own life.

Go for it - I will not limit myself.

I applied for lots of stuff last year. I emailed people and was more aggressive about pursuing opportunities that I wanted. The fear of rejection is waning, but I’m more excited about the opportunities that sprout when you do not limit yourself. I think my approach and mindset are changing, and being in a new place, full of new opportunities has forced (and fueled) my initiative to advocate for myself and put myself out there as a professional.

Grade: Success

No Self-Sabotage - That little voice in my head that is always whispering not very nice things needs to take a hike.

I’m confident this will be a lifelong pursuit, although the resolution above this one certainly helps keep this one a little more in line. Turns out there is no mute button for that voice in my head. I’m trying to teach it some manners at this point.

Grade: Work in Progress (forever).

One Event Every Month - These can be anything from a 5k fun run to a half-marathon, orchestra audition, horse show, duathlon, or bike ride (this would definitely help me get back on my bike more often).

I didn’t do an event every month, but I certainly did quite a bit more than usual. This year really lit a running fuse for me and I don’t plan to hang my shoes up next year. More on that in a later post. For now, here are the events I did in 2018, month by month. The goal was really to keep me moving, active, and working towards goals rather than training for one race per year, or doing one audition, or only taking riding lessons.

January - Greenleaf 10k Trail run

February - Post Oak Challenge 1/4 marathon trail run.

March - Dressage Horse Show (Pre-Caprilli 1 and 2).

April - See the World a Different Way 5k for Autism, and Geek Day - Don’t Panic 5k

May - Sonrise Stables Horse Show (Hunter Jumpers), Colorado Symphony Audition

June - None

July - Charlevoix Half Marathon

August - None

September - Long Beach Symphony Audition

October - None

November - Joshua Tree Half Marathon, and Route 66 Half Marathon

December - None

The Finish Line

…is never glamorous. This is from the Route 66 half marathon in November. It was so cold!

Grade; Not Perfect, but SUCCESS

Launch CorpSonore / Sound Body Wellness - you guys, this one is my next big project. I am so excited! Movement + Music + Nutrition.

Done! The website launched on November 1st, and the podcast was launched on November 14th. I am so proud of this project. Please check it out, support it, subscribe to the podcast, and stay tuned for more posts about this as I have no intention of letting go now that it is up and running.

Grade: SUCCESS

100 Days of Practice - I will be recording my progress on my YouTube channel. Yes, I have one of those although I very rarely ever use it. You can subscribe to that or follow along here. You know what they say; “slow and steady wins the race.” I am all for the cumulation of baby steps as a way to improve and move forward.

I did it! I did a #100daysofpractice challenge and talked my students into doing it with me. I had gorgeous charts, stickers, and certificates made, which you can buy in my shop, and I blogged about it and kept video evidence of my sessions on Youtube. Subscribe to my channel to see other videos I’ve made and will make in the future. I’m actually itching to do another practice challenge - who’s in?

Grade: SUCCESS

Make A Schedule - This is kind of tied to making short-term and long-term goals. Sometimes I am really good at getting things done, some days I feel like I wander around constantly playing on my phone. This year I am going to start blocking out designated times during the day and week for specific tasks.

My schedule changes pretty regularly due to additional gigs, or last minute deadlines, and travel out of town for performances. I am good at making it to work but need to improve how I structure my “free” time so I am more productive. This seems to happen in spurts, particularly when I have time at the beginning of the week to plan.

Grade: Work in Progress

Journal - Again and again, I hear that the people I really admire keep a journal. A journal is exactly what you make of it. I need to start documenting more than grocery lists, daily to-do lists, and practice goals for the week. So I will be journaling daily, weekly, who knows, maybe more? Hopefully, some of this will turn into material for this blog and more.

I did this fairly consistently while participating in the #100daysofpractice challenge. I write down ideas and goals in spurts, but I definitely wrote things down more this year than ever before. They still usually take the form of lists, diagrams, and charts but I’m starting to realize that is just how my brain works. It does not write beautifully poetic prose when expressing itself.

Grade: SUCCESS

Take Notes During Readings - I love taking notes while I read. So my goal is to work some note taking-worthy non-fiction into my reading goals this year as a way to better ingest the information.

I did not do this. In fact, truthfully, I completely forgot about this one. I read a ton in 2018, but only took notes for one book (“Stack Your Bones”).

Grade: FAIL

Get a Job - I didn’t apply for anything last year. I committed to writing and research. Now I am ready to find something that is not just a whole slew of part-time jobs.

I put this on the list regularly and I never seem to cross it off the list. I get lots and lots of part time jobs and gigs but nothing big enough to fulfill this resolution and I’m not prepared to step out of my field to start looking (yet). I think I’m going to resign myself to a part-time superstar in the future and let this one go.

Grade: FAIL

Be Financially Responsible - I would say I’m pretty good at managing my money....for a teenager. As in, I know how to save, pay all my bills, make more than I spend yadda yadda yadda. But I am not so good at knowing exactly how I spent my money. Did I spend all of my extra $$ on burgers and beers? Cappuccinos? Travel? What about investing? I hear adults do that. What about Roth IRAs? Another thing that nobody really explains in music school.

I have a Roth that I contribute to monthly, I update my Quickbooks monthly, I gave myself a “fun things” budget, I’m so adult and responsible it is just crazy. Am I millionaire? No, but does that make me less of an adult? There’s always something to figure out and improve so I don’t think I’m done but I am definitely happy with the progress this year.

Grade: SUCCESS/Work in Progress

Review

I think this year was a success. I launched corpSonore, which was a really important to me and something I’ve been working on and thinking about for years. I did a #100daysofpractice challenge and want to do it again. I read more books than I thought possible. I ran lots of races, did a few auditions, and competed in a few horse shows. I got better at tracking my finances, planning for the future, and waking up early in the morning. I mean, I’m pretty much on fire.

BUT…

This was a massive list of resolutions. I think I’m going to scale it back in 2019 and really focus on just a few things that I really want to improve. Knowing me, I’ll get a little too excited when I write my “2019 Goals and Resolutions Post” and include a ridiculous number of lofty dreams that I won’t come close to completing BUT keep an eye open for that post coming soon.

Thank you for reading. Happy New Year!

Did you achieve everything you set out to do in 2018?