Happy New Year!

Yes, I know. I’m a bit behind with this one.

Though I’m not very big on new year’s resolutions, I do take time, throughout the year, to set goals and then reflect on my progress.  Rather than declare some drastic new goal this year, I’d like to work towards slimming down.

Now, I don’t mean losing weight (though shedding a few holiday pounds needs to happen). I mean living a more streamlined, minimalistic life.  This is a personal choice and something that I’ve become much more drawn to over the last few years.  We all have too much stuff and spend too much time away from people who are important to us. We do. All of us.

I’d like to have fewer but better quality items in my life.  

I’d like to spend more time with people who are important to me and enrich my life.

Here’s a few examples of what I plan on doing this year:

• I headed home for the holidays last month and as I was unpacking my suitcase, my fabulous mother mentioned that she liked the few garments that I brought home with me. This got me thinking. I do prefer having better quality pieces and I certainly don’t need to have alot to maintain a personal style that works best for me. My goal: Just as I do every half a year, I’m going to audit my closet to purge items that I just don’t use. I’ll use more of a critical eye than I usually do.

• My husband and I are pretty healthy in our diet but there are many times when our schedules become quite hectic. We end up eating out. A lot. We don’t eat greasy fast food or anything like that but we do eat out.  Though I love going to restaurants, this practice is a waste of money. It’s even more of a waste when I have to throw out all the beautiful produce I purchased that has gone bad.  My goal: I’m going to spend a bit of time (some evenings and weekends) prepping meals and/or snacks for the rest of the week. In the long run, this will save us a lot of money.

• Since I’ve owned my own business, I’ve spent more and more time online. I’ve put effort towards building a brand for myself and for my business.  With this, comes significant effort towards maintaining a presence on social media. That’s the nature of what I do. At times though, this has spilled into my personal life. I see myself commenting on friends’ posts and pictures rather then picking up the phone or seeing friends and acquaintences in person.  My goal: I’d like to spend more time offline. It’s time to get back to basics. I want to see and hear from people in my personal and professional networks rather than just read and type with them.

What are you doing to slim down this year?