My Ambitious and Motivational New Years Goals for 2013

New Year’s Goals are different from New Years Resolutions.  A resolution is when you resolve to do better, get better, be better.  You make a statement but there is no plan of action attached the the statement. For example, one may make a resolution to pay off debts by declaring “My New Year’s Resolution is to pay off my debt.”  That is all, resolution made.  But with no plan of action attached to it, a resolution is bound to fail you one way or the other.  On the other hand, setting a New Year goal is the smarter way to go if you want to succeed.  Setting specific and measurable goals is the right way to transform a simple new year’s resolution into something attainable. Write them down and check in with your measurable, specific goals on a regular basis to make sure you are making progress. Goals too easy or difficult? No worries, you can tweak things as necessary to provide a challenge while also ensuring you meet your goals.

2012 brought so much growth and inspiration into my life and has left me hungry to accomplish much more in the new year.  Below are my goals that I will achieve in 2013.  Each one is quite ambitious and I am super motivated to tackle each because these are goals that have lingered in my mind or crossed my lips many times over the course of years.  I choose to share my goals with you because I want you to hold me accountable to achieving each one.  Plus, I will blog sporadic updates throughout the year illustrating to you my progress, challenges and successes. I hope to inspire you to set personal goals for yourself this new year and work towards execution.    Afterall, you deserve it.

Chika’s Ambitious and Motivational New Years Goals for 2013

1.  Learn how to do a pull-up.

Ever since gym class in the 6th grade, I’ve yearned to do a pull-up.  Fast forward 15 years and I still cannot do one. Let’s face it, pull ups are hard as heck. With Steve’s plan over at Nerd Fitness, I’ll be doing pull-ups in no time.

2.  Eat more offal (organ meat).

Within the last year I introduced chicken liver into my diet.  Chicken liver is one of the milder tasting, less earthy/weird types of offal, pronounced “aw-ful” — which makes it the perfect choice when trying offal for the first time.  Here is a yummy recipe for chicken livers & onions.  Other offal types include heart, kidney, brain, sweetbread, etc.  Offal is one of the most nutrient-dense superfoods there is.  Offal is so rich in vitamins and minerals that it is often recommended to eat just 1-2 servings per week to reduce chance of toxicity from over-consumption of nutrients.  This year, I will include a variety of offal into my diet.  I already have a pound of grass-fed beef liver that’s been sitting in my freezer for a few months.  Just gotta cook it!

3.  Find a non-profit organization to volunteer.

Volunteering is one of those things that most people KNOW they need to do more of — including myself.  My goal is to find a non-profit organization that shares my love of helping the community through health and nutrition and actively get involved in volunteering my time helping with note-worthy causes. By linking a volunteer effort to something you are passionate about, you are more likely to build a continuous relationship with that organization and the community in which it targets.  Score!

4.  Start a YouTube Soul-Wholesome Nutrition channel.

This blog is a wonderful gift to me on so many levels. It has revamped my love of writing (no matter how strongly writer’s block tries to undermine my efforts).  I get to share my words of thought (and wisdom) with the world through my fingertips.  This year, I will have a visual means of sharing food, lifestyle, and health tips — a YouTube channel!  Ready. Set. Action!

5.  Get outdoors more often.

The Bay Area offers so many outdoor landscapes with countless hiking trails, parks, lakes, beaches, and cooperative weather — it’s almost a sin to not spend time exploring.  So this year my goal will be to do just that — hike more, run outdoors, exercise in nature, walk my errands.  It will do my body and mind good.

6.  Cancel gym membership.

In connection to number five above, canceling my gym membership will force me to take to the outdoors for exercise.  I hit the gym enthusiastically 4-5 times a week so I do not foresee inactivity as being a problem; no gym for me simply means take it outside, save cash.

7.  Soul-Wholesome Nutrition is an active force in improving the health of the community.

Soul-Wholesome provides consulting services to individuals who are ready to transform their bodies into optimally functioning sexy beasts.  My goal will be to spread the word about how we can get the community to treat their health as a priority.  Speaking engagements and food demonstrations at schools, fairs, businesses will be set into motion this new year.

8.  Travel to Nigeria

I am a Nigerian-American born and raised in Los Angeles who has visited my parents’ country just twice — 2007 being the most recent trip.  Shame, I know.  I love love love visiting Nigeria but simply have not taken any action to make a trip come to fruition.  Simply saying, “I want to go to Nigeria” is clearly not enough.  Something tells me that shelling out the cash money to book the flight may help.  December 2013:  Nigeria here I come!

9.  Run a Half Marathon

I love running outdoors no matter how much I try to deny it and substitute heavy weight lifting (which I also love).  Yet in 2012 I probably averaged about 12 running miles — per month!  Yeap, ridiculously low number for a run lover, I know.  I ran my first half marathon in Feb 2011 and loved it — I was quite the euphoric fool.  It took 3 months to train and I committed to that training schedule everyday, rain or shine.  I was relentless in my mission as it really did give me power and motivation to accomplish anything I put my mind to.  June 2013:  See Jane Run half marathon.

10.  Open my heart (and give my attention) to the possibility of finding love.

Honestly, out of all my goals, this one is the hardest yet the most important to me.  To open my heart means allowing myself to be vulnerable and share my emotions and feelings with a guy.  I have no control over what that person may do with such sensitive information.  But such is life.  I realize that I must take a chance with love as I have been (almost) fearlessly taking a chance with other life matters such as career, family, health, and social.  So this year, I will man-up and open up my heart so that the right guy can come along and swoop me off my feet. 🙂 Being single is fun.  But sharing life with that special someone is priceless.

So there you have it, my 10 ambitious, motivational goals for 2013.  Follow along as I provide random updates in blog entries about my progress in accomplishing each goal.  I’m juiced!  Happy 2013 folks!

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