Yup. That’s right. Jon Acuff ruined my New Year’s resolutions. Check this out. It’s genius.

He calls it 52&7. 7 core areas of life — Financial, Physical, Social, Mental, Professional, Family, Spiritual. 1 or 2 goals a piece. 7 52-day segments of the year. Every 52 days, you basically get to start over. And you already know from before how much I like a fresh start.

The part of it that really works for me is the constant re-evaluation. He’s right. You don’t know in January what July is going to be like. I mentioned in the resolutions post that last year I made all these goals and then 2 days later found out I was pregnant, so they all basically went down the drain. I could have re-evaluated, but I didn’t. And this year, as Sweet Cheeks gets older, my bandwidth is going to change. I can adjust.

My goals are basically the same, some exactly the same, but tweaked into smaller segments of time. I like to call them “slices.” Don’t know what Acuff is calling them, but I’ll use my own creative license there. Plus I added a few. I’ll check in with you every 52 days. Here’s what they look like now. And for real this time.

~~~

Financial

1. Update the household budget daily. I had a bad habit last year of letting receipts pile up, and then it becomes this gargantuan task, and in the meantime, I didn’t really even notice where the money was going.

2. Spend no more than $10 a week at Starbucks. You’d be amazed what we can put away at that place. Aren’t they the ones who have that whole “Third Place” theory? Like after home and work they want Starbucks to be your third place? If so, they’ve succeeded as far as I’m concerned.

Physical

1. Eat at least one serving of fruits/vegetables with every meal. When you’re rushed and have a newborn, you don’t always think about eating well. I’ve probably had more PBJs than I can count. I need to get those fruits and veggies back in. I’m aiming to space it out per meal, but getting 3 servings in a day, however that’s spaced out, is fine, too.

2. Complete first 6 weeks of Lindsay Brin’s Postnatal Bootcamp. I’ve tried starting this before and let it go. Saying just the first 6 weeks gives me some leeway so I don’t quit, and it divides out evenly since it’s a 12 week program. I can finish it next slice.

3. Floss everyday. I threw in a third, because honestly, this takes what, like 5 minutes? Why do I convince myself flossing is this ordeal? So far I’m definitely winning in this area, though.

Social

This is a new one from my original set.

1. Go somewhere “risky” with Cora at least once a week (church doesn’t count). We like to say that Cora is “opinionated.” You know when she’s happy, and you definitely know when she’s not. Because she’s not so easy-going, I kind of get scared to take her places. I want to learn to deal with that, so that’s what I mean by “risky.” For example, a stroll in the park isn’t “risky,” but the grocery store is to me right now.

Mental

1. Finish Spirit-Led Parenting by Tietz and Oyer

2. Finish Getting Things Done by Allen — Kind of ironic I started this one in November, right?

Professional/Household

I added “household” because I only work part-time and there are definitely some projects and goals I have for managing the household.

1. Foster a good attitude about going back to work. I know you can’t really quantify this, but I want to be aware and pray for a good and joyful attitude. I love my school. I love the people I work with. I enjoy what I do. I completely trust our babysitter and her mommy-instincts. I’ve been blessed with over four months off. I only have to go back part-time. But even so, I’m really struggling with the fact that in just a few short weeks I have to go back and leave Cora. Honestly, I’m holding back the tears even typing this out. Breathe in, breathe out.

2. Organize household files. Preferably before doing taxes.

3. Sell recently cleaned-out items on eBay, Craigslist, etc.

Family

1. Have “couch time” every night. This is something named in Babywise, but it’s not really a unique concept. It’s just the discipline of taking a few minutes with the hubs — sans cell phones and electronics — to reconnect, pray, and talk about our days.

Spiritual

1. Read through day 250 of my chronological Bible reading plan. As you may recall from the original New Year’s post, I’m already over halfway through, so this really isn’t a stretch.

2. Finish reading Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible by Higgs and journal the prompts at the end of each chapter.

3. List 156 of #1000Gifts. I’m thinking of making a page on my blog to list these out as I go. (And here it is).

~~~

There it is! Thanks, Jon Acuff for straightening me out.