I don’t think anyone has kept fewer New Year’s resolutions than I have – but I can’t imagine anyone who loves them more than I do. There is something so intoxicating about the promise of a new year, new opportunity to try again, new chance to do something else, be someone else. A new year is a blank piece of paper, just waiting for the next chapter of the story. So why is the story that we actually write so often different than the one we set out to write?

For me, too often the story I want to write is too grandiose. Lose [insert unrealistic number here] pounds, write [insert unrealistic number words here], save [insert $..well, you get the idea] is a template designed for failure. Year after year, we set ourselves up for failure.

Not in 2017. Over a Veranda Blonde Roast at Starbucks (#basic #sorrynotsorry), I broke something complicated—my life—into three simple categories: fulfillment, health, financial. I wrote down what I want to achieve in each area of my life. And seriously, you guys, this thing could have been a friggin’ Venn diagram. That’s how closely intertwined these goals actually are when I take time to think about them.

Probably I’m the last person to figure this out, but it’s incredible how seemingly disparate goals feed one another. As I look down at my list of what I want to do, I see invisible lines linking them all. I want to eat better (health), try a new recipe from a different cookbook each week (fulfillment) and build our savings by 20% (financial). Unless I pick recipes with all super-exotic ingredients or a new type of cinnamon roll each week (I won’t…probably), these goals will all work together. Is that what people who have their lives together already know? If so…*tips invisible hat*

Goals for 2017

• Finish book edits by April
• Research and find agent
• Start on second book
• Read 34 books (turning 34 this year, hence the odd, er, even number)
• Visit at least five places I’ve never been
• Try new recipe or new food once a week (blog results here!)
• One date night each week: no exceptions, no cell phones
• Cook more:
  • Eat healthy breakfast six times per week
  • Bring lunch four days a week
  • No fast food for a year
• Exercise five times per week
• Pay off credit cards
• Build savings up by 20 percent

Let’s do this, 2017.