Since going Paleo my family has fallen even more in love with our grill. Paleo and grilling just work well together. The past couple of years I've even been stepping outside my grilling comfort zone more and more. Grilling things I'd never thought to have grilled before and trying new flavor combinations. I have to say I'm pretty thrilled with the results of most of my flavor experiments. In the past I'd never have thought to grill fruit, but it's amazing. Grilling fruit and adding it to traditionally savory dishes? Brilliant. Oh yes, and? New rule: every burger recipe for the rest of forever must contain grilled pineapple. OK, maybe more of a guideline. It's a seriously delicious combination though. This Smoky Grilled Pineapple Burger is always a crowd-pleaser at my house. It's not only Paleo, but Whole30, glutenfree, lower carb, and clean eating friendly. I promise you won't miss the bun! paleo, grilled pineapple burger, smoky
I love the one word concept. Boiling all of our goals, our intentions, our hopes, our visions for the next year down to one single word. A mantra condensed. Concentrated. Focused. Until we arrive at one word.
As 2016 comes to a close, I've been looking back over the year. Looking at what worked and what didn't. Looking at successes and failures. Looking at the lessons learned.
I've also been looking forward to 2017. Pondering goals. Considering options. Setting intentions.
If we're Facebook friends you heard the news that my husband lost his job recently. This changes the landscape of our lives quite a bit. It shifts my part-time blogging back to more of a full-time endeavor again. It focuses me on my fiction writing more. It brings with it endless options and opportunities. For myself, my husband, and our family. It may seem like a negative event, but it's actually very exciting.
With that I want to be sure to go into 2017 with intention. Eyes wide open. Focused. Taking all of that into consideration the one word I've chosen for 2017 is:
I've looked through dictionaries and googled definitions. I've pondered what consistent means to me. Consistent is:
Reliable; steady.
Having a regular pattern.
Consistent is an adjective. It's how I want the noun of me to be modified in 2017. It's not sexy like persistent, persevere, or relentless. It's steady. It's repetitive. It's marching. One foot in front of the other. Over and over. Again and again and again. I like it. It's perfect.
Upon looking back at 2016 I saw a pattern. The same pattern I've seen the last several years in many areas of my life. I'm not consistent. In fitness. In blogging. In writing. In running. Everywhere in my life really. I want to change my regular pattern.
I have the passion. I have the drive. I have the vision. I have the tools. I have the belief, the inspiration, the desire, and the knowledge. What I need is consistent action. Over and over again. And then over and over some more.
So, for 2017 I want to focus on being consistent. No matter the shiny things. No matter the distractions. No matter the fires needing doused. No matter the hard things that need pressed through. Consistent.
I generally just focus on fitness stuff here, but I thought I'd share everything I'm working on this year. Healthy living and wellness are all encompassing to me. Areas of my life that I'll be focusing on, that I need to be consistent:
- Fitness. This includes running, strength training, and daily steps.
- Tracking my food.
- My housekeeping. This includes mostly my kitchen. It's my Achilles heal in cleaning.
- My non-blog writing.
- Blogging.
I was reading in The ONE Thingby Gary Keller that, contrary to the 21 days or even 30 days that we hear, it actually takes an average of 66 days to build a habit. So, my focus is not on the entire year at this point. I am breaking it down into 66 day chunks. For the first 66 days of 2017 I will:
- Try a run streak. I want to run at least a mile for 66 days straight. Slow as it needs to be. Easy. Not stressing my body, but consistent.
- Track my food in whatever app I settle on.
- Reach at least 10,000 daily steps each day.
- Write (non-blog writing here) at least 15 minutes a day.
- Clean my kitchen. This will include loading the dishwasher and wiping down the counters.
- Work on one blog related thing each day. Even just a small thing like an image for a blog post, answering an email, or testing a recipe as part of a regular meal.
I'm looking forward to an amazing 2017!
Do you choose a one-word? Please share yours if you're comfortable.