Heather Haddad

I like to make new year’s resolutions because I belive setting goals is an important step to achievement! I also like to take the opportunity to review my prior year and see if I’ve made any progress in my life towards my ultimate life goals.

Last year’s resolutions were:

1. To figure out a good work/life balance so I can enjoy my time off instead of stressing out, and still get everything done that I’d like

2. To go to the gym 3 days a week

I think that I have accomplished #1. Last year at this time, I wrote a blog saying: “I am really struggling with balancing my life. Yesterday, I saw my husband for 45 minutes. I was at Fumee working from noon until 3 AM and came back the next day at 10 AM. I am overwhelmed with the amount of work I have to do, and am frustrated with not seeing the fruits of this labor.”

Things are much better now. We have an employee, and I get one day off a week, sometimes even two! I also don’t have to clock as many hours as I used to. Life’s pretty chill now: in fact, I actually feel guilty sometimes for not being more stressed out!

Resolution #2 was pretty hit or miss through out the year. Which brings me to this year’s resolutions:

Personal:

#1 to take the 10:30 AM yoga and pilates classes at my gym 4x/week

#2 to stick to a diet…it’s about time.

#3 to visit my mom! I haven’t seen her in over a year! I see my dad and sister a lot since my sister visits every summer and my dad and I always go on cigar trips together, but I miss my mommy!

#4 to finish the pile of books on my nightstand that are half read. Amongst them: Anna Karenina, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, The Courage to Be Rich, and Grimm’s Fairy Tales

#5 to get health insurance

#6 to consolidate and begin repayments on my student loans

#7 to save up for a down payment on a house

Then I have some business goals, but I have decided to keep those off the blogosphere for now.

All in all, 2009 was successful for me. I feel that I am better off at the beginning of 2010 than I was at the beginning of 2009. Business is strong, sales are up, tips are up, and time off has increased. In 2010 I hope to see some really great things out of Fumee. I predict that 2010 is the year we finally get this all figured out and running smoothly, as well as the year that we make some great strides towards financial security.

PS, I know some of you have been worried about my cancer situation. My results came back better than expected, but still conclusive for pre-cancer. I do have to have a surgical procedure but the good news is I’ve caught it early and I’ll live. =)

Well 2008 is almost over and it’s time to see how I did on my resolutions. Here is my new years resolutions blog from last year:

Last year was very eventful for me. Graduating, moving, marriage, starting a business. I crammed a lot of life changing events into one year, but I didn’t find it overwhelming, I wish I could have done more.

In 2008, I also have a lot of plans. It’s a sort of a make-it-or-break-it year. In no particular order, my resolutions are:

1. To eat less pizza (well, cheese in general. This is a nicer way of saying “diet”)
2. To get the brick-and-mortar Fumee store open
3. To buy a house
4. To read more and to watch a little less TV
5. To make it to work on time every day (it’s hard to do when you have no boss!)
6. To be more disciplined with going to the gym
7. To have 3 months living expenses saved in the bank, and to begin retirement savings.
8. To be a better wife

Resolutions are often laughed at because people don’t really mean them when they say them, so they are usually broken. Resolutions are like any other goal, you need to mean it, and revisit them and set deadlines, or you might as well not bother. We’ll see how well I did in December 2008.

Well, I did pretty mediocre on these.

1. To eat less pizza  That didn’t happen. I’m addicted to the pizza crack! This is my resolution for 2009 as well.
2. To get the brick-and-mortar Fumee store open I did it! Yay!
3. To buy a house Nope. And, actually no longer a goal. I’m going to revisit this in a year or two.
4. To read more and to watch a little less TV Sort of. I did really well on this for the first half of the year. Then I did bad. Then I canceled cable and did good again, but now I watch TV online, so I’m back to bad.
5. To make it to work on time every day (it’s hard to do when you have no boss!) I have to now that the store is open, so I do this because I have no choice anymore, not because of my amazing willpower.
6. To be more disciplined with going to the gym Again, a sort of. I go through good and bad phases. Right now, I don’t have time to go so I’m in a bad phase. I hope to do better and to make the time in the New Year.
7. To have 3 months living expenses saved in the bank, and to begin retirement savings. Still not done. And, still a goal.
8. To be a better wife Mission accomplished. I rock. Maybe I should cook more though…

When we get closer to the New Year I’ll post my new resolutions and my 2008 wrap up!