Taking Small Steps | #newyearnewyou

Hello there fellow wanderlusters! I'm going to be starting several new series (and a lot of hashtags) on my blog, just so I can really never run out of blog post ideas. One of them is the #newyearnewyou series, where every so often I'll just post some mid-year motivation and tips so you can get an idea how much work is ahead of you.

One of my major resolutions is to learn how to cook. I guess I was really just inspired by my college-bound older sister, who can barely make anything other than a sandwich without my mom's step-by-step instruction. If I start now, when I'm eleven, I can have the pride of making some pretty darn amazing food in the future. 

... and another is to start using thumbnails.

I wanted to start working on my resolution immediately, so my first cooked meal, the one I'll remember my whole life is - wait for it...

Out-of-the-box mac and cheese.

What a letdown, huh? But who knew it could be so challenging? It actually took a good half hour to boil the water, pour the pasta inside the saucepan, drain the water using a colander (which is actually a container with holes on all sides; at first I'd confused it with coriander and thought the recipe called for me to put some special spice or veggie in the saucepan - I have never before felt so dumb), mix the milk and cheesy powder into a thick macaroni sauce, mix the sauce vigorously, crumble all the powder chunks, pour the pasta into the sauce, again mix vigorously, and then finally serve with a nice drizzle of ketchup. Classic. That was a mouthful, and the recipe definitely took some time, but I actually think it turned out pretty great. 

So let's just brainstorm here. What do you think the purpose of this post is? To try to entertain you with the not-so-entertaining process of making mac and cheese? This isn't a food blog. In this post, I want you to inspire you to take small (and I mean SMALL) steps toward reaching your goal. 6 months ago, when all I could do was dream about cooking, did I dream that my first recipe would be plain old mac and cheese? No. I was thinking about the fancy garlic and parmesan pasta I've been eyeing forever. But sometimes breaking your goal down into chunks can making a big feat sound easy. Want to write a book? Spend some time after reading this post to just brainstorm ideas and write a first chapter. Want to be more active and healthy? I challenge you to refrain from sneaking candy from the bag in the pantry your mom though no one knew about, and instead exercise (which could literally just be walking from one end of your home to the other, stretching, or jump roping) for 20 minutes. New Year's Resolutions aren't meant to be put off for months - don't make it a case where you suddenly rush to achieve the goal in November. Take it piece by piece and I promise it won't be as intimidating. 

And NEVER NEVER EVER give up. If you're not so enthusiastic about your goal, put in a little bit of effort and watch it take shape. Don't back out before you try, because who knows - in 30 years you might regret having put your goal off or stopped doing it altogether. I promise you'll feel good when you publish that book, or notice that you're keeping up with a much healthier lifestyle. 

So here's to goal-setting ... and goal-getting.