If you've been following this blog for long, you know that I like to set annual goals and then I do quarterly check-ins. I'm going to continue that this year and the goals will probably look mostly familiar. I reserve the right to add/subtract/changes goals between quarters if something isn't working out well for me.
I focus mostly on SMART goals - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timebound. Other people can roll with vague goals like "get a better morning routine" or "be more aware of time on the phone," but I need to be able to put a percentage on my success. LOL. Just go with it.
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1. Create and implement a system for onboarding online students by the end of the year
2. Have lunch and/or coffee with someone on campus at least once a month
3. Do a quick refresher course on Excel (free though Coursera or elsewhere - I've been using SPSS too long and some of my very basic Excel skills are rusty)
4. Maintain fifteen or fewer emails in my work inbox - the rest must be filed appropriately
I started a new job at the end of October and my main goal is just to survive the next year!
Area II: Pets
1. Continue to track the number of times I walk Hannah, as well as the length of the walks
2. Grooming of some sort for Hannah every week (bath, nails, etc.)
3. At least one brief training session for Hannah each day
4. Selfie with Hannah and with Zelda (not together!) at least once a week
I feel like I need a Zelda-specific goal here - she would like me to spend hours cuddling with her every day - but that doesn't seem feasible. Something to think about for upcoming quarterly goals.
(I think you should all understand that underneath all these goals is the very basic "don't worry about your pets dying" goal - my anxiety about this is really ratcheting up these days. Maybe one of my goals should be "see about anxiety medication," but instead I will focus on getting Hannah to dance through my legs.)
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| What a terrible angle for my pretty girl. It makes me laugh, though. |
Area III: Health
1. Formal exercise of at least 30 minutes or more on 80% of days - I did this last year. I think it will be more challenging this year with my work schedule, but I think I can make it work.
2. Meditate at least three days a week - I'd like to pair this with lunch, so once I'm finished with lunch, I take 3-5 minutes to focus.
3. Go outside for at least 24 minutes a day - I did this last year and more than 90% of the time I met the goal after just my first walk with Hannah in the morning, but I'm keeping it on the list because it's worth thinking about every day
4. Figure out a decent post-workout recovery shake - It has become clear that what I need is more protein in my diet.
Area IV: Reading
1. Read at least one non-fiction book a month
2. Read at least one book I already own every quarter (at first I typed every month and then I laughed at myself - that is not realistic)
3. Keep my reading spreadsheet up to date
4. Read at least one book every month to complete the top fantasy books by women authors list
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| Some of the books I already own that I want to read. |
Let's be honest. I love reading and these aren't goals so much as things I will do no matter what. It's nice to have some easy wins on this list.
Area V: Fun stuff
1. Finish the dress I'm currently sewing and complete at least one more clothing project
2. Take at least two sewing classes
3. Go out of Wisconsin at least three times (trips to Iowa don't count unless we go and don't visit any in-laws) - This seems pretty ambitious, but I think I can do it. I'm already planning to try and meet Bestest Friend for a long weekend (maybe in DC?), maybe visit my cousin in Pennsylvania, and surely I'll go to Michigan at least once.
4. Track number of pieces of snail mail sent
5. Learn to play chess (my husband loves chess, but I find it inordinately confusing - it would be nice for us to be able to play together)
6. Do at least one thing outside of my work, household, grocery store, or public library every week
7. Go back to tracking expenses - I sort of stopped when I was unemployed because it was depressing, but now I need to get back on the horse
Q1 Fun Stuff
8. Photograph the cows - Our town's beautification council recently installed sculptures of the seven types of dairy cows around town. I want to get a photo of each one this quarter.
9. Get both pairs of my Mephisto sandals resoled - Is this fun? I dunno. But if I send those sandals out between now and March, they'll be ready for warm weather! And that IS fun.
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Do you set new goals with the new year?
Ugh chess. A minute to learn and a lifetime to master. I spent the minute learning it back when I first met my stepsons but I could never get beyond the basics so it didn't work to play with them.
ReplyDeleteHaving just been through the pet dying thing...if there was anything that I could snap my fingers and have magically happen it would be for you to have zero thoughts about your pets dying. Your girls are young and healthy and it's not something that's on the agenda right now. Soak up every puppy dog sigh and kitty purr. I'm sure that you and Zelda will be able to negotiate a cuddle schedule that works for both of you...and when I say both of you of course I mean her.
Yay for SMART!
My husband has tried to teach me chess a lot. I just can't really wrap my head around the different things the different pieces can do. I also struggle with basic card games, so this is actually a bit of a stressful goal for me! Oh, well. I will make myself a cheat sheet if I have to.
DeleteI used to play chess ages ago, but certainly not on any erudite level. My brother learned and needed a partner, so he taught me. I liked it far better than checkers, which I was terrible at.
ReplyDeleteAs far as goals, I always say that I am on a Continuous Journey Of Self Improvement. I try to be better each and every day. I do want to walk more and try to read more, specifically, but I'm not a quantifier/spreadsheeter like you are. When I retired from teaching, I gave all that up as a gift to myself.
And I love that photo of Hannah. She looks so intent. And I can see her elegant feet.
Nance, I think you are definitely better at doing things without external validation than I am! So you don't need spreadsheet and goal trackers. I am, at heart, lazy and unmotivated, so I need to do this.
DeleteElegant feet! I am going to tell her she has elegant feet right now!
I'm sorry you have those sad/afraid thoughts about your pets, Engie. I know at one point there were so many losses (me, Sarah) it was giving you contact sorrow. I'm by no means an expert, but enjoying all the time we had together and not having regrets (about things we didn't get to do) made the grief bearable.
ReplyDeleteAlso Michigan trip?! You have a new friend there!
Yay for Michigan! I'll keep you in the loop if I decide to head over there.
DeleteHello! You have a great list of goals, and I especially love that you include fun stuff! I would love to see your photos of the cow sculptures! Sewing, travel, and snail mail all sound like wonderful things to me. Learning chess to spend time with your husband is a lovely idea. I "learned football" (watching, not playing!) so I could spend more time with my husband, and we ended up going to some pro games, and it was such a blast!
ReplyDeleteOh, wow! My husband and I used to watch a lot of football together and then we just stopped. So now a lot of weekends we're just reading in the same room together, which is nice, but I am hoping chess is something that would lead to more interactions between us.
DeleteChess is very overwhelming and confusing to me. I've basically given up on that one...
ReplyDeleteLove the goals. Sewing! Go you. I'm hopeless with any handwork.
Yeah, the thing is that I've been working on this same dress since 2018. There's a spot in the pattern and I just don't understand the directions! I have to get through it.
DeleteI feel like my life would be so different if Bella, my dog, liked to walk outside. She will do a lap of our backyard and then sleep in a sunbeam for hours, sigh. I continue to be so impressed with your SMART goals (so smart!) and can't wait to follow along this year!
ReplyDeleteOh, wow! Hannah LOVES her walks and I love to go on them with her. I can't imagine if she just wanted to lay in a sunbeam (which she does INSIDE). That would change your life!
DeleteI'm not as organized as you, and I definitely don't have as many goals- you have a LOT. But as you said, some of them are fun and things you would probably do anyway. Some of them seem very challenging to me though! I'm setting monthly goals this year because I can't wrap my head around the whole year at once. Learning chess and sewing a dress will not be included.
ReplyDeleteI know Stephany does monthly goals and I love reading her recaps. Sometimes I feel like I need more time than a month to do things (like travel, for example), so the quarters work for me. I guess this looks like a lot of goals, but it seems reasonable to me!
DeleteI haven't set goals, I always feel utterly unprepared for the new year (I am late to everything), but I think I want to jot down a list this year.
ReplyDeleteWriting it down is the first step to accomplishing it. I guess. I mean, that actually seems like it's advice that doesn't work for everyone. If what you're doing works for you, keep doing that!
DeleteMy BFF is in the middle of that animal angst right now. She had 3 dogs, and one of them died this year, and now the other two are 10 and she is so scared and worried about them dying someday, which of course they will, but it could be quite a few years yet. It's just HARD and such a waste of the time she has now. That anticipatory grief robs us of so much joy. I went through it, big time, as you know. We were so scared and worried for Mulder when he was having chemo, but he didn't know what was going on and was his happy self. Then when his lymphoma came back and we only had about another month, I really tried HARD to be in the moment with him, but I failed miserably. If you can figure it out, I guess, report back HOW. I think I need to work more on being in the moment.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, I agree with Birchie. I wish I could make that worry go away for you. You have years and years ahead of you, and I love seeing their happy pictures!
I think I'm just going to focus on their happiness. Of course they will only be with us for a short time - that's the bargain we make for their presence in our lives - so I should enjoy them as much as possible. Even if that means going to bed realllly late because the cat wants cuddles!
DeleteAlso, what training do you do with Hannah? I think that daily training is a GREAT idea. Brief and fun, keeps her brain active and is just all around a good idea.
ReplyDeleteOooohhhh...Hannah and I did a Canine Good Citizen class right after we adopted her. We work on those skills (loose leash walking, sit, stay, come, etc.), grooming (lifting paws, touching teeth and paws, touching her everywhere, putting her chin in my palm), and fun stuff like twirls, weaving in my legs, jumping, etc. She LOVES training. Her tail wags the whole time. I think she just loves the one-on-one attention. Most of the time I do it right before dinner and I just use her kibble, so I'm not even using super special treats! She just likes it and I like that it keeps her brain active and tires her out.
DeleteI'm also doing it because I want to increase her confidence with me that I will protect her. She's been so on edge recently. We have added a calming probiotic to her diet, have Adaptil going in the room where she sleeps, and I'm hoping the training will also help with her anxiety. We'll see! It can't hurt.
Those are all great goals! I didn't know you sewed. I'll be so interested to see your creations!
ReplyDeleteI haven't sewed much recently, but by putting it on this list, I have ensured that I will at least take my sewing machine out!
DeleteI think I need a goal to play with our cats more. I am such a lazy cat mom. And anxiety medication helps me a ton, just saying! <3
ReplyDeleteI love my protein shake if you want a rec. It has 18g of protein per serving.
I hope you enjoy chess! It's not that hard to learn, but the strategy side of it is exhausting to me.
No set goals for me this year! Just thinking about my not rushing thing.
Oh, you know what? That's a great idea for Zelda. Maybe in Q2 I'll do a goal where I try to play with her a couple times a week. It's sort of annoying because we have to put the dog away, but Zelda loves chasing a fishing pole!
DeleteOh, I'd LOVE your protein shake rec. I'll take any of them.
I didn't even think of that - I would think that is annoying too. But she'll love it!
DeleteHere you go! https://amzn.to/3SbJPkF I make it with vanilla almond milk and frozen bananas and it tastes like a milkshake!
Thoughts about pets that passed on... Yep, I have them, too. My kitty Apollo was very sick and passed on July 2, 2020. I always remember him /around that date, around day of the dead, and around holidays.
ReplyDeleteOn a lighter note. Those are great goals! I need a hobby that is not reading or writing, but I have no patience any kinds of handy work/crafts. Le sigh. My husband is into models and that makes me crawl out of my skin, how long it takes to put together a model.
I am not great at sewing, to be honest, but the only way I can see it getting better is to keep doing it. So here I am. Attempting to do it! Why do you need a hobby outside of reading? Do you feel like you need a creative outlet? Do you not count your blog as a hobby? I'm interested in this pressure you're putting on yourself.
DeleteI "know" how to play chess as in I know how all the pieces should move and what the end goal is, but I don't know really about how to play smartly or strategically. I also find it an incredibly stressful game to play - always wondering if my opponent is going to take one of my pieces.
ReplyDeleteI have goal/thoughts/aspirations for 2024. I think the ones I need to articulate are the not fun adulting ones like window treatments, moving a retirement account, getting rid of my falling apart car...
I think I need to deal with some adulting things, too, like setting a budget and figuring out end-of-life documents. The thing is that that I don't WANT to do those things, so I have to build up to it. *sigh*
DeleteI don't set goals for a new year in January. I feel like this is the time for me to lay low and contemplate my goals. I'm more inclined to think of the new year as starting in March. Weird, I know, but that's how I'm wired. Also, love your goal of "Photograph the cows" because it has the right amount of whimsy.
ReplyDeleteI think different people have different times that make sense to start anew. I think a lot of people in academia actually think of September as the start of a new year, so it all just depends on what your internal calendar tells you to do.
DeleteI am not setting annual goals this year. I havce my 101 list which is enough. Although I am trying out a few different things in my routines in a low-key kind of way. You have a good mix of goals set for this year. I look forward to following along.
ReplyDeleteThe 101 lists are so impressive. You don't need annual goals when you've got that long-term project going on.
DeleteLove your list! I said I wasn't going to set a lot of goals this year because in the last few years I feel like I barely accomplished any from my list (despite doing a bunch of other things that were not originally on my list...). But then when I sit down to write out goals, I can't help myself. I think some goals I've set are probably not the greatest, in that they are either hard to measure OR tend to be like "do X 3x/ week". And then inevitably of course there are weeks when 3x/ week of whatever does not happen, so then it gets confusing to track or measure how well I did. Which then can make it easier for me to sort of just give up on it.... But yet, I feel drawn to those types of goals.... hmm. I need to ponder that a bit more I guess.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I do quarterly goals is for that 3x/week issue. It all averages out in the end. Sure, some weeks I do it twice and some weeks I do it four times, but in the end it's three times. If I do monthly goals, it can be really hard to beat yourself up if you can't make it work. But some goals don't need a full three months. It's tough.
DeleteYay for fun goals! I'm glad you put those on your list this time around. I set annual goals and then I'm switching to quarterly goals for this year because I felt like I needed more time to accomplish my goals. It's making me feel a lot less stressed that I have more than a few weeks to complete my goals!
ReplyDeleteI have those anxiety thoughts about my pets all the time. When I was in TN, I couldn't find Lila on the camera for a day and I was STRESSED OUT. I have a cat sitter but Lila hides from her so she wouldn't even know if Lila, like, died. And then I saw her on the camera the next day! Why is my brain like this?!?! Argh.
Yes, I realize that tracking my spending isn't necessarily a "fun" goal, but it's sort of fun to challenge myself to do it. And I can switch them up each quarter, so that's fun.
DeleteI don't know why we have thoughts about bad things happening to our pets. They're well cared for! They're healthy! What's wrong with our brains?!
I was laughing that tracking spending was fun, too, but I can see the appeal. After being inspired by you, San, and Stephany, I am tracking each and every expense (rent, food, Amazon orders [sigh]) to see where the money goes. So thank you!
ReplyDeleteAlso? A dress? You couldn't start with something, I dunno, easy? :) Can't wait to see how it turns out.
Oh, ha! I used to sew a lot more and have worked my way up to a dress. I sewed a lot of baby bibs and blankets, moved on to skirts (easy!), and now a dress. It's supposed to be an "easy" pattern, but I'm stuck on a step and can't figure out what to do next. I guess I'll experiment and see how it shakes out.
DeleteLoving all your goals. So fun. And I agree if they are not measurable its likely they are not getting done. Your specific numbers are is inspiring. I think I can up my game here.
ReplyDeleteI learned to play chess early in my childhood and played a bit with my dad. Later with my siblings. Than for years I didn't until the husband and I were on vacation and in a store was a chess board. In the spur of the moment we sat down and played a game. It is one of the fun memories I have of us.
Chess is so confusing. I watched one intro video and my head nearly fell off, so it's possible that I may not meet that goal. LOL.
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