Tangent:
It's funny there's been a lot of talk about it being a new decade, and then some blowback saying that's it's not actually a new decade because when the calendar was invented there was no year zero, and therefore this wouldn't be a new decade until 2021. However, to be fair, we didn't even invent this system of numbering for the calendar until like the mid 520s, and Dionysius Exiguus (the monk who invented it based on the birth of Jesus), was actually a few years off on his dating (it's believed that Jesus was actually born around 4 BCE. Additionally, this numbering system didn't catch on universally for quite some time, say the 800s in England, or 900s in France and Italy. So all that is to say that we invented time, and invented what it means, and really it makes more sense that the 20s are their own decade and that we count decades as such. Really, if it was a logical numbering system then it would make sense that we count by 10s, but since the monk who created it had no conception of zero (which is so confusing that you couldn't conceive of nothing), I say we go for the understanding of decades based on what seems right now, not what some monk in the 500s says.
Back to scheduled programming:
So, as has been my tradition, I set goals for myself on the first day of the new year that I track for the rest of the year. Yesterday as I was reviewing my goals for 2019, I decided to figure out how long I have been doing goals and what those goals have been. Turns out, I started doing goals on my blog in 2010, ten years ago! So, then I went down the rabbit hole and started to look up what all my goals have been over the past ten years and see how they have changed over the decade.
Yesterday I mentioned that a few of my goals weren't great because they didn't follow the SMART guide. S - specific, M - measurable, A - achievable, R - realistic, T - time-based. As I was going through my goals, the earlier ones were vague, immeasurable, impossible to know if they've been achieved, unrealistic, and/or bound only by the year. In my first set of goals in 2010, I only had three and they were to be healthier, blog more, and get more organized. What do any of those things mean? How do I know if I've become healthier? More organized in what? The second year was also somewhat vague, but more structured. I had more specific goals such as travel internationally, and visit the West. However, I still had the vague goals like, expressing my opinion more and being more active.
As time went I did get more specific, but there have been some goals that I've used every year, such as reading a specific number of books, which has been 12 every year except 2015 where I went for 18, 2018 when I set a goal of 24, and 2019 when it was 55. All of those were based on what I had read the previous year and was trying to push me to extend beyond where I was before. I've also become more specific on health goals, moving away from just the vague "more active" goal into specific weight loss goals, or things like running a 5k.
Projects have also been a goal that frequently has been on my list going back all the way to 2012 when I began my multi-year goal and project of digitizing my film negatives to preserve them digitally. I've also looked to landscape the back yard, which has been less achievable due to the cost and hassle of building a deck. I also had a vague goal of working on some of the projects that I have such as a family history project, things for the theatre company, and creative outlets that I've considered working on over the years. However, I think one of the things that is somewhat of the problem is that I have a vague goal that I want, and I'm not specific on how I'm going to achieve it, and so it becomes difficult, such as the two that I had last year that wasn't specific enough and were based on a theoretical desire. So, for this year I think I'll have to consider these things that I've learned over the years about goal making when I set my 2020 goals.
For 2020, there are some goals that I've enjoyed over the years, so I'm certainly going to keep those going. There have been some themes that I have often worked toward, such as fitness, communication, social engagement, and so on. I think these are good areas for me to work on and I certainly want some goals based on these things, but my challenge this year is to try and come up with things that are more specific in achieving improvement in these areas.
Goal Number One - Read 12 books: This became a goal starting back in 2012, and usually I set it at 12, but a few years I moved it up as I mentioned earlier because I was reading much more than one book a month. I'm setting it at 12 this year because I know that I've been off reading since doing so much last year and have to get myself back in the habit of it. So, for 2020 I will read 12 books, and if I can get in the habit I'm going to set a secondary goal of 18, which would be one and a half books per month.
Goal Number Two - Average a one pound per week weight loss by the end of the year: So, this is a specific fitness goal, that has a time period that makes it achievable and measurable. I can check in as time goes to see how I'm doing and try to get myself on track if I'm off track. So, this is way more specific than the many years of "be more active" sort of a thing. To help keep me on track Becky is going to try and join me in activities, which will make it more likely that I'll succeed with a buddy. I'm also going to make some subgoals that will help push me toward the overall goal by keeping me focused.
- Subgoal 1: Close my three rings 75% of the time. Last year I did it 50%. I mean obviously, I'd like it to be 100%, but there are going to be days where we travel and days where I'm sick. 100% is not realistic, so I'm going for something more achievable.
- Subgoal 2: Create a schedule that includes two different activities a week. This could be walking and yoga, running and cardio, walking and weights. Whatever is fine, but I want to create a regular schedule that I can get into a routine with.
- Subgoal 3: Log every meal, every day right after the meal. Don't skip any snacks. If it's being consumed it needs to be logged. Sometimes I've been sloppy with it, but I want to be very specific with it this year.
- Subgoal 4: Complete another 5k race. I did one last year, and it was a lot of fun, so this year I'd like to do another one, with perhaps a stretch goal of two more. Maybe one spring and one fall.
- Subgoal 5: Limit my snacking to under 350 calories a day. Right now I'm hitting around 800 with snacks, which is why I'm getting nowhere, so I want to limit that. That still gives me lots of snack options as long as I'm making good choices like a banana instead of chips.
Goal Number Four - Home Repair/Improvements: This was sort of a goal last year where I said I wanted to landscape the back yard, but there are a few things that we need to get done this year. One, we have to fix some places where animals have destroyed the carpet. Two we need a deck. Three we need some landscaping along the side of the house and in the back yard. Four the trim around the top of the house and behind the gutters is rotting and needs to be replaced. I think those are the only reasonable things for the list and have priority. There's some "would be nice" sort of things but I'm not going to focus on that.
Goal Number Five - Spend at least one hour a week on creative things: Ok, so this is an overall vague goal, but the thing that I'm working on right now is drawing, and so my goal for this is to spend at least one hour a week doing one of the drawing activities from one of my books or one that a find. This means it could be 15 minutes four days a week, or 30 minutes each weekend day. If I decide to move to some other creative outlet, then the goal will be to do that once a week as well.
Goal Number Six - Take three photos a day: I've gotten out of the habit of taking photographs of things lately. I especially don't when we're doing just hangouts and things. I sometimes have started feeling weird about taking photos of people or with people. So my goal then is to take three a day, to start getting in the habit and trying to find things that maybe are worth a photo, or to creatively challenge myself to take a photo of something less interesting and trying to make it interesting.
To help, I decided to create a goal-specific Instagram account to post my three photos a day. We'll see how it goes.
Goal Number Seven - Have seven new experiences: I started this goal back in 2013, and I think it's really shifted my life and focus a lot. It changed how we vacation, it changed the way we give gifts, and it changed our focus to try and do new things. I've had a lot of great new experiences, from going to places I've never been, to taking new classes and engaging in new activities that turned out to be a lot of fun and perhaps I wouldn't have done otherwise. So, for 2020 I want again to experience seven new things. I usually hit this goal, and I considered moving the goal number higher but because it's become a much more focused area of my outlook I don't think it's necessary. I think seven is achievable, but also I always work to try and surpass that number.
Hopefully, these are SMART goals for the year, and they are things I want to work on this year. I think they are reasonably achievable, with goal four being the most challenging I think. So, good luck in 2020 everyone. Make it a great year!
Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 1
The mantle is back to a blank slate after months of holiday-themed decorations. We'll have to find something to fill the space for the winter to spring period. I'm sure it'll look good once it's done, I mean, it's not bad now except that it's too empty.
