Goals Update: January Edition

The end of January has finally come, it seems like it went very fast in some sense, but then the past few days have felt like an eternity. However, after one month, it's time to check in to see how the goals are going.

Goal Number One - Read 12 books: This has been the best month for reading I've had in a while! I was able to finish two books this month, thought part of that was because today I had a day off and members of the household are sick so I was able to just sit and read most of the day.  Both of the books that I read this month I enjoyed, though I think I enjoyed the first book better than the second one.

1. The Last Devil To Die by Richard Osman (349 pages)
2. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (329 pages)

I'd love to be able to get two books in next month too, given that I'm starting fresh next month with a new book right at the beginning of the month.  We'll see how it goes. I'll actually have to figure out what it is that I'm going to be reading next, I don't really have anything planned.

Goal Number Two - Focus on fitness by closing all three of my fitness rings 75% of the time: I was really focused on this for January and I was able to close all three of my rings every single day this month.  100%.

Goal Number Three - Complete my monthly fitness challenge:  I feel like this month was really easy with the goal, and I was able to get hat wrapped up back on the 8th.  But, that's one month set.

1. January - double my exercise goal four times this month.

Goal Number Four - Focus on fitness by hitting 10,000 steps a day 75% of the time: I was focused on this one as well so I was able to hit this pretty well.  for the month my average is well over 10,000 steps, and I was able to hit it all but three times this month and I have an average close to 11,000 for the month, so that's not so bad.

1. 28/31 days for 90%

Goal Number Five - Improve my social calendar: January was a very busy month, with the return of theater rehearsals, and then with our exchange student going home there were farewell events and activities we needed to take care of.  I've been feeling isolated and not all that socially inclined as a result.  We'll see how February goes, but we only got one social event in this month aside from the standing family dinners.

Goal Number Six - Usable media memories:  I haven't had an opportunity o think of doing anything about this yet, but I have a few ideas that I might work on.  I've been working on cleaning in my spare time this month, but once things are cleaned up maybe I can start working on something.

Goal Number Seven - Have seven new experiences:  I can't think of anything new in January that I experienced in an intentional way.  We're all experience new things, and given the state of things new not so wonderful experiences.  Or perhaps they are old experiences we are just being forced to relive.   

Secret Horcrux Goal Number Eight: Update this blog Although I haven't done a blog a day like I used to, I ddi update this a few times, and I did do a goals update.

So, there you have it, the update for January!

I'm Doing My Best

I'm currently in a long-term disagreement, or perhaps debate, over the idea of people doing their best.  Generally, I'm not a fan of the phrase or the idea of "I'm doing my best" because it seems to me that far too often the fact of the matter is that they are not actually doing their best at all.  In fact, sometimes they aren't even doing anything at all. The issue I have is that when people say this, it's usually said as an excuse.  You can't be mad at me, I was doing my best.  You can't complain that I did a shit job, I was doing my best.  

Sometimes when this discussion comes up it has to do with some of the students that I have worked with in the past.  We discuss how they aren't doing well in school, and I say that they have so many missing assignments, how they don't study, they don't read, they don't do the work in class.  But then, who I'm having the debate with says, well maybe they're doing their best.  I flatly refuse that they are doing their best, because I point out that they aren't even trying at all, so it can't possibly be their best when it isn't even an attempt being made. We then devolve into discussing how they may have been raised, how they may come from a family who doesn't support education, and the laundry list of other struggles that these students may be facing. Thus coming from those kinds of backgrounds, then maybe they are doing the best that they can.  Again, I disagree.

That isn't the only area, there have been other examples that we have discussed about people who have don't a shitty job, and a similar format comes.  A list of their challenges, the things that made it hard for them. They grew up with these problems or they had issues with their parents, or who knows what all.  So because of that they are not just doing the best that they can.  But I don't think that you are doing your best, when there are better things you could have done and that you didn't do them.

I think that it reminds me of the debate I used to get into with the idea of predestination versus free will.  I think by saying that all these things in your past means anything you're doing is the best that you can implies that you don't have any agency in your life.  What other choice do you have, you are destined to act in a certain way, and what you're doing is the best that you could ever do given the circumstances. 

I think too often this is used as an excuse.  I'm sorry, but what do you expect, I have all these problems.  What else do you expect me to do? I was doing my best.  I think in the end it's a justification for not trying harder.  Why should I try harder, it's my best.  I'm just a victim of my circumstances, you can't be mad at me or hold me accountable for anything, it's not my fault!  I don't accept that.  We do have agency in our lives, and we make choices, and sometimes those choices are not our best.  If we accept this idea that circumstances will predetermine our best, then there is never a need to try harder, or even the possibility of trying harder because whatever shit you do is already your best.

Try harder, be better.

Where Did The Time Go?

Something is wrong with time.  I think perhaps that there are fewer minutes per hour, or maybe fewer seconds per minute.  Or perhaps time is on 1.25x? I'm not sure what's going on but it's become quite clear that there are not as many minutes or seconds in the day as there used to be.  I don't know when this change in time happened, but it happened sometime in the past 15 years.  Because back in like 2010 I could get a lot more done in a day than I can now.  At the time I was finishing college, was doing student teaching, was running the drama boosters, associate directing, painting the new house, moving in, and still having enough time to do things with people.

Now it's become an incremental success sort of a situation.  Get a little bit done today, and a little bit tomorrow, and maybe by the end of the month I'll have successfully completed one or two things.  I feel like I used to get more done in a day or two than I can get done now in an entire month.  Someone needs to revert the time back to how it used to be.

A Whole Ass Baby

So, one of the developments that came about during the period I wasn't blogging last year was that we had a baby thrust into our lives.  A whole ass baby.  Freshly baked, straight from the oven.  A few weeks before I had said that I missed Sal being a baby and thought maybe it would have been nice to have had a second kids.  But Sal is old, and that wasn't really on the agenda at this point.  I mean, I'm almost as old at George is supposed to be in Father of the Bride 2, and while my oldest daughter is looking at getting married, and I regularly meet with a wedding planner (though her name is not Franck and it's because we're friend), that isn't the movie that I expected my life to take after.

However, the baby is a lovely, sweet little thing.  She's pretty well behaved, and she's starting to hit all her important milestones, which can be cute.  Earlier this week I got her to laugh for the first time, and the last two days she's started to do it a little more.  Today it seemed like she was testing it out and was just lifelessly laughing.  She smiles a lot, and loves to eat, poop, and sleep, which is typical of a baby.  For the most part she's been a pretty low demand baby who's just happy to eat.

The situation, however, has not been ideal.  When I said, "thrust" what I mean was that she is a foster placement that we were not expecting to do.  She had some worrying health concerns at birth and we didn't really even know much about the situation until she made her way to us.  We also don't know what the long term effects are going to be, and we also don't know how long term this situation is going to be.  The uncertainty is really one of the worst parts of the situation because we don't know if this will be three months, six months, a year, or even longer. We also don't really get to know what's going on unless it's said in open court during the different hearings, trials, etc.  It's just tedious being in the dark.

But, for now, we have a whole ass baby to take care of.  

Goals for 2025

Ok, let's be serious here and stop messing around.  I've been bad about goals. I se them but then I don't track them, and then I fail them all.  I'd say perhaps I need a goal of tracking my goal, but if I don't track them then it won't matter if I set one.  But, 2025 is going to be different. I'm going to set goals and I'm going to track them and succeed at them!  But then again, that's easy to say on January 1. Either way, here we go for 2025!

Goal Number One - Read 12 books: At the end of last year I started to get a lot more movement when it came to reading. I always have some sort of reading goal on my annual goals list, so we'll be keeping this one this year.  I only made it through five books last year, but I want to get at least one per month so I'm setting it at 12 again.  Two year I also wanted to do a classic lit challenge, and did one out of the 12 that I planned. Maybe I'll layer some in if I can keep up with reading.

Goal Number Two - Focus on fitness by closing all three of my fitness rings 75% of the time: I also always have a fitness goal or two, and this was a decent goal last year, I just didn't really focus on it.  I also often meet this goal through using my treadmill and it died last year, but now I have a new one so perhaps I can be more successful in this goal. I think hitting 75% is achievable and I'd love to for sure improve over the less than 50% that I did last year.

Goal Number Three - Complete my monthly fitness challenge:  I have a monthly fitness challenge that I get from my watch, and I usually do pretty well at it, but it seems like the last few years there's always a month or tow that I miss and just can't get a perfect year.  This year my goal is to hit all 12 for the year. For example, for January my goal is to double my exercise daily goal four times in January.  I'm off to a good start because today I was able to get in a nice walk and my exercise in addition to the exercise minutes my watch clocked while I was taking down the Christmas decorations.  Three to go!

Goal Number Four - Focus on fitness by hitting 10,000 steps a day 75% of the time: I don't move as much as I used to, and I use to have a fitness tracker that set a daily goal of 10,000 steps, but lately I've been doing only about half that, so I want to see if I can increase to get closer to that 10,000 a day average.

Goal Number Five - Improve my social calendar: Since COVID we rarely host and do things, and have never really gotten back in the habit of things like dinner parties, game nights, or just general events.  I'd like to be more active in creating events and activities.

Goal Number Six - Usable media memories:  So, I have a lot of video and pictures, and they just sit on my computer, not really seen by anyone, even me most of the time. I'd like to convert these into something more usable.  Cut home movies down and put them on the plex, create things with the photos we have like photo books.  Things like that.  This, I know is not a great goal as it's not specific or measurable, but maybe creating three things that are usable.

Goal Number Seven - Have seven new experiences:  I always do this one, and I always enjoy it. 

Secret Horcrux Goal Number Eight: Actually update and track these, unlike the past three years.

So, there you have it, the goals for 2025.