I took a different approach to goals for this year. I think that having an analytical way to measure success is still important, it gives me solid finish lines to strive for, but before I broke things down into bits, pieces and numbers, I wanted to take some time to figure out what was really important to me - measurable or not.
So, I sat down with pen and paper and wrote out a list of all the important things in my life that I could think of, and here they are (in no particular order):
Rachel
Baylor
Family
Friends
Happiness/Contentedness
Fun/Excitement
Love
Simplicity
Knowledge
Travel
Art
Creative and Enjoyable Work
Giving
Health
Life List
A Good Home
Obviously some of these things can't (or shouldn't) be measured. They should just be incorporated into your everyday life. And a few, I just can't figure out how to measure. But even without measurements, they're in the back of my mind to actively try to work on.
Here are the ones I can figure out how to measure; this year's resolutions (some with extra explanations):
Family
1 visit with Sis/Nona
Friends
Visit 1 out-of-town friend
Simplicity
1 event, 1 important task and 1 task each day
My Google calendar is broken up into these three categories. I want to limit a day's activity to one of each. A rough guess at my current averages: 1 event, 1.5 important tasks, 5 tasks. And it tends to leave me frazzled and exhausted at the end of the day.
- Truth be told, I did some preemptive work on this one. I've started to categorize things better, which has helped, and break my to-do lists down in to a few different categories. It seems to be working, but I'll report back in a month or two.
- As a minor addition to this goal, I'm also still working on the "Would you move it to London" goal from last year.
Knowledge
Learn to screen print
A good home
Finish 6 projects on my to-do list
I think I'm going to focus on the outside of the house this year.
Travel
1 trip
Travel is big in our lives, but it's harder with a young one. I'd like one true, relaxing vacation this year.
Art
1 book or 1 toy
There are two sides to this important thing: creating art and enjoying art. Both are really important to me. This year I'm going to focus on the creating side of things and try to complete one of the books or toy designs that's trapped in my head.
Work
1 step closer to Content Strategist
Work is on the list because it's such a big part of most people's life that it should be important (at least to yourself).
The most important qualifications for work (for me) are that it's creative, enjoyable, not exhausting and not too stressful. With that, my natural skills and my younger self's ambitions in mind, I think the best job for me might be a Content Strategist. But there are only a few agencies in town who even know what that means, let alone have it as a job title. So I'd like to take one step towards becoming a Content Strategist, and maybe push this city one step closer to understanding what that means. I'm not sure exactly what that means or how to do that just yet.
Giving
X%
I have a percentage of my income that I try to give/donate every year. I'm going to try and match or beat that standard this year.
Health
150 pounds
Last year I didn't want to put my goal weight online. Vanity is out the window this year in hopes of better motivation through public shaming. Starting weight 175.
Life list
1 item
I was an over achiever and did three life list items last year, but in some ways those were the low hanging fruit. I'm shooting for one again this year.
I just realized, I don't have any kind of money/financial goal for this year. It's because money didn't make it into my "what's important" list. A lot of that probably has to do with the fact that most of my money stuff is on autopilot. But I like to have a money goal every year. This year I'd like to focus on my student loans. I always thought my student loans would be paid off by the time I'm 35, but, because I'm terrible at math, I'd be 37 by the time my loans got paid off if I continue on my current path. That being said, it's hard to throw money at a loan that is locked in at a rate that's lower than the typical inflation rate. So I'm going to have to find extra money to solve this one so I don't feel too bad for not paying off/investing in something with a higher interest rate.
Money
Get on the path of have my student loans paid off by 35
