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Wednesday, January 2, 2013

A New Year - Bite-Sized Goals

I love the beginning of a new year.  It's a chance to look back on the good and bad of the previous year, refocus and start anew.

Nobody is perfect.  I am certainly far from it.  I love listening to others resolutions, soaking in suggestions and making my own lists and goals.

In reflecting on my goals for 2013, my past achievements and failures, I concluded that I do not do well with lofty big idealized and unfocused goals.  They aren't concrete enough for me and don't have immediate deadlines.   And, consequently, I don't necessarily achieve them.  I like a methodical, black and white, scientific approach to things.  Schedules written out and plans.  I was a science and music major in undergrad.  Both disciplines suited me just right.  Enough creativity to satisfy my need to explore and enough rhythm and routine and right answers to satisfy the type A side of me.  On the contrary, economics was not my forte (kind of interesting since now I use economics a lot in my line of work).  It was abstract, fluid, and I often had difficulty finding my way from point A to point B, wherever that may be based on factors x, y and z.

This year I'm taking a methodical approach to my goals and breaking them down in tiny bite-sized pieces.  I got this idea from the nutritionist I'm currently working with, Kim Mueller.  At the end of each food log page, she asks me to list 3 goals for the next day.  They don't have to be food related or major life changing events.  They can be repeated.  They don't have to be perfect.  BUT I do need to write them down and they do make me reflect on my current day, my larger goals and what small steps I can take the very next day to move myself forward.

I haven't eliminated my lofty and bigger goals for the year and I plan to list those at the front of my journal so that I can keep them in mind and check in on them on a regular basis.  Those are still a work in progress, but here are a few:

1.  Practice 10 minutes of yoga or reflection/meditation a day.
2.  Journal EVERYTHING I eat for the month of January.
3.  Read 20 books this year.  10 must be non-fiction and 5 of those can't be related to health or sports. (Thanks Caroline for this suggestion).
4.  Prepare for a move to the fan in 2014.
5.  PR my A race in June and FINALLY break that 6 hour half ironman barrier.


HAPPY 2013 everyone!  Off to write my bite-sized goals for tomorrow.

4 comments:

Caroline said...

HUZZAH!!! I'm so excited you blogged!!! I've been thinking a ton about goals lately - I realized when I did my recap of 2012 goals that I wrote them down in January and never looked at them again until the end of the year. I think the idea of setting small goals each day, allowing you to feel a sense of accomplishment, is such a smart idea. And keeping the big, lofty goals written down somewhere that you can easily reference them. Love, Love, LOVE your book challenge!! Gosh I love reading! I kept a list of books that I read in 2012 and reviewed a couple of them. Some of my all-time favorites include Cutting for Stone (fiction) and Unbroken (non-fiction) and Little Princes (non-fiction). Loved the Descendants too. Am currently reading Emma and What is the What. I want to read more classics this year. I MISS YOU! And what is this moving to the fan? Are you leaving VA?

ADC said...

Well, well a blog post. Yay!!! Come on, you need to blog more as I have to live vicariously through you guys over the next 4 months.
Love your goals - hefty but very achievable.

The Miller Family said...

So fun that you have a blog...you need to resurrect it for sure. What half are you doing in June? Eagleman again?

Unknown said...

What helps me achieve my fitness goals and constantly move forward is military grade nutritionals. Their pre-workout supplements are awesome. They give me quick boost of energy and enhance my physical capacities. I am gaining muscle and strength, so I am ready for new and more challenging goals in 2013.