At the end of October 2018, I wrote about 10 Steps to Future Me. I was a bit worried that I would be cutting back on work but frittering away that extra time. Those 10 steps were meant to clarify my personal goals: improving myself, and/or finding new activities to give my life some purpose.
In mid-February 2019, I reviewed my goals from October, and came up with some new ones. I had planned to check in again at the end of May, around Memorial Day.
Memorial Day has come and gone, and with it a lot of time spent with family, as my Dad had a health crisis. He is doing better, and now that I am home, I thought it might be time to review my progress towards my goals.
Short answer: I didn’t meet all my goals. I am feeling pretty forgiving, though, since leaving town on no-notice upended everything here, let alone self-improvement.
The Goals
The long version of my plan includes 10 areas to work on, but I don’t have the time/resources/bandwidth to address all of them while working, so I had a smaller list of goals for late winter/spring:
- Continue to work on getting 150 minutes of exercise a week, plus 60 minutes of weight training.
- Start knitting a baby blanket.
- Read at least 1 classic and 1 book from my TBR (to be read) pile.
- Finish clearing out a bookshelf, and figure out where it will go when empty.
- Go to 1 religious service.
- Average 1 social event a week. This could be an event, or meeting a friend for coffee.
How did I do?
The results
- Exercise.
- As detailed in my Fitness Logs, I did okay on exercise, particularly walking. I did better when on vacation. Overall, I hit my target of 150 minutes of exercise per week in 10 out of the 16 weeks.
- The strength training goal was less successful. I did some strength training for 5 weeks, but only hit 60 minutes for 3 of them. Those 3 successful weeks represent the weeks I attended a group yoga class; none involved lifting weights, which was my original intent.
- Knitting a baby blanket. I made some progress here. I might have done a bit too much, as I brought it to the ACP meeting in Philadelphia. Half way through the meeting, I realized my hands were cramping from the knitting, and I stopped. The blanket is currently only long enough to act as a headband.
- Reading. I did read one book from my TBR (To Be Read) pile. I didn’t read a classic in its entirety, but my husband and I got about 1/2 way through the Librivox version of The Iliad.
- Clearing my bookshelf. I got very close to managing this. My goal was to clear 180 books by May, which should, in theory, have allowed me to get rid of this shelf. In January, I had cleared 89 books, and just before my travels began in May, the total had increased to 166. I have just 14 more books before, in theory, I can reasonably plan to give away this shelf. Looking at all the other stuff on the shelf (mugs, photos, etc.), this might be a bit more challenging than I anticipated.
- Go to 1 religious service. I did, in fact, set foot in a house of worship. However, it was for a funeral service in a religion that is not my own.
- Average 1 social activity a week. Over the past 16 weeks, I have:
- Socialized with girl friends 6 times.
- Visited old friends for dinner once, and
- Invited new friends over to dinner once.
- Had the (grown) kid over for dinner and movies (or televised sports) 3 times.
- Attended a party
- Visited with my family 3 times, not counting hospital visits.
- Hosted a college friend’s daughter and showed her around town.
- These activities conveniently add up to 16 events. (Not counted: going out with friends while at meetings; two work dinners; and a professional reception. I also didn’t count going out with my husband, which is important, but wasn’t really in the spirit of the challenge.)
new goals
I would like to continue in the same vein (I’m still not ready to tackle the piano thing).
- Exercise.
- My goal continues at 150 minutes a week of exercise. After hitting the road so much last month, this is a goal I have to get back into.
- As for strength training, I would like to work towards that, but it is on the back burner for the summer.
- I am currently trying to do a few minutes of yoga (almost) every day for 30 days, more for flexibility than for strength. I may set myself another 30 day challenge if this one goes well.
- Crafting.
- A little more progress on the baby blanket would be nice. Put that way, this is a very vague goal. I will try to be more precise: I will finish 35 more rows, or 7 squares’ worth of row .
- I would also like to finish a photo book for 2018.
- Reading. I read more paper books while sitting in the hospital, and I felt much better than surfing the Internet. I am looking at a busy work schedule this summer, though, not counting the exercise, photo book and knitting.
- I will set a goal of reading one short classic–maybe The Scarlet Letter— and one more book from my TBR pile.
- Clear the Clutter.
- I will finish off that bookshelf once and for all! I have 14 books to clear, and then I will have to find room for all the remaining things. And find a home for the bookshelf.
- It is time to work on my closet, where many things hide forever. I think it might be reasonable to shoot for removing (giving away, recycling, etc) 12 items for summer. I would like to find them a home before they are out of season. I would also like to remove 12 items for fall, and find them a home at the end of the summer.
- Go to one week day religious service. In my own religion.
- Summer socialization.
- There are 12 weeks, I would like to do 12 social things.
- Also, there are a number of interesting festivals, farmer’s markets, museum exhibits, etc. that happen over the summer. I would like to attend 6 this summer. I think I can double dip: if I go with friends to a farmer’s market, that can count in both categories.
I can’t tell if I am setting reasonable goals, or getting too ambitious. How about you? Do you have big plans for this summer?