New year thoughts

A lot of people are posting 2009 goals posts, and reading these posts keeps spurring thoughts in me. I already keep track of a lot of goals with my 101 things list, but I think it's also good to talk about some specific yearly goals.

I achieved some awesome things in 2008. I left a situation that wasn't working for me (grad school) and moved into a job that I'm really enjoying. If only the job wasn't temporary, but I digress. I completed my first ever 5k with a respectable personal time. I met a cool guy and started a relationship, which is a fairly uncommon occurrence in my life. I paid off my car, built up my savings, and thought really hard about maybe someday starting my Roth IRA (I know -- soon! hopefully! maybe!). It was a hard year for me in many ways -- moving away from a friend base is always difficult -- but I made a lot of personal gains.

In 2009, I have more things I'd like to achieve in my life. But as Mac at Get Fit Slowly points out, goals don't work well without a definite plan of action. Goals also work best when they are specific, focused, achievable goals that are not beyond reachable grasp. I'm a firm believer in setting reasonable goals that might push one a little but don't reach the breaking point.

Some big goals I have for 2009:

1. Get another job or two. These don't have to be permanent jobs, but that would be nice. Permanent positions are hard to come by in my field, but I should definitely be able to move into a seasonal position or two. I'm hoping to find at least one of these seasonal positions in Minnesota, but I'm not going to turn down other positions due to geography.

2. Continue improving my fitness through regular gym visits (minimum of 12 per month, which is three a week and conveniently also the number I need for my health insurance to reimburse me for the majority of my gym membership), participation in sports, and outdoor activity. I made great gains in fitness in 2008, and I don't want those erased. Sometimes this goal is difficult for me; I have to realistically admit that I'm still not in great shape and that I have a really difficult time getting into shape. My boyfriend joined my gym so that we can work out together, and I'm occasionally jealous of his pullup and running abilities. I have to continually remind myself that he and I are in different places of the fitness continuum, and I try hard to push my progress based on beating my own milestones.

3. Return to bulking up my savings account, which will be measured by increasing the size of my savings account. Due to low pay at my current job, I'm living right around (or occasionally above) my means. I'm certainly not going into debt, but I feel it is important to re-emphasize savings in my life. This will be acted out by continuing my dedication to home cooking and using what I currently own before buying anything new.

4. Read at least one book a month. This is a sad thing for me, as I greatly enjoy reading and can often devour a book in days if given the chance. I've let other priorities take over in my life, but I'd like to carve out a little more time for reading. To help me achieve this goal, I'm signing up for an adult winter reading program at my local library.

My goals aren't too fancy, but they're in line with what I realistically want. Furthermore, I've found that just the simple act of setting any goals push me to achieve even more in my life. By pushing myself to extend my boundaries in a few specific ways, I notice that I also look for other fun ways to push myself that never initially occurred to me.

What are your plans for the new year? Any fun things planned in 2009?

Comments

[Zandria]

You definitely had some big changes in your life in 2008. That's what I'm hoping for THIS year... :)