A little over one year ago I posted my goals for 2017. This post is a retrospective on those goals and a commitment to goals for 2018.
First, a look at last year’s goals. My goals in 2017 were:
I did not do well on these goals. Looking back, I think this is due to two main problems: a lack of commitment to my goals and choosing lofty, hard-to-measure, goals. Here’s my commentary on each one:
On running: I succeeded in doing this for the first six months of the year, until July. At that point, I had a lot of difficulty doing long runs due to the 100°+ weather. Later in the year I also injured myself on a run, requiring time off to recover. I’ll rework this goal in 2018.
On eating vegan: This goal would have been hard to measure, and because of that I never really tried. I did not get anywhere close to success with this goal. I’d guess at most 1/9th of my meals were likely vegan, and that’s on the optimistic side. I don’t plan on focusing on this goal explicitly in 2018.
On not succumbing to lifestyle creep: My first success! My monthly expenses did not increase much throughout the year. I’m not worried about this being a problem in 2018, so will not codify a goal around it.
On reading more: Another success! In 2016 I read a whopping four books. In 2017 I read nine books, several of which became quite meaningful to me. I want to continue growing here in 2018. In 2018, I won’t measure my goal in number of books read or pages turned.
On writing more: I failed hard on this goal. I wrote 4 blog posts in all of 2017. Besides that I did not write. I will abstain from solidifying a similar goal in 2018, though I want to revisit it in the future.
In 2018, I want my goals to be clear successes or failures. I want to shy away from vague goals like “read more”.
My goals for 2018 are:
Here’s my thoughts on why and how I formulated each of the goals:
On running 15+ miles a week: This goal is mostly a stasis goal. It won’t be particularly hard to meet this goal, especially in a yearly aggregate (780 miles for the year). In essence, I don’t want to lose my ability to run!
On lifting weights 2+ hours a week: When I was injured in November 2017, I starting going to the gym to lift weights as a replacement for running. Even though I can run again, I haven’t stopped going to the gym. Since I’m still learning the ropes, I have put this one as a time-based goal: I want to make gym time a habit this year.
On reading 0.5+ hours every day: Similar to my habit-forming goal for weightlifting, I want to turn reading into a habit this year. My reading in 2017 was stronger than previous years, but inconsistent.
On getting rid of an item for every item I obtain this year: In some ways this is a rework of the lifestyle creep goal from 2017. I have enough things. Don’t get more. But if I do, get rid of other things I own.
On finishing an album and put it up publicly: Music has been on the back-burner for a while. I have a handful of song (~10) that I think could make a cohesive album – if only I ever finished them. I’d like to either finish these songs or write an entirely new set of songs to put on the internet. I don’t care if anyone listens to them, or whether they’re good by anyone’s standards but mine. But, like this blog, I want them to be public to force some level of comfort with the quality.
On getting to <=11% body fat: As part of my weightlifting and running goals I want to eat a diet that gives me a toned body. I want to be my best self, physically. This will require strict eating habits.
1 As a note, the exact percentage to aim for is unclear to me, I need to do some research. I want to get to a place where abs are visible, but I don’t want to go too extreme.