While the most talked-about goals are those created for transformation in the new year, you don’t have to wait for the December 31 to consider what you want for yourself. Today I decided to list out some of my short- and medium-term personal goals so that I could create a plan to achieve them. Why? I need a plan. That’s how I function. There is a version of myself that I want to create. If there’s no plan, there’s no action. Positive change won’t just happen if I only focused on the big goals in life and didn’t give myself a journey of smaller accomplishments achieved through continues efforts build to get me there.
So, I made a list. Then, I’ll work to figure out how I can fit the tasks to accomplish these goals in my daily life. What can I do to create some good habits to get myself to the human I want to be? And how do I do that in a sustainable manner that still allows me to spend time with those I love, fulfill my work obligations, continue volunteer efforts that I enjoy, and have time to relax and recharge? Isn’t that just the question?
Goal #1 — Spend time building my conversational Italian
In preparation for a trip to Italy this summer to celebrate my friend’s 50th birthday, I want to work on my conversational Italian. While I did take 5 semesters of Italian in college, my abilities were not strong enough, nor practiced enough to stay with me (and that was nearly two decades ago). I definitely need a refresher. It’s important to me to be able to communicate well while we travel to reduce overall stress and make the experience more enjoyable for everyone involved.
My town’s public library provides access to the Mango language app, and I see that there are approximately 6oo lessons in Italian. If I wanted to break that down to a weekly or daily task goal, that’s 4 lessons a day or 28 lessons a week to finish all available lessons prior to our trip. Multitasking during morning coffee or on the exercise cycle, or even creating some dedicated study time could help me achieve this goal. Let’s see where it fits when we finish our list.
Goal #2 — Qualify for the Boston Marathon (BQ)
This goal could be medium-term (qualify in 2023 for the 2024 Boston Marathon), or longer term (qualify in 2024 for the 2025 Boston Marathon) depending on if I’m able to qualify in Fall of 2023, or if I miss the time cutoff for my age group and have to push the goal another year. For now, in the spirit of positive thinking and motivating myself for this coming year of racing, it’s my medium-term goal. I need to cut 19 minutes and 21 seconds off my personal record.
It’s a big goal, so tasks are numerous and varied and span months or years. First try for this goal will be the Indy Monumental Marathon, Oct. 28, 2023:
- 4–5 day weekly running plan until qualifying race
- 2–3 day weekly weight training classes
- Weekly Pilates class for strength and flexibility
- At-home Pilates practice 3–5 times per week for strength and flexibility
- Breath training 5 days a week
- Targeted Flexibility training 5–7 days a week
Sub-goals to achieve BQ:
- Improve half-marathon distance personal record by 9 minutes to 1:44
- Improve 5k race personal record by 3:05
Goal #3 — Create facial exercise routine for overall facial firmness
Spending time creating a high level of fitness is not something reserved for the muscles of the body. As a 40-something, intentionally focusing on building facial muscle helps me feel confident, stalls eyelid droop and jowl waggles, and can minimize the overall appearance of lines and wrinkles. I already care for my skin by drinking lots of water, applying sunscreen, and wearing a hat when I’m outdoors, but my routine to maintain facial fitness needs to improve. The facial muscles are much easier to maintain if you strengthen them before they’ve gone too far, so it has to become a priority! Task to accomplish goal — 30 minutes of facial exercises 3 times a week. This is a goal that could be multitasked to do while driving, reading, or cycling.
Goal #4 — Read for enjoyment, but constantly be learning!
This goal is a little tricky for me because I already consume lots of written information, but my process is pretty sporadic. A typical trip to the library will result in a stack of books, but I may read 1–2 to completion while only browsing the rest. My go-to is usually non-fiction, and while that is enjoyable for me as a lifelong learner with a curious mind, it may not provide much-needed relaxation. Luckily, my local Independent Book Store has a reading group starting up, so I’ll take advantage of this opportunity to socialize and get some relaxing recommendations. I’ll follow their cadence, and plan to split the book into smaller sections to read during morning coffee.
Meanwhile, I’ll continue to work my way through my stacks of non-fiction after completing my book club chapters— current focus is learning more about running and fitness anatomy, muscle groups, breath work, energy, fascia, nutrition, and wellness topics.
Goal #5 — Write more! Become part of a community online.
Writing for an audience of one is different than writing for a community, and I’m keen to practice using this medium to hone thoughts on creating sustainable goals, sharing fantastic adventures, and challenges that face us to achieve personal growth.
Tasks to complete this goal include generating a list of topics, then creating a routine of posting online. Perhaps a biweekly cadence to begin, then working up to weekly after a couple of months is an achievable goal.
Maintaining sustainability while working to achieve goals can be challenging. It may be overwhelming just to realize that some goals can’t be achieved the first time you try, or it could bum you out to put some goals into a later chapter of life. As an example, I also want to learn to play the harmonica, but I’ll wait to work on that goal until after I’ve gotten a better grasp on my conversational Italian. I know that if I start now, I won’t have time to make process, and that will bum me out even more. So, I’ll swap one goal in when I’ve completed (to my satisfaction) another goal that has an end point. Then it will be like I’m also rewarding myself for my hard work and moving to a new chapter of learning. So, while I can’t do everything now, I can think in terms of when I’ll put the tasks to achieve those goals into the rotation.
Plus, think how much better I’ll be at the harmonica after practicing all that breath work for my marathon training! Of course these are just my ideas. What kind of goals do you create for personal growth, and how do you set out to achieve them?
