Goals in review and next year's resolutions
Last year, I set several resolutions and decided to use Joe's Goals to track them. I wasn't always good about going to Joe's Goals and clicking when I did something, but it's still interesting to see what the lower bounds are for the number of times I completed a goal:
Goal Number of checks Exercise111 Take a risk62 Maintain a contact54HabitNumber of checks Inbox at zero47Do something crafty67Do something you've been avoiding56
Looking over these for next year, I think Exercise can safely drop into the habit category. The past few years I've figured I've worked out how to keep exercising -- I don't want to lose that progress, but it doesn't need to be one of my "big three" goals to focus on this year.
That gives me the following goals, each weighted at two points:
Spend time learning (new)
Over Thanksgiving, I played a round of golf with my in-laws, and despite initial trepidation about how poorly I might play, had a great time. It was particularly fun to watch my shots improve (even though the improvement was small) over the course of the day. Like many people, I sometimes make the mistake of avoiding the frustration of learning a new skill at the cost of not attempting it. The payoff of trying, of course, is that it is wonderful once I've successfully done it. (Gretchen Rubin does a great job articulating this inclination in this blog post.)
Take risks
I'm getting better about this, but it's something I want to keep working on. As with last year, this involves doing instead of asking permission, confronting situations or people when I'm upset instead of staying quiet to preserve harmony, and becoming more comfortable with making decisions on limited information. In general, it's about risking the status quo to do something I feel strongly about.
Maintain contact
It's not difficult, but if I'm not careful, I forget to drop people email every now and again, and neglect to make time to go out and do activities with others. I still have friends and acquaintances scattered everywhere and want to keep those relationships up.
The single-point habits are unchanged from last year, except for the addition of Exercise. They are -- Inbox at zero (my inbox filling up is generally a sign that I've let my processing system lapse and am not being particularly productive at work), Do something crafty (I've loved focusing more on crafting this year), and Do something you've been avoiding (usually a small task that makes me happy to have complete, but is just annoying enough to do that I've ignored it for a while).
Goal Number of checks Exercise111 Take a risk62 Maintain a contact54HabitNumber of checks Inbox at zero47Do something crafty67Do something you've been avoiding56
Looking over these for next year, I think Exercise can safely drop into the habit category. The past few years I've figured I've worked out how to keep exercising -- I don't want to lose that progress, but it doesn't need to be one of my "big three" goals to focus on this year.
That gives me the following goals, each weighted at two points:
Spend time learning (new)
Over Thanksgiving, I played a round of golf with my in-laws, and despite initial trepidation about how poorly I might play, had a great time. It was particularly fun to watch my shots improve (even though the improvement was small) over the course of the day. Like many people, I sometimes make the mistake of avoiding the frustration of learning a new skill at the cost of not attempting it. The payoff of trying, of course, is that it is wonderful once I've successfully done it. (Gretchen Rubin does a great job articulating this inclination in this blog post.)
Take risks
I'm getting better about this, but it's something I want to keep working on. As with last year, this involves doing instead of asking permission, confronting situations or people when I'm upset instead of staying quiet to preserve harmony, and becoming more comfortable with making decisions on limited information. In general, it's about risking the status quo to do something I feel strongly about.
Maintain contact
It's not difficult, but if I'm not careful, I forget to drop people email every now and again, and neglect to make time to go out and do activities with others. I still have friends and acquaintances scattered everywhere and want to keep those relationships up.
The single-point habits are unchanged from last year, except for the addition of Exercise. They are -- Inbox at zero (my inbox filling up is generally a sign that I've let my processing system lapse and am not being particularly productive at work), Do something crafty (I've loved focusing more on crafting this year), and Do something you've been avoiding (usually a small task that makes me happy to have complete, but is just annoying enough to do that I've ignored it for a while).