Last year I did not post my goals because I tend to be a private person and a lot of my goals I don't feel that I really want to put out there, even though I do have a list of my own. This year, I will post a few of my goals however, in the hopes that posting them will keep me honest!
1. Run a 100 mile race. This was on the list last year and I did not quite make it. However, this year I am ready to try again! I have a couple races in mind, but it's hard, as they are all lotteries. We shall see which one chooses me, I guess. After I find out which race I will do, it will be time to get the training schedule sorted out. Which brings me to my next goal.
2. Run 2,000 miles / climb 250,000 ft elevation: Last year I ran about 1,800 miles and climbed about 250,000 feet, so this goal is attainable. However, I also want to be smart about my training, as last year I got injured which put a damper on my running, which was not fun at all. I would like to train smart and to have a plan, which is something that really helps me when it comes to setting goals. I have a "little red book" where I plan to keep track of my miles and my training in general, in hopes that it will help me in the long run (pun intended).
3. Read 52 books. Last year I read 77 books, but I feel like with an increase in running comes a decrease in reading. So, to be realistic, I will try to read one a week and if I have time for more than that, then great, but I don't want to be stressed or annoyed at myself for setting an unrealistic goal.
4. Read 12 books from my own shelves. I am copying Lisa on this one! I think that it's a great idea to actually read books that I already have (and then possibly give them away) instead of keeping them for no reason. To be clear, if it's an excellent book, I may keep it, but if it's not, its going in the Goodwill pile!
5. Ride my bike to work 2 times per week: Last year I ended up riding my bike 102 times, which would average out to about 1 time per week. This year I would like to improve upon that plan, as I really enjoy getting out early and getting a bit of exercise before I head to work! So far, so good, as last week I rode my bike into work twice and would have done it more but it was pouring rain the other three days of the week!
6. Practice my Spanish: This one is hard to quantify, but I would like to improve my Spanish by talking to a friend for at least 5 minutes once a week, studying and learning at least 100 new words per week and possibly taking my vacation this year to a Spanish speaking country.
7. Try new things: This goal is multi faceted. I would like to visit 12 places that I have never been before. This can be a running trail or a city or a country. I would like to learn one new recipe a week or 52 in a row; either way is fine with me. I often make "new" things but usually they are just tossing a few things in a pot and calling it good. We shall see how it goes, as I am not really a recipe follower except in baking, but I would like to try! The last is to try 6 new things this year. Last year, one of the things was snowshoeing. I also tried Russian food for the first time. You are never too old to learn a new trick!
8. Spend less than I spent last year: You may think this is easy, because hello, I bought a house. However, I am not including my down payment in my "expenses" for 2015. Every year I break down my spending to see where I spent the most (will be posted soon!) and this year I was a little embarrassed by my spending. I am still quite frugal and a lot of it did go into the house (my "home" category was over 50% of my expenditures), but I need to cut back a bit and put more money into savings!
7. Try new things: This goal is multi faceted. I would like to visit 12 places that I have never been before. This can be a running trail or a city or a country. I would like to learn one new recipe a week or 52 in a row; either way is fine with me. I often make "new" things but usually they are just tossing a few things in a pot and calling it good. We shall see how it goes, as I am not really a recipe follower except in baking, but I would like to try! The last is to try 6 new things this year. Last year, one of the things was snowshoeing. I also tried Russian food for the first time. You are never too old to learn a new trick!
8. Spend less than I spent last year: You may think this is easy, because hello, I bought a house. However, I am not including my down payment in my "expenses" for 2015. Every year I break down my spending to see where I spent the most (will be posted soon!) and this year I was a little embarrassed by my spending. I am still quite frugal and a lot of it did go into the house (my "home" category was over 50% of my expenditures), but I need to cut back a bit and put more money into savings!
This is all the goals I am going to post here, but I also have a couple of personal financial and life goals that are going on a separate list as well. I have found that it's best for me to have about 6 - 10 goals, otherwise they get overwhelming and I cannot complete them and then I get frustrated. So, along with the 8 here, I have two others that I would like to accomplish this year.
What are your goals for 2016?
This is a good list of goals! I love that you are also mirroring my read 12 books you own goal. When I did that last year, I ended up giving away all of the books I read (except the ebooks as last year I let myself include ebooks in that goals). Sometimes I mailed the book to a friend that I thought would enjoy it, the rest went to good will. The older I get, the less books I want to own. I used to have friends come over and peruse my shelves and borrow books so I felt like it made more sense to keep more books around but these days it's rare that a friend comes and borrows a book from me. Plus I know that I am likely going to be combining households this year (hopefully!) so I need to start to pare down some of my possessions (where it makes sense to).
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your goals! As an upholder, I know you are going to attack these with gusto and make them happen!!
These are fantastic goals! I'm looking forward to hearing more details about how you will break down your running plans and to your training and race reports! I need to do more to practice my Spanish than I have been here lately. I think once I've finished the library books I have out currently I should read another novel in Spanish before I read any others in English.
ReplyDeleteThese are great goals. I definitely need to read more and spend less.
ReplyDeleteOoh I should have put bike commuting down as one of mine too. These are great goals! It's good to get them out there too, I feel more motivated now mine are on my blog. The Try New Things one sounds like it's going to be a great source of fun :)
ReplyDeleteYour spending could easily go through the roof after buying your own house! Pun intended. hahaha. Great goals. I'm still trying to come up with some. Hope to see you at a race this year!
ReplyDeleteI love this!!! I too really want to explore more. We have been living on Cape for 5 years now and I feel like there is so much I still haven't seen here! Time to explore!
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome list of goals! I also want to read 52 books this year which would be an increase of about 10 books for me. My life feels really up in the air lately, I've been having some health issues and Eric has been having a lot of job instability with the oil and gas sector in Canada basically crashing in the last year, when I sat down to set my goals for 2016 it felt like so many things that I WANT out of the next year are out of my control. So instead I set a few goals around just trying to be more present and be a better person, with a few real tangible "to-do" ones like reading 52 books.
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