2023 Goals!
I appreciate my friends that called me out after last week's blog post for being too hard on myself. Given that my goals this year are heavily predicated on the fact that I felt like I "wasted" last year--I appreciated my friends' encouragement and this thought from @corymuscara, who posted this on Instagram yesterday.
I also came across this post from @benmeer this week. Note #18 "Avoid telling people your goals." I agree that dopamine is released whenever I hit publish and share my blog posts out into the world. Still, I respectfully disagree that you should keep your goals private. I understand what motivates me at my age, and the key to my success is clear priorities and accountability.
As the last few years have taught me, I have no idea what will happen in 2023–which means I can expect the unexpected. With that in mind, I want flexibility with my goals and system.
I have three primary goals in 2023:
Health
History
Hobbies
Working for a strong alliteration theme! 😀
My system to accomplish my goals in 2023 is predicated on one idea: 30 x 30. I've been following a few productivity and science guys on social media, and they keep talking about this idea. 30x30 means spending 30 uninterrupted minutes daily (on any goal or habit) for 30 days straight. 30x30 equates to 900 minutes–that's considerable time to move the needle on my goals. Science also states that this system will work with an occasional skipped day. However, missing two days in a row can disrupt the habit-creation cycle.
I am experimenting with this plan in January. Then I will evaluate what February will look like. I am hoping that I enjoy the process so much it is easy to continue to extend past January.
Health
As the last two years have demonstrated with my broken shoulder and gallbladder surgery, nothing else matters if I'm not healthy. I have two areas in which I'm focused in 2023. 1) meeting my daily targets of protein consumption. I've had low iron for several years, and I suspect my low energy is fueled by this issue. 2) Exercise consistently. For the past several months, I've been working out regularly. Although I've been building up the habit slowly, I need to add more strength and flexibility training to my cardio workouts.
My January 30x30 plan for health is to keep my 15-minute cardio routine and add one 15-minute strength or flexibility workout following my cardio workout.
History
I know this sounds like an unusual topic–but when I say history, I mean family/personal history. Initially, I plan to focus on my personal history. I've been typing old journals, updating my dairy, and generally trying to keep a better record of my life. I recently discovered a daily journaling app I love, "Day One." In fact, I've spent the past two weeks adding hundreds of entries from my handwritten journals into it.
My January 30x30 plan for history is to spend 30 minutes each day working on my personal history. Either by typing old journals to preserve the information or editing the memoir, I wrote in 2018, which requires considerable work. I decided to post the intro to my memoir as a blog post. I’d love your thought/reactions about it.
Hobbies
One of the luxuries of my new career is that I don't work nearly as much as I did when I was a teacher. I've generally squandered this gift of time–but I want to dive back into developing my skills with a new intent.
My 30x30 plan is to spend January building my watercolor painting abilities.
In addition, I have a subscription to Masterclass, and one of the new features are classes called Sessions. Sessions are 30-day class led by industry experts that are more in-depth and allows the viewer to practice the skill and get feedback from the Masterclass community on their progress. In January, I will finish the baking class--which will have me making 8 different treats. With these classes, I am focused on completion rather than time.
To recap: In January, I'm committing to spending 90 minutes daily on my health, history, and hobbies. My only "resolution" in 2023 is to use this forum to hold myself accountable for my goals. I will blog at a minimum once a month about my progress.
The other idea I've been pondering this week is if I fast forward to December 2023 and I'm not successful, what will be the cause of my failure in achieving these goals? The answer is simple - breaking promises with myself. I'm an expert at it; this is the main habit I need to break--as it impedes all other areas of my life.
One request for you, my dedicated blog readers--please ask me how I'm progressing. I will need your help to stay on track.
What are your plans for 2023? Any big goals or projects?
