Man, April snuck up on me fast. So fast that I totally fell for some April Fools pranks on Sunday because I didn’t even realize it was April 1st! Now that we are officially in the second quarter, it’s time to take a few minutes and assess whether or not your goals are on track. If any of you have already given up on your 2012 goals, please slap yourself right now and get back with the program!
I just watched a movie out on dvd called “In Time” with Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, and Cillian Murphy. I never saw any previews for it last year so I had pretty low expectations when I rented it, but figured I’d give it a shot since I generally like most sci fi and action movies. Turns out it was surprisingly entertaining and stirred my thoughts! The movie really makes you appreciate the time that we have in our lifetimes and realize just how much we really can accomplish in just one day if we’re motivated enough.
I’ve been doing okay on my 2012 goals so far, but I’m hoping to pick up the pace as I’m not making as much headway as I’d like in some areas. Thinking about the year being 25% over already is a good kick in the pants to get back on track! Here’s a link to my original post on 2012 Goals For A Better Lifestyle And More Happiness in case you missed it. I divided my goals up into four main categories: health & fitness, organization & awareness, travel & adventure, and social outreach & communication. When I made my 2012 goals, I made most of them as ongoing resolutions instead of just doing something once and considering it done. With ongoing goals it really helps to evaluate your progress on a regular basis so you can make adjustments and change priorities if necessary to make sure you’re moving forward in the direction you want.
Here’s how I rate the progress on my 2012 goals so far, sorted from best to worst (my recent updates in green):
Gold Star, Rock On!
- Stretch at least every other day and do a full yoga or ballet workout 2-3 times a month (I’ve started to get addicted to stretching!)
- Take Bollywood classes 3-4 times a month (Phew, bollywood makes you sweat big time, burn lots of calories and is SO MUCH FUN!)
- Clean 2-3x a week in small 10 minute increments instead of letting everything pile up (Attacking things in small bits feels good)
- Continue my obsessive minimalism journey, donate 10-15 bags from my place and my parents (I’ve given away 15+ bags at my mom’s alone!)
- Aim to meet & build meaningful relationships with 5-6 new local and online friends (I’ve been fortunate to have met a lot of new friends lately, esp. in March)
Decent, But Want To Kick It Up A Notch
- Drink at least 5 cups of water a day on the weekends when I tend to forget to stay hydrated (Need to be more consistent as I still forget some days)
- Eat 2 or more servings of raw fruits, vegetables, or nuts each day (I’m good with nuts, but need to buy more fruit and veggies regularly)
- Work on improving my focus, block out distractions, get more done in less time (My schedule has been crazy lately so it’s been hard to focus some days when I’m worn out)
- Make more of an effort to remember people’s names & improve my memory skills (I’m getting better at this!)
- Learn 5 new skills in Photoshop or Aperture & apply them to my travel photos (I recently edited a portrait photoshoot & learned some new tricks in Aperture. The repair function rocks btw for removing scars and blemishes!)
- See at least 5 new places either local or foreign (I’ve been exploring a lot of new places in the Mission district lately and am really starting to like the neighborhood)
- Better utilize social platforms like Twitter and FB (I was doing better with this in Jan/Feb but lost steam in March due to work)
- Publish 115-130 articles (2-2.5 times/week) in 2012 on Untemplater! (I’m still not a fast writer, but I’m getting a little better! New articles are getting published on a regular basis which feels great)
Sucking Wind, Time To Step It Up
- Switch to a vegetarian or vegan multivitamin (I’m still waiting to finish up my current supply before I switch to a new brand)
- Make 1 or more meal a week from only fresh ingredients, not processed or frozen (I’m averaging just 1-2 a month. I admit I’m lazy with cooking.)
- Archive my old data CDs/DVDs onto my external hard drive & ditch the loose copies (I’ve had this at low priority but I managed to archive about 5 discs in January)
- Reteach myself geography. As much as I love travel, it’s embarrassing how much I’ve forgotten since school (I worked on this a little but not enough to commit much to memory)
- Learn a few phrases in Hindi and Thai, 2 languages I know very little about (my dream is to be a polyglot someday) (I found some cool video lessons I just haven’t watched them in full yet)
- Quit mumbling when I speak and enunciate clearly so I’m easier to understand (I keep forgetting to work on this, gotta change that)
- Get better at small talk and having engaging conversations (I haven’t been staying on top of current events enough which will help with this)
- Learn at least 3 new technical things about SEO and blogging each month (I’ve picked up a few things randomly, but haven’t committed any set times to learn new things yet)
Untemplaters, how are your 2012 goals coming along? What has been your biggest motivation or worst excuse? Any of you seen the movie “In Time,” what’d you think?
I had one goal in 2012, and that is to do more things to make myself happier. Plain and simple. I am usually worried about everyone else’s happiness. This is the year to worry about the happiness of numero uno! So far, it is working.
Nice one! One of the keys to living a happy untemplate lifestyle is indeed to do things that make yourself happier and living the life that you want without worrying about what everyone else is doing. Life is too short to live only for other people’s happiness and approval. Glad things are going well for you so far!
We recently blogged our goals update.
teamespinoza.com/2012-goals-update-1/
We are doing great. Especially with the Fitness, Reading and Social goals.
It’s been good accountability to publish and share them.
I like that you have social, language, and physical goals! Very well rounded and focused.
That’s awesome Daniel! Way to go on your fitness goal btw. 🙂 I like that you put your goals in categories too. Makes for quite a well rounded year!
Well I started my Spanish work and have taken a huuuuge break. Definitely need to get back on it. Thanks for this reminder – no giving up!
Spanish is a great language to know. It’s one language I’d like to be able to get to the conversational level myself too. I bought a page-a-day Spanish phrase calendar a few years back but it was too advanced for me so I didn’t do very well with it. Perhaps you can teach me an easy phrase or two when you get back into the swing of studying again!
Well, I never published any 2012 goals, so I’m good. Taking the whole family to Europe in May, so I guess that’s one off the list. Been meaning to do it for a few years now.
Other than that, I’ve accomplished a few other long-standing objectives (got a new roof on the hacienda — spending goal, big deal), reconnected with some family and friends, and undertook two new initiatives at work under way, which will be completed in next couple months. The work initiatives are key: they have the potential to be game-changing home runs, and they’d been on the sidelines for a few years, just at the “that’d be nice to have” talking stage.
I applaud your impressive list of goals and accomplishments.
Thanks! Wow, sounds like you’re having a very productive year! May is a perfect time to go to Europe. The weather is generally warm and sunny, and the crowds haven’t really picked up that much yet. People who go in July and August are braver souls than me. I can’t imagine having to wait hours in line to get into the Louve for instance. When I went off season, I was able to waltz right in with no lines!
Congrats on the work initiatives! I totally understand how great it feels to work on projects at the office and take things from the drawing board, through all the various stages, and how exciting it is when things really start coming together. Nice work!
I REALLY liked In Time!
I’m due for another goal checkin. Thanks for the reminder 😀
I’m also terrible with remembering names and small talk. Social media FTW.
I’m glad to hear you’re a fan of the movie too! Normally I multitask when I watch movies like surfing the web or folding laundry, but I was so captivated by the story and the concept that I watched the whole movie fully focused! I liked how they did the wardrobe and Amanda’s hair in the film too.
Your welcome on the reminder! I needed a push to get me back on track too. I was proud of myself that I actually remembered two people’s names that I met at a party last week. I had to repeat the names right away in my head and also create an associated image for the names and that helped them stick. If I don’t make that extra effort right in the moment, I’ll easily forget someone’s name 10 seconds after they tell it to me!
This article caused me to look back at my goals, which I published back in January. I’m on track with everything, though I don’t know if I’ll hit my earning goal. Perhaps it was too broad.
Spend more time with my family – YES
Get below 200k on Alexa ranking and earn a Yakezie Membership – YES & Not Yet
Post 2-4 times per week and build new connections – YES
Earn $500/month from online writing by end of year – Not end of year yet 🙂
Become debt free (except house) – YES (in four months)
Take another European vacation – YES (is being planned)
Exercise for 20 minutes a day, three times per week – YES
Self-publish a book on Amazon KDP – NO (mostly written but I’ve fallen here)
I like your goals John! Fantastic job on your goals paying off debt. And a European vacation sounds like a lot of fun. I went to Turkey last year and loved it. There’s so much to see in Europe I wish the flights were cheaper and the distance was closer! Hang in there on your book writing. That sounds exciting!
One of my main goals was to get to the “ideal body weight” after discovering that it’s 10 pounds lower than what I weigh. I was annoyed as hell.
After three months, I’m actually there now and broke 160 lbs for the first time in over 10 years. Changed my diet to more healthy vegetarian, and started eating more consciously. The key is now to maintain.
I never published my goals for 2012 on FS. Perhaps it’s not too late.
Awesome job on your weight loss Sam!! I eat mostly vegetarian myself and fortunately I love tofu so it’s not that hard eating out as most places here are accustom to offering tofu as an alternative to meat in their dishes.
And it’s never too late to publish goals!