As mentioned, every year I do a few things at the end of one year and the start of the new one. I review the year behind me. I set annual goals for the year ahead. And I choose a word of the year. (For more on why you need one, see this post explaining the concept.)
This year, as in past years, I set me some good goals. I wrote them down. I crossed them out. I wrote them down again. There was a lot of coffee involved.
And although I’m a huge fan of what folks like my friend Crystal Paine does in telling the world exactly what her goals are for 2015, I’m a shy kind of gal. I’m not ready to open the kimono. I don’t want to write them all out. And plus, some are boring. Do you really care about how much I want to sleep on average each night? Meh.
But that said, I love hearing about others’ goals because it helps me crystalize and better understand my own, so I do see the value in writing out some of them here.
So here are my categories, with a few highlights of individual goals in each section:
Family
This category is likely the most personal of them all, where I think about what we want to accomplish as a family this year. One item on here I think is important is that I want to take two solo trips with my husband sans my glorious babe this year. (We have one planned already, and will have to work on another.)
Health
At times, like when I buy this breathometer to measure my hydration levels, I think I get pleasure out of being a human guinea pig and tracking my life. And I do, I guess. I love my Jawbone. I even upload the daily stats to a google spreadsheet so that I can get a yearly average on my sleep (Jawbone’s 7 day one just ain’t enough for this gal!)
So, in my health category, I have percentages about how much I want to do X, Y, and Z. (I track it all, so it’s easy to add up percentages). For example:
- I want to eat 90% paleo this year.
- I want to exercise on average five out of seven days each week.
- I want to get a massage weekly.
Personal
This category sometimes ends up being a bit random, and some of the items could potentially be categorized elsewhere. Here are a few:
- Do my morning routine (The Present Principle) on average of five out of seven days each week.
- Read 150 books.
Work
This is a big category, and there’s a ton in it for 2015. The key here is to be very, very intentional with my time. I don’t want to be busy, I want to be productive. (#BanBusy, remember?)
Money
In this category I set goals for investing, saving and giving. In one more bizarre I-told-you-I-tracked-my-life thing I do, I’ve written down everything I’ve spent (everything! I mean everything!) for about a dozen years. So, again, this is pretty easy to track;)
Okay, now the fun part for me. Do you have any interesting goals this year that you can share? Tell me!
Good stuff! We actually share a few goals 🙂
I’m also aiming to eat more Paleo as well as exercise 5 times a week this year. I did it pretty strictly for a year and a half, and got it great shape from it. I all but stopped it in 2014, but I’m ready to do it again.
Another goal I have is to read 50+ books a year. I don’t read very much, but I’ve started it already and I’m really enjoying it.
By the way, I put your PRESENT principle into action at the start of the new year. I’m really digging it! Thanks for sharing it.
So good to hear about the Present Principle! And the reading goal is awesome – do you have a book list to start with or do you wing it throughout the year?
Essentially, when I planned my goals for this year I did them around Zig’s wheel of life (physical, personal development (zig calls this mental), financial, career, spiritual). This in order to have a more holistic set of goals and not be lacking in areas. To this extent, I looked for goals that would help me cover multiple areas. Your PRESENT principle allows me to cover various aspects.
As for my reading list, I choose books that would cover the range of areas. I added spiritual books, books on personal development, etc… I don’t have a full set of 50. I’m at around 25 or so, but will build it as I see books that I want to add. I did add a few books from your past lists as well that seemed really interesting.
I’ve finished 3 books so far this year; born to win by zig ziglar, david and goliath by malcom gladwell, and a book on tradition/scripture in the church as well. I’m just about to finish Weird by Craig Greschel (awesome spiritual book on living the narrow path).
I’m trying audio books as well. I am finding though that they are (for me) very difficult to follow if I’m listening while doing anything that requires a lot of though. So currently I’m mostly listening to them during breaks, and during my morning workout.
Thanks, Ruben. I’m actually not at all familiar with Zig’s wheel of life — I definitely need to look it up now! Can you tell me the name of the tradition book (if you liked it?).
Yes – I agree on audiobooks. I do it when exercising or driving and with certain chores it CAN work – but not always.
The book is called Acaso no somos Cristianos? by Jesus Fernandez-Luna. Its a primer on how the church uses apostolic tradition in conjunction with scripture. Very interesting, although a bit challenging for me since I don’t read nearly as much spanish as I should. Another goal on the list, Read more spanish!
Hey Claire, instead of my goals I’ll share my three themes for the year: Intentional, Simple, and Present. I painted the wall in my office with chalkboard paint and wrote the 3 words on it as a constant reminder. Here’s to a meaningful, and mindful, New Year.
mindful is also ANOTHER great word potential…hm…2016?
My goal is to focus on home and work. Better time management I love the posts
Great post. I wrote something similar re: 2015 will be about Outcomes … not about being (or looking) busy. Where Outcomes > Effort.
It’s posted to Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog — I believe you have worked with Dan in the past on a few posts. Or maybe you were just mentioned in the same article. Regardless, your #BanBusy idea is spot on. Here’s my post … where I mentioned the Outcomes > Effort = #BanBasy
http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/how-to-use-double-time-to-increase-successful-outcomes/
On the work front, I plan to start a paint distributing company this year
Great post. My annual goal-setting process is always filtered through my mission statement and roles, both heavily influenced by Covey’s 7 Habits. One of them, which is easy to blow off (as I did last year) is to get a living will in place for the wife and I. There. I said it.
I also want to recommit myself to weekly planning (another Covey concept).
For my blog, I need to write more during the week just for the sake of writing. I’m going to focus more on “writing” and less on “posting”. If I take care of the first, the second will follow.
I really enjoyed reading these goals! They seem well thought out, but not overly complex. I’m glad that you’re including things on here that are extensions/renewals of past good habits.
I started making New Years resolutions when i was 18 in 2012. I was having a hard time maintaining focus in school and got in with the wrong crowd of kids as a freshman at school that year. I did things that I’m not proud of. long story short, I wrote up a list of habits to kick out 1/1/12 and typed them up when I was back home for break. Immediately, The universe did something ridiculous in response: I didn’t hit any key on my computer, but all of my confessions and self-admonishments printed onto a page in my parents’ office.
The next day my mom approached me (mind you I had no idea that she just read a summary of all of the juicy parts of what was essentially my diary, by accident). She didn’t say a word, just handed me an annotated copy of my list. I instantly turned beet red. Because my mom is cool, she did not make a scene. She smiled and laughed and asked about some of the ‘slang’ I was using, confused that ‘bud’ is not in fact an anheiser Busch beverage, but a nickname for my ex-girlfriend Mary Jane. she looked at me and said two things that seemed unimportant at the time; in hindsight, I knew that she had just dropped some serious wisdom. 1. She wasn’t going to share with my dad, that would go against her values of trust and integrity. 2. In order to be an honest person, you need to be up front with and honest with yourself. She saw through the dirty stuff and applauded me for this. I’ve based my last 2 years on what She taught me in this conversation, and I intend to renew them indefinitely as frequently as I can.
Ps – I love my mom.
Thanks for sharing : )
Thank you Claire, your post helped me creating my own goal list for 2015 as we share some of the same life principles. Last year when I read about your word for 2014, I didn’t give it much attention, but this year I am also going to try that. Contentment is my word for 2015.
While many aspects of Paleo are good…there is too much meat in that diet. I went the Pesco Vegitarian route about 2 years ago and lost 20+ pounds plus lowered cholesterol by 50+ points.
I had set many goals for this year, just like the past year. Unfortunately I could not establish the most important task of completing a dream project (book). I really am not able to live with myself and the book would take more than three months to complete.
The hardest part about writing a book is writing a book. Having a methodical plan in place for how much you will accomplish each day is hugely helpful in holding yourself accountable and getting it done! Check out my book, Design Your Day, for more info.