Perfectionism no longer has a seat at my table. I’m over the idea of trying to be perfect at anything because I realize it’s not at all attainable. Instead, I want to constantly be improving myself. There should never be a day when you want to stop learning, exploring, and challenging yourself. With this in mind, I have decided to set three goals that I wish to accomplish by the end of this calendar year. I’m not expecting perfection. I know there will be times that I fall short. However, if I move closer towards these goals every day and I can continue to improve just a bit a every day, there is no reason I can’t achieve them.
One of the mistakes I used to make with goal setting was setting a long list of goals without a ton of reasoning or a realistic plan. This year I am pausing to reflect on why I want to achieve these goals and creating a realistic plan for getting there. So without further ado, here are my three goals for 2018!
2018 Goals
- Averaging three miles a day.
During the second half of last year I unfortunately got out of the habit of tracking my daily miles. In 2014 and 2015 I ran almost every race that Hogwarts Running Club offered in addition to logging daily miles for Charity Miles. The second half of 2017 ended up being challenging for me mental health wise and instead of continuing to log miles daily (which would have actually helped) I made excuses to stay inside. This year I want to get back to my daily walk/runs because they keep me energized, keep me healthy, and help me manage anxiety and depression. Three miles a day seems like a realistic goal that I can manage even on rainy days, cold days, busy days, or days where I’m not feeling well. I know there will be days when I do much more than three miles though so if I take a day off every now and again, that’s okay. The goal is to average three miles a day, not to be perfect at it.
- Reading 80 books.
I made it a goal to read 80 books in 2017 and I unfortunately only made it halfway there. I ended the year having read 44 books, which I’m still proud of. Especially since some of those books were quite sizable. This year though, I would really like to push forward and get to 80, or at least closer to it. I do believe that half the battle is in the planning so I have laid out a reading schedule and the first half of the year is filled with books that I can’t wait to get my hands on. As I write this on the 4th day of the year, I have already finished two books so I think I am off to a great start!
- Eating a more vegan diet.
I’ve been a vegetarian since I was eight. Although I don’t eat eggs or drink milk, I do occasionally have them in other items and I also have cheese from time to time. Notice I said I want to eat a more vegan diet but I did not say I want to become a vegan. As a strict vegetarian, I think the label of vegan scares me a bit. Being a vegetarian has always come easily to me but eating vegan all the time is a bit more of a challenge. I don’t ever want to give up sipping on hot butterbeer while sitting in the Leaky Cauldron or indulging in chocolate chili ice cream while strolling through Diagon Alley. These are of course not things I do daily though. I think eating a mostly vegan diet but having vegetarian food two to three times a month might be a more realistic goal than going completely vegan. You may remember me mentioning that I have a fibroid tumor. My reasoning for wanting to try a more vegan diet is to monitor its effects on my fibroid. A lot of research has led me to believe that it could be very beneficial when it comes to getting rid of my fibroid so hopefully it helps me get some good results.
If you are creating your own list of goals for 2018, remember to both write them down and break them down. Writing out a few sentences explaining why you want to achieve your goals and creating realistic plans for doing so will go a long way when it comes to actually reaching them. Good luck!