Wednesday, July 20, 2016

2016 Goals: Half-time Check-In

The year is over half over (!!!) so I thought it would be a good time to check in on how my 2016 goals are coming along.

1.  Health and Fitness

- PR at the YWCA women's triathlon.  Status = Not able to complete due to my hip surgery. :(

- Run a sub-4 hour marathon at Grandma's marathon. Status = Not able to complete due to my hip surgery. :(

2.  Personal growth

 - Identify an organization to volunteer with and volunteer on a consistent basis. Status = In Process. I decided to volunteer in an adult ESL classroom through Minnesota Literacy Council. In June I started to volunteer as a classroom assistant on a weekly basis and I am loving it!! I usually work with the beginner class and our students are a mix of Latinos and Somalians. It's given me a whole new level of appreciation for the things I take for granted. I know things are not perfect here, but being born in the U.S. is like winning the lottery as we have so much freedom, opportunity, access to health care and safety/security compared to other parts of the world.

3.  Reading

- Finish all of the books on my nook.  Status = In Process. I've read 3 books but still have 1 more to read.

- Read 12 physical books that I already own.  Status = In Process. I've read 6 books so am on track to complete this goal.

- Complete the 2016 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. Status = In Process. I've completed 15 out of 24 tasks.


4.  Mental health

- Have one "shouldless" day a month and blog about it. Status = In Process. I've managed to have a shouldless day 5 out of the 6 months so far this year, so I have a little bit of catching up to do.

***

All in all, I feel like I'm doing pretty well with my goals. I won't achieve the health and fitness ones, but that's out of my control. Out of everything I've set out to accomplish this year, I have the most pride/sense of satisfaction about starting to volunteer on a weekly basis with an organization with a great cause.

Did you set any goals for the year? If so, are you on track to complete them?

14 comments:

katielookingforward said...

Way to go on the read harder challenge!!! I am not tracking my way through goals this year, just trying to take things as they come.

Kelly (She Wears a Red Sox Cap) said...

I love that you are having a good experience with your ESL volunteering. I can only imagine all you are learning about teaching/learning English and of course other parts of the world.

Emilie said...

I started volunteering weekly with a cat rescue organization (in the past I only fundraised for them through my races). I've had to give it up while pregnant as I can't scoop litter, but I really loved giving back to a cause that is so close to my heart. I still get to stop in and visit with them, so that is at least something. All of my health/fitness goals went out the window this year as well. Honestly, I don't even remember half of my goals! There's always next year... ;)

Amber said...

You are doing awesome on your goals! I can't even remember if I set goals a the beginning of the year ... the very beginning of the year is a bit of a blur as I was told in the first week of the year that I would probably be having a baby a month early! I did set some goals at the beginning of the summer though. I am doing okay. Exercise has been a bit of a challenge and I really need to get that figured out before I go back to work. My plantar fasciitis has flared back up and I have been trying to do lots and lots of stretching to help it. Right now a 2 mile walk has given me so much pain afterwards it doesn't even seem worth it. :(

Charbelle said...

So hard to believe the year is half over already! I know it's so disappointing that the health and fitness goals are out of your control and you would much rather have been able to do those than have hip surgery, but I also know you will eventually run again and that's awesome! Way to go on the other goals! I love the volunteer role you've decided on, that's so fantastic! It is like we won a jack pot by being born in the States, over the years I've come to understand this more and more!

Carolina John said...

That hip surgery really boned a lot of stuff! Glad everything else is going on track.

missris said...

Aww way back when I lived in Austin I used to volunteer with Literacy Austin and I loved it! I should totally get back into doing something like that. Good on you for volunteering (and for inspiring me)!

Nora said...

Volunteering is so good for the soul; each time I volunteer I feel.. better. Just in general. For giving back, for witnessing the difference, connecting with new people and etc. Glad to hear you are receiving many returns on your volunteering!

Nice job on the book goals, too. That's awesome!

Amber said...

So awesome! You are rocking your goals and honestly, even if you only achieved the volunteer one this year that would be an incredible accomplishment in and of itself!! One of my goals was to write a sentence a day in a journal and I totally dropped the ball on that from April - July. The craziness of our move was just too overwhelming. But I'm getting back into it now and going to try to keep it up through to the end of the year!

Stephany said...

Way to go on your goals! Just scratch out the marathon goals and write in "recover from hip surgery" and you'll be fine! haha. This is what is so hard about long-term yearly goals: it's had to predict what might happen over the course of a year, like needing hip surgery! But you're doing SO WELL with all the goals you COULD control, so way to go, you!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Well done with your goals!! I say you should have a whole "shouldless weekend" to make up for that day ;-) You deserve it!

I haven't been to Smorgusbord in Brooklyn as you mentioned on my post, but I'll definitely check it out next time!! Thank you!!

Linda said...

I used to set 10-15 goals a year and do quarterly check ins. Ever since my last major break up almost 3 years ago, my goals went from 10-15 a year to maybe just 1-3 a year. This year I had 3 travel goals and made 2 of them happen. I'm also trying to figure out this freelancing thing but that goal isn't a hard measurable one yet. It's basically "did you have to go into your savings yet?" yes or no goal.

Elizabeth said...

The volunteering sounds great! And I'm so not on track with most my goals but I'm okay with it and letting life happen instead. Out of the many I set the only one on track is my mileage goal and new travel opportunities. Although I did pay my credit card off and I should have the car paid off this year. I also have checked 1-2 items off the overall bucket list so I guess that's something :)

Jeanie said...

I think you've done great with your goals, all things considered! And the volunteer gig sounds really wonderful -- how great to do such a good thing and both give and receive at the same time.