Saturday, January 17, 2009

Goals for 09

Instead of making resolutions that I would already feel guilty about not keeping I resolved to make goals for the year instead. Goals give me things to work on improving but create less suffering. They are long term and don't require absolute fidelity. I strive to achieve them instead of giving up (and feeling bad about it) the first time I break the resolution.
My kayaking goals for the coming year are pretty modest. I want to develop a reliable toward finishing role, take at least one advanced training course, paddle once a week (practice for a few hours at Walden Pond counts), and do at least one really advanced (level 5+) trip. I'd also like to simply become more fluid, but that is an ongoing challenge. It is also too nebulous to be a goal.
Along with my paddling goals, I also have some other activity related goals. I want to lose 15 pounds and keep it off. I also want cycle to work three times a week during the months between May and October. To get fit enough to cycle to work I want to use my cycle trainer at least three times a week until May.
I'm not what anyone considers "career oriented", so my work goals are simple: stay employed and produce quality content.
On the relationship front I don't have any specific goals. I do want to continue growing as a good partner to H. Since it is hard to predict the path that a marriage takes I don't think I can accurately say that what "growing" means.
I would also like to stay in touch with old friends, but I know myself well enough to know I'm unlikely to succeed. I'm more of an in the moment sort of person. Life moves too fast for me to always be looking back. Hopefully, Facebook can help out with this goal. Automation is a great thing.
One more goal: get better organized with all of the things I need to do. There were too many times this past year when I had so many things to do that I couldn't even find a starting point. There were also too many things that fell through the cracks because I simply forgot about them.
That is more than enough goals. Any more and I forget them...

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