It’s safe to say that 2023 had some peaks and valleys.
I don’t typically wait for a new year for reflection or goal setting. I’m not adverse to setting “new hour’s resolutions” if needed. But plotting course seems like a good antidote to tether-less floundering.
I also don’t typically share my goals. This stems, in part, from the time that I was asked in a group setting what my resolution was. My answer of “be less competitive” was met with uproarious laughter. I punted and quickly came up with an alternate answer “I want to do a better job of cutting my vegetables more uniformly.” I failed on both of those that year.
Nonetheless, there’s something about peer pressure or shared accountability helps trigger us to stay on the path we’re hoping for.
With that in mind, here’s the things I’m hoping for out of 2024. Some are easy to measure, others are those pesky goals that are more challenging to track but more valuable to undertake.
The challenge stemmed from those second variety of goals is what leads folks to do thinks like cut bangs or get a tattoo. You say to yourself “self, I want something different” then you go to the place and get the thing and, voila! You’ve instantly attained your goal.
Whereas, if I make a choice that my specified behavior is stealing my sparkle and decide to disengage from that behavior, that’s a choice that’s not a one and done. I have to actively decide every day to be different. This is much harder to do than getting a tattoo or bangs.
But since I am sooooooo obsessed with marking things off lists, my goals have some of those “immediate gratification” type as well as the long term, subjective measurement type. All of them are intended for me to sit somewhere next year, look back and feel like I lived well and tried to be still a better person in all my situations. My version of trying that includes, but is not limited to:
- Work on self respect
- Less social media, more in person contact with friends
- Less consuming (don’t worry Amazon,…I’m okay), more experiencing
- Find a way to recalibrate my purpose
- More ink
- Taking whatever classes Shasta College will allow me to and TRY not to be the classic older student stereotype
- Become a dual status County (This could be the year, BABY!)
- Do the stupid paddle triathlon that I wish I’d not heard of
- Try to land on the precisely right number of fucks to give (you know, the balance between “this is an outrage. Let me send my entire energy to it” and “I literally don’t care that I haven’t shaved my legs or spent the entire day immobile”)
- Undo some of the damage from my “no fucks given” last couple of months. And by damage, I mean my 21( thus far!!!!) extra pounds I’ve packed on. Don’t even think for a second that it’s muscle. It’s really not
- Read those books I’ve heard people talk about, Harry Potter.
- Paddle McCloud
- Paddle Siskiyou
- Fix the Camaro. Even though she was smashed up all the way back in 2020, thoughts about her destruction are still “too soon”
- See the fighter planes fly over Danny’s house in San Antonio
- See Bloomington, Indiana
- Swim more
- Say “yes” more
- Say “fuck” less
- Work out with a famous drag car racer
- More yoga
- More acupuncture for emotional resets
- More aggressive recovery for physical resets (Sorry Phase 5, imma be your problem this coming year)
- Have an elective IV treatment (You guys know this was a thing?!)
- Improve my sleep hygiene (I think I CAN break my record of 40 minutes of deep sleep)
- Host more meals at my house
- Learn how to properly make menudo
- See the sun rise from behind Mt. Shasta
Reality has a funny way of not always going according to plans. As a result, there could be changes in my goals for the coming year. Plot twists,…whaddya gonna do? 2023 knocked me down with some needed humbling and reminder that I’m really not special. With any luck, I’ll carry those essential lessons into 2024. My hope for the coming year is that I can look back on this chunk of time and be thankful for feeling more settled and progressed.
What are your goals for 2024?
Bifocals and Barbells 