January is a month for goals. Goals you make, goals you break, goals you aspire to but know you'll never do, goals you realign to become more practical, goals you discreetly shuffle to one side and pretend you never made, and--sometimes--goals you manage to keep. I'm not much of a goal-maker myself. I like short-term lists of things that need to be done, and even then it's mostly because I enjoy crossing stuff off the list. It makes me feel accomplished. It also makes it easier to tackle the never-ending list of last-minute crises that were a significant part of my 30s and seem destined to be part of my 40s.
I digress.
I've made a list of goals this year. 40, to be precise. (In addition to crossing stuff off lists, I also enjoy symmetry and symbolism, however loose.) These goals fall into 3 major categories: specific task or experience, skill development, and personal improvement. Yes, yes, I admit--some of these are excuses to do things I already wanted or needed to do. In my defense, 40 is a really big number.
In no particular order, here it goes.
- Learn to shingle and reshingle the shed
- Gravel the backyard
- Blog 2x a month
- Read 12 books (already chosen, that's another post)
- Write 1 book
- Paint 2x a month
- Stop swearing
- Learn to use a chainsaw
- Learn violin
- Whitewater rafting in Santa Fe, either solo or lady-friends trip
- Run a 5k
- Bench press 75 lbs
- Get a pedicure and facial
- Learn Spanish
- Build a piece of furniture
- Break my phone addiction and lessen non-educational screentime in general
- Do a Savage Daughters photo shoot with my girls
- Read the Book of Mormon all the way through (done this previously, but still a good thing)
- Read scriptures every day
- Pray every day
- Lose 15 lbs
- Sew a t-shirt quilt
- Paint 12 model horses
- Learn to fence
- Refinish kitchen cabinets
- Practice pistol and rifle marksmanship 1x a month
- Complete a gunsmithing course
- Repair the shed siding
- Save $250 a month
- Archery 1x a week
- Build an outhouse on our Alaska swamp with Tom Nixon (if circumstances work out)
- Go to the temple at least 2x
- Go to an El Paso Rhinos Junior Hockey Game
- Repaint kitchen to match rest of house
- Recaulk tubs
- Learn Irish stick fighting
- Belly dance 2x a month
- Get Leah's driver license
- Take a tax preparer class
- 24 dates with Rick
Whew.
So how am I doing? Not too bad. To keep from overstretching myself (and consequently crashing and burning) I have focused on building habits this month, choosing consistency over quantity. I got a gym membership and actually go 3 or more days a week. Spanish has been a daily habit thanks to Duolingo and that wretched little owl. Prayers and scripture study have been solid. I haven't tackled any of the house projects yet, but I did manage to repair the control display and faulty button on my stove, so that's a win even if it isn't on the list. I have eked out two blogs this month and plan on at least one more. Watercolors and horses are proceeding apace. I also made it to the temple. I'm also on track to finish my first reading book (even though it will probably take a day of binge-reading).
Seriously, lists. They make it all easier.
Lego and burger date. Check.
