Previously, I wrote about how I'm using a technique I learned in grad school to help me with resetting the year. It came in very handy this year when I couldn't collect all of my thoughts to piece them together in a cohesive way. The reset helped to remind me of what I personally place the most value on in general.
Check out how I did that here. (I would recommend reading that post first before this one.)
Today, we're going to be looking at how those previous answers will guide how I goal-set this year.
Previous results
These are my answers from that exercise:
1. Spending time with parents and Penny.
2/3 (TIED): Self-care and spirituality.
4. Travel.
5. Dating.
Getting real
From this list, I can already tell you that I don't place that much importance on #5 - dating. This new year is going to be such a big one between the different trips back and forth for my new home and moving my parents to Texas. I can't feasibly spend much (if any) time worrying about dating. I think this one will come eventually - but I spent years putting my significant others' needs above my own. I am finally feeling like I can accomplish so much more without having to worry about someone else telling me what to do. I think there's a real value to having your independence and knowing what you want/don't want. If you're able to grow by yourself too - that's valuable.
I would like to genuinely prioritize the rest of the items on this list (especially 1-3). However, let's first discuss #4 - travel.
Travel
I used to travel all the time - and I count little road trips as traveling. I am very fortunate to have had experience with travel. From driving a few hours to get to a nearby destination, to driving 14 hours to Colorado, to flying to Vietnam to see family. I am incredibly lucky.
I'd like to get back to that this year if I can. Of course, it is number 4 on my list, so I have other priorities that are higher valued at this time than traveling. However, I would love to travel again. Perhaps, the most feasible way to explore a new place would be to drive within the nearby region in this new year. Texas is going to be my new home and I'd love to see more of it.
Self-care and Spirituality
My next priority has to be my self-care and spirituality. Spirituality is something I constantly want to focus on. Whenever I go to Half Price Books, I always visit that section. The only time I skip it is when I know I'm trying to not spend money - which is honestly so hard because I find this stuff so interesting. I'd like to establish little routines each day that will bring me closer to nature and a higher being.
For self-care, I consider spirituality just another part of my self-care. However, the other parts of self-care include finding things that fill my cup. For starters, although I like playing games - it doesn't do very much to fill my cup most of the time. It's just an easy distraction. My goal this year is to go out and explore more of what really does rejuvenate me. For example, I find that walks in nature can often fill my cup - but I want to find additional things that can contribute to my self-care. Preferably, things that can provide me with intrinsic happiness - rather than monetary temporary highs, such as purchasing something new.
Spend time with loved ones
As always, the most important priority for me is spending time with my loved ones. In particular, I want to spend time with my parents more, simply due to how old they are and the underlying health concerns. Ever since moving to the US, the one constant for me has been my parents. Through good and bad, I know that all of their decisions have been made with me in mind.
In addition, I want to make sure that I thoroughly enjoy my time with my puppy, Penny. She is the sweetest puppy ever (fact, not opinion). We're currently working on keeping consistent with not jumping on people when excited 🙂
To finalize this point, I have to include friends in the mix. As I mentioned, it's been just my parents and I living in the USA. We have other family members here - but the truth is - I rely heavily on the friends I made. I have a core group of friends that I consider my family. I hope to spend more time with them this coming year. On top of that, I hope to expand my social network a bit more and strengthen the new friendships I made in 2022.
How to achieve
Of course, with all goals - we need to be realistic with how much we can feasibly do. This is something I personally struggle with. After looking at my current circumstance, it's become clear that in order to achieve all of the things I want to achieve this next year, I need to make some changes. The biggest change has to be my work schedule.
Working hours
While I am grateful for my job and my colleagues, I cannot and should not be working above my 8 hours each day. I've been pulling 12-13 hour days recently, and it was a huge contributor to my burnout. It's not like I get paid more because I work more - so I need to kick this neurotic habit. Not only do I get a fixed salary each payday, but it has also prevented me from doing much else on work days. If we're being quite honest - it also prevented me from doing much on weekends since that time is spent trying to recharge.
The bright side is that it made me really reflect on how I'm spending my time - and if that's a good enough trade-off for me. Spoiler: it isn't.
Sticking to 8 hours a day really will help to free up my time. Maybe I'll have enough energy to go out and take walks or do things on the weekend again. Just as importantly, it should help with my having any energy at all to do more on weekdays - since that's a large chunk of our life.
FIN.
This is a larger part of how I've been attacking my 2023 goals. While I hope to have SMART goals, this was incredibly helpful to help to get me started.
If you haven't tried it yet - I would recommend trying this method for yourself and see if they align with what you think you want your goals to be for the new year.