Welcome to 2016

I  have been thinking about the goals that I want to set for 2016.   I am not a fan of resolutions.  I don't know if I have ever made and kept a resolution that I have made for the year, but I have completed goals that I set, because I could commit to them. 

A resolution is weak, a commitment is strong.

You only make commitments for things you can control.

You can make a New Year's resolution to lose weight, eat healthier, but you can't commit to it.

However, you can make a commitment to running, cycling, and lifting weight three times a week and eating a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day.

I set three goals last year:

1. Move my body two thousand and fifteen miles. 
2. Donate Platelets 15 times in 2015. 
3. Read a book every month and publish a review on my blog or Amazon. 

I completed the first goal, moving my body 2,166 miles. 

I donated platelets eleven times.  While I was very committed to completing this goal, it was taken out of my hands in May after donating too frequently and I was put on an unable to donate list for three months. 

The third goal I totally abandoned after not completing a monthly challenge.  I could have revised the goal, but after missing it I totally stopped so obviously I was not as committed to it as the first two goals. 

So after a quick look back, here are my goals for 2016: 

1. Move my body two thousand and sixteen miles. 
2. Write a "journal of days" for the year, one to three sentence summary every day before going to bed. 
3. Revise my draft of the book I wrote last year during National Novel Writing Month. It still needs an ending.
4. Run a 5K.  
5. Write 750 words every day at 750words.com(I began the year with a streak of 406 days). 
6. Read one book a month.
7. Complete the Joyful January challenge.  Post a picture of something that has brought me joy each day during January on Facebook or Twitter or Instragram with the hashtag #joyfuljan

These all seem like achievable goals.  #3 will be the hardest goal to complete as I am not sure how I will be able to measure whether it has been completed.

All of the other goals follow the S.M.A.R.T guidelines that are commonly used in the workplace, but as this article outlines, SMART goals can be DUMB. 

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time based

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So long to 2015

It's been over five months since the last time I did anything here on my blog.

I am pretty sure that 2015 set a record of sorts for the least amount of posts at this site and the least amount of visits to the gym.

My goals for 2015:

• Move my body two thousand and fifteen miles(Complete, 2,165 miles)
• Donate platelets fifteen times in 2015(Donated 11 times, gave too frequently and was put on unable to donate list for three months)
• Read a book each month and write a review.(Incomplete, epic fail, within my control). 

Some of the other things that I accomplished in 2015. 

• 4,000,040+ steps as counted by my FitBit watch. This accounted for over 1,825 of the miles for the year. 
• 10,000+ steps, 231 days. 
• Rode my bike a paltry 380 miles. 
• Participated and completed my first NANOWRIMO(National Novel Writing Month, write 50,000 words during the month of November) challenge.    My book still needs an ending and lots and lots of editing before the world is ready to read this book. 
• Wrote at least 750 words every day at 750words.com.  I ended the year with a consecutive days of writing of 406 days at this site. 

Fun things: 

• Happy Patriots fan, finally! 
• Theater
• Les Miserables
• Into the Woods
• Went to see Adam reprise his role of Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls at the Lakewood Center for Performing Arts seven times. 
• Two episodes of Avenue Q at in Louisville, Colorado
• Three episodes of Dogfight, a very intense play set in the time period of the Vietnam War.
• Dinner with Molly(One of Kelly's sisters). 
• Weekend golf outing with Adam at Grand Lake and Pole Creek.  
• Golfing with Lindsey and Adam
• Went to Vancouver Canada and saw, Once the Musical with Sue(Traffic in Vancouver sucks)
• Spent a night on Whidbey Island in Washington and furiously wrote several thousand words in my novel. 
• Went to a Nuggets game with Laura to see Kobe Bryant for a final time in Denver.
• Seeing Laura get her 100th run shirt with the Irish Snug running club. 
• Touchdowns for Tomorrow Trivia with Laura, Sue and Lindsey. 
• Thanksgiving open house with my niece, Kristin.  She is all kinds of awesome! 
• Adam singing O Holy Night at Burns Methodist church for his grandmother. 

Life things: 

• Accepted a full time position at First Data again as a software analyst. 
• Around the sun one more time. 

On tap for 2016?  

• Hopefully a return to running, not sure what that will look like, but I sure would like to be able to run again and for once it doesn't seem like my knee will be the thing that stops me. 
• Reading on a Nook instead of a physical book.  I have lots of books that I would like to read and looking forward to reading as a writer, paying attention to how a real write tells their story. 
• Ski outing with a friend from work.  I haven't gone skiing since 1999. 
• Golfing with Adam
• Running with Laura

Next month: 

• Participating in Joyful January challenge on Facebook.  Post something every day that brings me joy during the month, on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with a hashtag of #joyfuljan
• Begin to revise my novel, it needs an ending and a lot of work. 
• Set some goals for 2016.  

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Welcome to 2015

I have been thinking about how to welcome in this new year.  I am not a fan of new year's resolutions.  I don't think that making a resolution will effect lasting change.  I think goals and intentions are more effective.

A resolution is weak, a commitment is strong.

You only make commitments for things you can control.

You can make a New Year's resolution to lose weight this year, but you can't commit to it.

However, you can make a commitment to running, cycling, and lifting weight three times a week and eating a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day.

Having said that, here are my goals for 2015.  Over the course of a year the goals may need to be adjusted.  After a year where I ran a grand total of four times, rode my bike outside a total of three times the very first goal I have set may not a realistic goal.  So rather than abandoning an unmet resolution, a goal can be adjusted.  During the years when I was fortunate enough to be able to run marathons, I always had an A race time goal if everything went perfectly, a B race time goal, all the way to a D race time goal.  Over the vastness of running 26.2 miles anything could happen and over the vastness of a year an athletic goal will most likely need some tweaks.  Only once in my running years did I ever exceed a yearly mileage goal so while I can commit to this goal, I will need to stay healthy and avoid the injury bugaboo that has derailed me in the past.

So here are my goals that as I begin this year are in my control.

1. 2015 miles. This can be done either running, cycling, swimming, walking for a total of 2015 miles. I don't care what the medium I use to accomplish this.  Moving forward is the goal. 
2. Read one book a month and write about it here or publish a review on Amazon.
3. Donate platelets fifteen times.

“Sometimes I can feel my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I’m not living.”
—Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

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Ten Goals for 2010

My Goals for 2010:

1. Run 2010 kilometers, cycle 2010 miles, swim 20.10 miles
2. Run a marathon with Team in Training
3. Do a century ride for the American Diabetes Association
4. Ride in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic
5. Climb my first fourteener.
6. Read 10 books.
7. Attend 20 Yoga classes.
8. Attend 20 spinning classes.
9. Snowshoe 10 times
10. Play 10 rounds of golf with Adam

Some of the things  I am looking forward to in 2010:

Date nights with Sue :)
Seeing Laura graduate from college with her degree in Bio Physics! 
Seeing Brittany graduate with her Assoicates degree
Runs at the Irish Snug with Laura, Michelle, Nate, Keegan and Kristin.
Making memories with my family.
My volunteer work for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Following the adventures of my running and blogging friends who inspire me.
Going riding with Laura and my sister.
Playing golf with Adam.
Living life with intention, gratitude and joy.

My goals may change, they most likely will need some sort of adjustment.   I might add some new goals during the year. 

What goals do you have for 2010?

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