It is that time again – time to make New Years resolutions – NOT. It is time to evaluate and update my goals. I keep an ongoing list of goals covering most aspects of my life and I frequently review them against my progress. Some of the goals do include resolutions, e.g., my goal to reduce sugar intake in my diet caused me to resolve to stop drinking orange juice, which resulted in a five pound weight loss over a few months time.
My primary goals include:
- Increase fitness and strength
- Improve diet
- Learn something new every month
- Travel as much as possible
- Create something every day
In looking back at 2014, there were some things that went really well, some things not so well, and some things I will continue to work on improving. Some things I will let go – there are sometime things in your life that just don’t mean anything anymore and you need to let them go to make room for new.
The things that went really well this past year include my son’s wedding, travel, and spending time with my friends and family. My older son, Drew, and Amanda married in Big Sky, Montana this past May. The months leading up to the wedding were full of wedding-related to-do’s and travel. The week of the wedding was amazing; our family, our friends, and our children’s friends all came together and it was magical time spent enjoying each other’s companionship and the beautiful area around Big Sky.
Drew and Amanda – Big Sky, Montana
I traveled to some new places – Scotland, Key West, and Playa Del Carmen. I made lots of trips to places I have been before and loved – Chicago, Charleston SC, Asheville, St. Louis, upstate New York, central Arkansas visiting family, Nashville, and Baltimore.
Glencoe, Scotland
There were a few things in my life that did not go so well. My father had a seizure and bad fall in October, went into the hospital and never really regained consciousness, so he was put in hospice and died there a week later. It was sad losing him, but he had many wonderful years doing what he loved, so his life was good.
I also am living in a place that I do not enjoy. I am a firm believer in digging in and enjoying and contributing in whatever community you live, but I’m just not getting into it here. I really tried at first but over time, I have just lost my enthusiasm for even trying to make it better and just don’t care anymore. I now feel as if this place is just a prison sentence which I will just get through. The upside of that however, is that it compels me to travel as much as possible. Another bright spot in living here is I have met a couple of new people this year who I really enjoy and I am grateful for their friendship.
My work is another area that can use some improvement. Since we have moved a lot, my work is now just odd freelancing – whatever I can do that anyone will pay me to do – real estate photography, writing, and organizing. I have been busier this year than in past years but I want to do more.
Other things that have gone well include my fitness routine; it has stayed constant even with travel. I am nowhere near where I want to be, but am in much better shape and stronger than I have ever been.
My creative efforts this year included installing a new garden with a rabbit proof fence surround. The location is good and I have high hopes that next years garden will be even better.
My photography improved this year, partly due to lots of practice and partly to some classes from seasoned and highly skilled photographers.
I learned to edit photos using camera raw and now use that almost exclusively for post-production. I dabbled in learning Illustrator and plan to become proficient with that in 2015. I also plan to learn more of Photoshop – I learned a ton of features this year and want do more with it.
I intended to take welding classes this year but that hasn’t happened yet – hopefully I will be able to do that in 2015.
These are just some of my goals and evaluations of those goals. I think that is what makes our lives – constantly striving and evaluating where we are and where we should be.
So here’s to 2015! Hope it is filled with time with family and friends and great experiences!
The post 2015 Goals appeared first on .