January 2010, in review

Instead of the much-mocked, yet sadly typical status of New Year's resolutions, come the 2nd week of the year, I've decided to give my goals a fighting chance this year. To do so I established four "biggie" goals, and then outlined on a spread sheet the smaller steps (month by month) that it will take for me to reach those goals by the end of 2010. I am beyond tired at my constant, "Well, maybe someday..." attitude towards personal growth. No. No someday. Only today.

In order to create my own accountability (and necessary guilt-trigger), I've decided to post the status of my resolutions month by month.


1. Demonstrate an increase in humility and a decrease in selfishness in my relationships with God and others.
January's Goal: Call two people (anyone!) every week to check on how they're doing. (I know it sounds crazy, but I generally hate the phone and cringe at the thought of calling... but yet I still want to know how people are doing!) Meet with people, at least once a week to check up/maintain friendships. (Once again, a little lame, but school and my selfish "recharge" time often steals these delightful, truly enjoyable moments from my weeks.)
Success Rate: I completed both aspects of this goal with 100% accuracy, not missing a single phone call/meeting.
Changes/modification for February: I had the same goal in February, but I think I'm going to up the ante since I had such a high success rate (and enjoyed the phone calls/meetings so very much!).

2. Achieve a lifestyle that demonstrates good stewardship of my body.
January's Goal: Drink 100 oz. of water each day. Exercise two times/week.
Success Rate: abysmal. I completed 100 oz. goal maybe 5 times max. I only exercised 2x/week for the past two weeks. Shocking 50% accuracy for exercise. Horrible. No reason for this.
Changes/modifications for February: Drinking 100 oz. is completely impractical for most days, and I'm glad it's not February's goal. I'm now going to try to hit the gym 3x/week (failure is not an option!), and instead of a water goal, I want to eat 5-7 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every day. Because of this, I think a food journal will be important. I want to keep one daily. I already have an amazing moleskin notebook...

3. Achieve with excellence the next steps in my career path.
January's Goal: Update/post resume. Complete all clinic paperwork before it was due.
Success Rate: I posted my resume. I've since received a horrible amount of annoying people calling, and calling, and calling offering me weird, under-paying Monster.com jobs. But hey, I did what I was supposed to, right? I also completed my paperwork before its deadlines. Challenging, but not impossible, and definitely more rewarding than working against the clock. 100% success all round. Whoo-hoo! (Anyone surprised that this priority is doing just fine in the goals? Yeah, I didn't think so...)
Changes/modifications for February: NONE!

4. Go to EUROPE!
January's Goal: This is (clearly) a fun goal! This month I was supposed to work 20-30 hours/week and update my passport.
Success Rate: I worked as much as I could, but I kept falling slightly short of 20 hours/week. Something about full-time student and 20 hours of clinic kept messing with my goal. I also didn't update my passport, but that was more of a money thing than anything else... It's been bumped back to February.
Changes/modifications for February: I probably won't book plane tickets (as originally planned) in February. It's too early to know if this is feasible. But the working goal still stands. I'll just squeeze in hours wherever I can!

Additional Goal (this category is for things that I want to do, but don't think they require an entire year's-worth of work)...
January's Goal: Post on the blog 3x/week.
Success Rate: Look back through, dear reader! I achieved this goal! It was a delightfully fun project as well. I think this habit will stick. I have such fun sharing my ups, downs and daily anecdotes with you all. I hope you have a wonderful time reading.
Changes/modifications for February: This goal changes every month, which is part of its charm. February's goal is to clean at least 4x/week. I started this goal just this past week. It may be a little tricky, but I love the pristine living situation!

Well, it wasn't a brilliant month, but not too shabby either. All in all, I believe it's been a passable January. Onto to February! May that distinctly gloomy month provide shining success goal-wise.