Friday, January 02, 2009

2009: Goals



I’ve been thinking about goals for 2009. I don’t always clearly define these each year, nor do I always publish them, but I feel like 2008 was a pretty good year for me and so I would like to try and exploit that momentum somewhat, nail down some specific objectives and concentrate on actually making them happen.

It seems like every year I have this vague sort of idea: lose weight and try harder at work. Sometimes I have a little bit of success at this, sometimes I don’t, but it all feels so hit or miss by this method. I’m going to try to be more concrete and specific and so I want to come up with a plan for how these objectives can be hit.

Work

As I wrote in my 2008 Year Review, last year was a successful and pivotal year for me at work. It would be tempting to relax a little bit and enjoy that, but I really do think that I am somewhat at a critical turning point in my career. As my role and path becomes defined, I have to be an active participant in who I am going to be as a professional. I need to be more proactive, more organized, more committed and more enthusiastic. I need to be more involved in strategic work and more integral to the over-all direction of my group. Now how to accomplish all that, I haven’t really figured out yet, but I’m working on it.

Finances

I’m pretty good about saving some money every month, but for 2009 I want to be a little more aggressive about that. I’m still trying to figure out what the specific goal is going to be and I probably won’t publish the specific monthly or annual number, but just suffice to say, it’ll be more than it’s been.

Social

I admit it, I’m an introvert and can be a bit of a social hermit. I am never more comfortable and at peace than when I’m home with the dogs and a bunch of good books and maybe some movies on the TV. I enjoy socializing, but I also find it very draining and I can be a little socially awkward, so I really tend to dread the effort. Still, I usually end most parties or social encounters happy that I went, taking away good memories. So in 2009 I want to make more of an effort socially. Come out of my cocoon more often, accept more invitations, be willing to move out of my comfort zone a little bit.

Health, Fitness & Weight

Ugh. Here I need to get back on that wagon. I’ve had a bit of a vacation with my little birthday/holiday pity party. But now that is all over and it’s time to get back to work. I never stopped going to Jenny Craig, and that has probably been a huge element to my not completely falling apart in this area, but it’s time to get serious again. So, here are my plans (I may need to fine-tune as I move forward, but this is what I’m thinking for right now):

• Re-commit to Jenny Craig. Be more careful with lunch (I don’t eat JC for lunch). Continue to use JC meals for breakfast & dinner.
• Get back on the scale (both at home and at JC).
• Start eating fruit mid-morning at work again.
• Alcohol for social occasions only.
• Continue 2x/week personal training sessions.
• Pick up the running again – run a minimum of 3x a week through March.
• Plan to bump up mileage and/or the number of running sessions per week after March (hopefully the snow will start to be on the wane by then and I’ll be able to use some trails).
• Weather, snow & salt permitting, walk dogs on significant walk (or run) – minimum 2 miles, 2-3x per week.
• Look into a “Y” membership, or re-up with the Spinning studio.
• Ride 4x a week (includes 2 training sessions/lessons per week).

I think if I can do all that and be consistent and steady about it, my weight should more or less take care of itself, at least to a certain point. I may not be a size 4 and the perfect weight for my height, but I should be in a reasonable place, I think. If I decide that I want to go further, then some fine-tuning will most likely have to happen, but I’ll worry about that and decide when I get there. I’d say from where I’m sitting now, I would like to lose probably another 40 lbs. I think I would be happy and healthy there, I might not be over the moon with happiness with my size, but that’s where the fine-tuning would maybe come in.

Riding

I’m still trying to figure out my riding goals. This is very important to me, but as I am still in the mode of learning to ride again and don’t know where my skills and abilities are really going to put me down the road, it’s hard to have too specific goals because I don’t really know what I’m going to be capable of. Additionally, with riding, since it is a partnership with a horse, some of my goals at some point would have to be reliant on having a suitable horse for attaining them, so there is a whole other financial (not to mention time) component there that may or may not be doable.

With all that said, for this year, I would like to continue to work hard through the Winter and Spring, and feel that I could possibly compete in an entry level (Beginner Novice level) event/horse trial. Whether or not I actually DO compete at this stage is less important, but I would like to feel like I COULD, that I am ready to start. So, basically that comes down to schooling BN level. I think that’s pretty doable. I think right now I could handle the jumping portion without being at all afraid or too overwhelmed. I don’t think that I would feel comfortable competing today, just because I wouldn’t want to embarrass myself, but I feel like I could get around okay at least. So by late Spring I would like to feel much more competent and confident, that I could easily compete at that level and feel proud to do so. I think that’s reasonable.

By Fall, I think I would like to feel like I’m ready to school Novice (the next level up). Once I feel that I’m schooling that level, I think I’ll be pretty close to where I was ability-wise when I was riding twenty-two years ago. I think I was schooling Training a bit, but never competed above Novice in eventing (in those days it was called, “Pre-Training”). I think I was jumping 3’6” hunters and equitation, but I’m concentrating on eventing now. Once I get to a point where I’m schooling pretty consistently Novice, and am thinking of competition, it may be time to consider buying a horse. I don’t know what the economy, the state of my job or my financial situation will be then, so I don’t know if that will be possible, or if it will be possible to buy a horse suitable for competition. But at least I should have a better idea by then of what I’m going to be capable of and can work towards positioning myself for horse ownership.

Anyway, all that is a long time off at this stage. Right now I’m concentrating on riding 4x a week and having my two lessons during the week. Additionally, I want to be more fit for riding! This ties into the “Health, Fitness & Weight” section, but I should not be all out of breath after cantering around the ring a bunch of times, or after doing a 1-minute jump course. I need to improve my cardio as well as reduce my weight, in order to be a better rider.

So these are the goals that are the most important to me right now in my life and so will be what I’m concentrating on for the year. They should remain pretty fluid and adjustable as I move forward, so I want to always think I’m keeping my expectations realistic.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

damn. those are some well thought out goals, woman.
and I love how they encompass all of you from your social self to your riding self.

I need to work on getting out there more as well.

*sigh*

or can I stay home and read.

no?

deborah said...

"or can I stay home and read."

That's always my fall-back plan. heh.