Day 4: Five Current Goals
Okay, so remember back in school or at your job training when they taught you about “SMART” goals? Well, let me refresh your memory. A SMART goal is a specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound. This particular prompt I thought was going to harder than I thought, but most of my goals are general (dumb) goals without much direction.
1. Blog consistently for the next 3 months (and then reassess after that time). I am defining consistently as: once to twice a week, for at least three months. In the past I have been consistent for about a month, then lost interest. This is definitely attainable with the exception of the holidays. I am expecting to be a little intermittent with posts during the time that I am home for the holidays in December– but if that is my only lapse in that time, I will be satisfied. This is my personal project that I think will be important to document all the exciting changes that I have coming up in the next 5 months especially, and my hikes. Not only is it a great personal record, but I hope to inspire others to embrace the adventure in their own lives!
2. Save money. Obviously, this is a general one, but my SMART goal is to put 10% of my paychecks into savings each month, and pay off my credit card balances in the next year which I think is completely attainable. With the wedding coming up in 5 months, this is especially important since we do not want to start our marriage in debt– especially relating to wedding expenses. I love to travel and adventure, but that obviously comes with a price. Spending less money per month on our food budget (which is my next goal), is an attainable goal that will help me accomplish this. Anyone have some favorite recipes that they’d like to share? I’m all ears!
3. Cook and meal prep for a majority of my meals. I am defining “majority” as 4 days out of the week. This leaves three days to be more flexible. With my schedule the way it is right now (I work 3pm-11pm), I usually eat one large meal right before I go to work and don’t eat again for the day, depending on how hungry I am. I find that I am so much more balanced if I have meals consistently throughout the day– go figure, right? If I meal prep and bring my food to work, I save money and have a steady source of energy throughout the day.
4. Exercise regularly. This is a no-brainer. I’d like to workout 3-5 days a week for 30 minutes to an hour, and incorporate my sweating for the wedding workouts into that. I hope that if my schedule changes a little bit, that it will be easier. Also, there’s been less hiking with the change in weather and seasons, so I need to stay in shape for next season. This is always something I struggle with staying with, but once I’m in the groove it’s so much easier because I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.
5. Learn a new skill– Swift (for making apps). I’d like to continue to learn new skills throughout my life. Recently, I’ve been interested in learning more about SEO (for this blog/websites), and Swift. Swift is a programming language specifically for Apple/iOS products. Brighton bought me this course on Udemy about learning how to make an app with Swift. The course is entertaining, but it is a lot to take in at a time, so I’ve been doing the course in small portions. My goal is to finish that in the next couple months. He’s also helping me understand it. Wouldn’t it be cool if I could make an Adventure App for Next Stop Adventure?