Goals: Month 2 (so f'n late...)
Second month. Time for you to read about my bullshit excuses. In all honesty the month wasn’t as bad as it felt. I had gotten in my head that I hadn’t accomplished much. The truth is that I hadn’t accomplished as much as I set out to do, but on average I have improved or stayed the same with most categories. Unfortunately since I thought it was worse in my head I kept putting off writing this and objectively looking at the data. Looking at myself objectively is the scariest part. With that said, I am accumulating check marks. Even though I’m not going to make every goal I set out to do this year, the important part is to press on every day and not let the failures of my past determine my future.
One thing that I realized is that my tracking system was a bit flawed. At the beginning of the month I was using the same color pencil to check boxes. What was worse is that if I forgot to check a box at the end of the day it was hard to determine how long I had lost progress for. In order to rectify the issue I started to A) use a new color for the month and B) write the date next to the accomplishment. When I wasn’t sure if I remembered to tick a box because I put it off for too long I defaulted to not checking a box for integrity sake.
Health
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Health is a struggle for me. I generally don’t judge myself too hard here because: I am somewhat active, I’m not sick, and I’m only a smidge over weight. In reality I could eat better and smoke less cigarettes. In fact the more I think about it, if not smoking cigarettes is the only thing that comes out of this exercise, then I’d be pretty happy. It’s one of the most destructive habits I have right now and it doesn’t add any value to my life.
Unassisted sleeps were low. This is unfortunate. During the month of February I accumulated a fair amount of work related stress. I also have a bit of stress in regards to a house I own in Pennsylvania (and if you want it could be yours for a low price!). On nights when I can’t sleep I’ll sometimes smoke weed to ease the burden of shutting off my mind. This can be useful every once in a while, but it’s not a habit I want to cultivate.
Working out was certainly in doubt. I teeter on whether or not my goal is too aggressive. After all a Fitbit only requires you get 10k steps throughout your day. I also have zero plans on what to do in a gym. My goal now is to figure out a reasonable workout routine so that I don’t feel like an idiot when I am in a gym.
Drinking water suffered and I really have no excuse. I fill up on way too much coffee and love to drink soda. Uck, this is the type of stuff that totally makes me not want to look at the objective data.
Lastly 1500 calorie days. Fuck that! This goal is officially eating healthy and not a calorie count. It has been declared. But what the fuck does eating healthy even mean? It changes constantly. Here we go, a definition in three bullet points or less:
- Eat some vegetables
- Don’t eat any refined carbohydrates (sugars and breads mostly… whole wheat pasta is okay and brown rice too)
- Plan meals and don’t gorge myself
Okay hence forth if I meet the above criteria, I’m checking the box.
In terms of health my score dropped from a 68% to 47%. Since I put off reviewing this information I let the burden impact March as well. However it’s good to see the information and know that I’m not necessarily making the priorities I should be.
Creative
Goal Accomplished Expected Grade Beautiful Thing Review 0 1 0 :( Life Lesson Learned 0 1 0 :( Write Nonfiction Story 1 1 100 :) Write Fiction Story 0 1 0 :( Record Podcast 0 2 0 :( Edit 30 Minutes of Audio 0 1 0 :( Edit 30 Seconds of Video 1 1 100 :) 5 Minutes of Standup 2 2 100 :)
Creative goals jumped way up from 12.5% to 37.5%. So what got good? A big help came from my friend Lauren Dufault who signs me up for open mics when I would come out to see her perform. It’s a bit stressful to put together a set of jokes 5-10 minutes before a show starts. However I think that it’s less stressful than looking back on your life and wondering why the fuck you didn’t pursue any creative endeavors. And for that reason I thank you Lauren.
I hit my goal of editing 30 seconds of video. Even though the product was this silly video of me trying out new equipment I’m still counting it. In fact the Goldilocks and the Three Bears reference makes me snicker a bit. Whatever, I did it.
Lastly, I wrote this piece of nonfiction about an experience with my family. It wasn’t easy at the time given the sensitive nature of the material but it felt like honesty and I suppose that’s the best I can hope for with writing.
Activities
Goal Accomplished Expected Grade Hangable Canvas Photo 0 1 0 :( 6 Mile Hike/Camp 1 2 50 :| Ski/Snowboard Day 0 5 0 :( Meal w/ a Friend 2 2 100 :)
Activities were up from 32% to 37.5% YAY! BUY STOCK IN ACTIVITIES! This month I got do lunch with my friend Rachel Walker. She’s about as bawlin as a soccer moms goes whippin the minivan. I first met Rachel while running lights for her sketch team Token Boy. Rachel has mastered the art of awkward looking dangly teeth while on a stage and level of enthusiasm that would make you excited about cardboard. We always tell ourselves that we are going to get together for lunch and write new sketches. However we spend most of our time laughing at my love life which is truly a more comedic endeavor. I don’t even bring paper to write with anymore…
Next I managed to get some time in with my buddy Mars. Mars is hands down one of the best people I know at articulating his emotions and philosophies on relationships. One of my favorite things that Mars brought to my attention is how a person can treat a romantic partner in an ungodly way when having a bad day. This type of behavior is escalated to a degree that the individual would never treat a friend. “Why do people feel like they have that relationship privilege?” (quote might be a little off) He’s right though. I know I certainly have blamed my own life’s consequences on previous partners in an unfair way, and guess what, it didn’t work out. Mar’s focus in relationships seems to be on authenticity and honesty in a way that’s not nearly as trite as I’m writing it. It’s endearing to say the least.
Lastly I had the pleasure of hiking Mount Falcon with my friend and amazing improviser Asa Erlendson. My favorite part of the relationship that I’ve cultivated with Asa is that we primarily don’t do any small talk. We’ll go out for hikes and quickly drop into conversations about philosophy, psychology, and relationships. The conversations always feel extremely open to the fact that life presents a lot of grey areas. This type of conversation is intriguing to me because it is less of pushing a preconceived notion and more about getting to the heart of what’s going on. These conversations are a satisfying addition to tack onto a hike out in nature.
Reading
Goal Accomplished Expected Grade Gulag Archipelago 0 pages 34 pages 0 :( On Becoming a Person 0 23 pages 0 :( The Body Never Lies 0 18 pages 0 :( Ordinary Men 0 pages 19 pages 0 :( 12 Rules for Life 30 31 96 :)
Reading, I should do more of it. My long term partner in crime David Allen says that “When I hear people say ‘I should read more.’ that they are just not making it a priority.”
Yup.
Finance
Goal Accomplished Expected Grade File for Mortgage Release 0 1 0 :( Pay Extra $X into Debt 1 1 100 :) Week in Budget 3 4 75 :|
Not great, but not bad. I made my extra payments on debt this month but I could have been a little more on budget with my weekly spending. I went a little overboard buying equipment for a podcast I’m working on, but I’m cutting myself some slack here. The podcast is a creative outlet and one of my goals. I did my best to plan out the cost and I went a little over. I’m not counting it as a step back.
Conclusion
| Section | Average Grade |
|---|---|
| Finance | 58.30 |
| Reading | 19.20 |
| Activities | 37.50 |
| Creative | 37.50 |
| Health | 47.00 |
February was a bit of a bear. I came up short on my ideal, but I didn’t back slide nearly as much as I had perceived in my head. It goes to show that having a little bit of exterior measurement is a good thing. Also I didn’t do nothing. As far as new years goals go, I’m happy to still be trying well into March. Here is to hoping that I continue to “fail up” this year. Cheers!
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