The Goal List 2018

2018, the-goal-list

The end of the year is a difficult time. The days of December and January are short and the weeks drag. The entire year past boo-oo-ings into a little cube of regret and the year ahead rolls out like a forest trail at sundown.

In December 2017, in an attempt to put some structure around the year ahead, I sat down and wrote out 14 goals in 4 categories for 2018. Why 14? Who knows. Why 4 categories? Search me. I did all this by instinct, and when I wrote them down they felt absolutely essential and correct.

The Goal List was a beacon for me throughout 2018. I always had something to look forward to. I never felt the foamy, expanding despair of not knowing what to do next. I rarely experienced decision paralysis. I used my time to good effect.

Now, as the year draws to a close, I’d like to experiment with using it is as a framework for a personal retrospective. What can I be proud of? What really works? Where can I focus more in 2019?

The Graded List

Travel: 100%

  • 2 camping/backpacking weekend trips
  • Montreal trip
  • Oaxaca trip
  • Mongolia trip

Personal Growth: 60%

  • volunteer monthly
  • get a new therapist
  • take a writing workshop
  • finish DBT course

Social: 50%

  • biweekly dinner party/game night
  • monthly museum club

Career: 25%

  • find a professional mentor
  • pay off code bootcamp
  • build a React app
  • 3 hackathons

The Plan

In the eight days leading up to 2019, I’m going to write one post about each goal I accomplished– how, why, and when I did it. You can bet there will be pictures.

In the first half of January I’ll post again breaking down my goals for 2019.