Tag Archive | 2012 goals

as 2012 comes to a close

Dec31

I cannot believe we’re at the end of 2012…

and with that bit of pithiness, let’s have a look back at how things went for me with my goals…

I would say, I got more done than not done. 3 out of 5 were met (although one of those got revised a bit).

Running 10 miles was a success! I ran my first 10 miles in August. I hit a snag in October when I didn’t get to the gym on Saturday mornings between hurricane Sandy, travel, and colds. I was working on getting the ten done more quickly, but thanks to the snag, I’m working my way back up on speed (but have managed to run 10 the last few times out).

Write 200 posts. By the end of January, I changed this to 175-200. I realized pretty quickly that four a week was too demanding for me…even when I downshifted to three it sometimes felt like a chore. I hit 175 with my last post, so I can cross this off the list. And, no more absolute blogging goals unless I participate in some sort of challenge. I envision moving forward with 2-3 times a week…but who knows…if it’s 1-2 then it’s 1-2.

I said I was going to go through 3 chapters of the book Organize Now and get my life together. This so did not happen. Even as I kept revising the goal, it didn’t happen. I’m interested in being organized, but apparently just want it to happen by magic. So, this wasn’t a success, but I’ve been thinking a lot about how I spend my time and energy, and made some strides (my bedroom dresser is still clear [okay, there are some temporary items on it while I figure out where some Christmas gifts go, but it's pretty clear]…so maybe one day….

I wanted to read 25 books in 2012. Totally
exceeded this one, having read 32. So, I’m glad I had this goal as reading is important to me and sometimes knowing that I had a number spurred me on (interesting how this differed with my blogging goal).

And my total crash and burn, taking better care of my hands (as I type this, I can feel the dryness between my fingers). I don’t know why using hand cream is so difficult (my guess is that it’s inconvenient, if I use cream after I wash my hands, my hands are all slippery…I bought lots of hand products, but never consistently used any).

So, in looking for why I was able to meet three, but not the other two, I’m not sure what the pattern is. Maybe it’s the easily seen increments…always easy to see how I was making progress, whereas the other two, I had no real way of measuring beyond a more “organized” life (whatever) that means or softer hands. Maybe I was just more interested in doing those three, maybe it was because those were three habits I already had in place (I was already running, reading, and blogging). This has been something for me to ponder as I consider what I’d like to achieve in 2013.

And on that note, have a safe and happy New Year’s!

the three-quarter mark

Oct8

Okay…my timing is slightly messed up…we’re a little bit past the three-quarter mark where 2012 is concerned, but not by much. All the same, I’m shocked to be giving my next-to-last progress report for the year. Where has the time gone (well, I can always check the blog if I really want to know…a lot of it’s gone to counting shirts though…).

So, how am I doing? Original goal first (written in my countdown style..)

I’d like to be able to run 10 miles (or 2 times 5 miles). Thanks to some great advice from Cathy about slowing down, I managed to do this for the first time back in August…and I’ve now done it almost every Saturday morning since then. Every once in a while I can’t manage it, but I always bounce back the next week. Since I met that goal, I decided to work on getting the time down as it takes me almost two hours. My first 10 mile run was at a 5.2 mph pace…I’m now up to 5.5 mph. I can run the first hour straight through but need a break or two in the second. I’m very happy with where I am on this. 

I’d like to write 200 posts (which would average out to almost 4 a week–giving myself a little break with travel or things that happen that might pull me away). This got amended to 3-4 a week  (175-200  a  year) before the first quarter was over as I found it was not easy to always have 4 and it was making my blog feel like a chore. If I produce 3 a week, I’ll definitely hit 175 by the end of the year… so if some weeks have 4, it’ll be even higher (most weeks it’s three though..)

Go through 3 chapters a month of my Organize Now! book in the hopes of getting organized. Oh boy. This didn’t last a month and no matter what I did to revise the goal, it still didn’t work. But. I have definitely gotten some things more organized (my dressers, my clothes), so I consider this an improvement at least.

In 2012 I’d like to read at least 25 books again (so mostly 2 books a month). I am currently reading book 24: The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. I feel pretty confident that this book will be done in the next week (even though I saw the movie, the book is really compelling..) so I certainly hope I can manage more than one other book this year…although maybe I’ll pick a doorstopper book (although The Little Friend [book 22] was 500+ pages).

I want to use hand cream on them at least 1 time each day and will do “higher” maintenance (nail clipping/filing/buffing…maybe even a manicure one of these days) twice a month (so 1 time every other week). This should have been the easiest one to do, but I haven’t quite managed it. I think I take care of my hands better than before (it’s hard to use hand cream at certain times..like before opening a door), it’s not great…I did catch on to the idea of using the pumice scrub I keep in the shower for my feet on my hands while I’m showering so that it’s part of another routine.

So, that’s how it’s gone so far…I think I’ve had more success (w-hoo 10 miles!!!!) than setbacks.

If you had new year’s resolutions, how are you doing at the three-quarter mark?

Things ThaT sTarT wiTh The leTTer T

Jul30

Two Things, to be precise.

1. Ten. As in, “Yes! I ran ten miles this past Saturday!”

This was one of my goals for 2012. And here’s what I stated in my initial January post: “In 2012, I’d like to be able to run 10 miles (or 2 times 5 miles). I started 2011 at 2.5 to 3 miles and am now up to 7.5, so I think this is doable if I’m able to keep my schedule.” So basically, I was looking to add another 2.5 miles. I decided to try to just increase by .25 a month….meaning I’d probably meet my goal by October if I was consistent.

Now, the way I remember it, the 7.5 to 9 parts weren’t too bad, which is one reason why I’m ahead of schedule….but after 9-9.25, things got tough, and 9.5 was particularly difficult. I kept taking breaks and got discouraged by how often I was taking breaks and how long it was taking me to get it done. An exchange with Cathy set me on the right path…I was trying to run too fast for the distance I wanted to achieve. Her advice, slow down. Once I tried that, I was able to move to 9.75 and after 3 weeks running that distance, this weekend I went for 10. Again, it was a bit of a challenge at the end (I know it’s only a quarter mile…but it’s not always easy to tack that distance on!), and I had to take an extra break, but I got there!

I’m amazed at myself. For now, I’m not going to try to go beyond 10 and would like to work on increasing my speed/decreasing my time. To give you an idea, the run itself takes about 115 minutes…add a 2 minute warm-up, a five minute cool down, and 3 2-3 minute breaks…I’m at the gym for more than 2 hours. I leave my house a little before 7 and don’t get home till 9:15/20…so with shower and breakfast, it’s 10 before I’m “ready” to face the day. So, we’ll see how I’m able to do with this and evaluate from there!

2.

I just joined twitter (and on a side-note, just learned how to embed a tweet into a post). I’ve been curious about twitter for a while and finally took the plunge this weekend (maybe my Ten gave me confidence). So, I’m now following a lot of the bloggers I read who have twitter feeds, not to mention all the celebrities, magazines, news organizations, etc. that I’d like to follow. I’ve found that the process really isn’t too difficult. Who knew? This has definitely been a year of new Technology (another T) for me…the iPad, my new computer, learning how to use my iPhone more, venturing out into social media….not too shabby, I think.

[On another note, I may use a new picture for the twitter...I like the picture I use for the blog, but have to admit, the "look at my back" aspect just seems wrong on twitter...].

Those are my T’s. Do you have any T’s or other letters of the alphabet you’d like to discuss?

a long post on my long running

Jul9

All right. Last week, I mentioned how I had been struggling a bit in my running. I’d set a goal for 10 miles in 2012…and found that moving beyond 9.5 was difficult (I know…so close, but yet so far). I wanted to talk about this a little more.

Here’s what I wrote last week

“I hit the 9 mile mark on March 31, 2012 (I goofed in the April post and said 2011, but it was 2012). As of June 30th, I slowed down my quarter a month pace slightly but am at 9.5 miles and planning to attempt 9.75 on the next long run. I was having some issues with trying to do too much at once (too fast a speed, too steep an incline, AND increased distance) and was getting discouraged by how long it was taking me because I stopped a lot. Cathy offered me some very good advice…essentially that to achieve new distances, I needed to slow down. Her advice helped a lot. Anyway, I’m confident I’ll hit the ten by the end of the year if not before.”

Here was the exchange with Cathy, from her “Classic” post on June 18. For context, she ran a 10k in about 46 minutes.

My comment:

Congratulations! Wow, I’m envious of your time…I’m really struggling with my long runs because if I run faster (not nearly as fast as you!) I need to take more frequent breaks…if I run slower…it takes a long time…so the overall time is always looooooooonng!
Enough about me…what a fantastic day for you! Love the shoes.

Cathy:  thanks, zo! it seems all of the shoe companies have embraced colour and innovative design this spring/summer season – i love it! re long runs…can i give my opinion?! i’d go slower and just embrace that you GET to run for more time! your long run is meant to build endurance, and then on shorter runs, you can work on pace and tempo. find a captivating tv show or movie (if you are still using the tm) to help during the long runs

Me: Thanks for the tip. I’ve wondered what was the better way of approaching it..I’ll give the slow long run a try….just my slow run is practically a walk.

Cathy: since you use the treadmill, and you can access your pace quite easily, here is another suggestion: for your long run, your pace should be 60-90 seconds per mile SLOWER than what you usually run, or run for shorter distance.

Me: hmm…there’s no reply option by your reply…thanks for the tip..I guess I was thinking I should be able to do it at a “comfortable” pace…but comfortable for 20 and almost an hour and 20 are different! I’ll definitely let you know how it goes.

Anyway, thanks to this advice (and suggested attitude adjustment), I’ve actually been able to run an hour (the treadmill won’t let you set a time higher than that, so I have to stop and restart) without stopping, where before, I ended up taking several breaks in the first hour, even more in the second. I’ve slowed down, quite a lot, because I realized I was trying to do too much at once…run a longer distance at a “shorter distance speed,” setting it at an incline. I had to take so many breaks it was adding 20 minutes to the time I spent at the gym. I got what Cathy was saying, just focus on distance. And I did. So, even though I’m not really getting out much earlier, at least I’m running more and breaking less. And on Saturday’s run, I was finally able to push past the 9.5 to 9.75.

So, thanks again, Cathy (I hope the store’s customers appreciate you!) 10 here I come!

What good advice have you gotten that helped you overcome an obstacle?

how the half am I?

Jul2

Somehow, we’re halfway through the year? Crazy. So, it’s time to see what sort of progress is being made with the 2012 goals.

The initial goal post.

The “Hey, it’s now April iterim report.”

And on to now. Green indicates the initial goal.

1. “In 2012, I’d like to be able to run 10 miles (or 2 times 5 miles). I started 2011 at 2.5 to 3 miles and am now up to 7.5, so I think this is doable if I’m able to keep my schedule.”

I hit the 9 mile mark on March 31, 2012 (I goofed in the April post and said 2011, but it was 2012). As of June 30th, I slowed down my quarter a month pace slightly but am at 9.5 miles and planning to attempt 9.75 on the next long run. I was having some issues with trying to do too much at once (too fast a speed, too steep an incline, AND increased distance) and was getting discouraged by how long it was taking me because I stopped a lot. Cathy offered me some very good advice…essentially that to achieve new distances, I needed to slow down. Her advice helped a lot. Anyway, I’m confident I’ll hit the ten by the end of the year if not before!

2. In 2012, I’d like to write 200 posts (which would average out to almost 4 a week–giving myself a little break with travel or things that happen that might pull me away)…”

By the end of April, this was modified to 175-200 posts and 3-4 times a week. This will be my 98th post this year, so I’m well within my target range.

3. “I did indeed get…Organize Now! … The book is broken down into 56 chapters with the idea that you’ll do one a week. Not every chapter applies to me, so I’ve decided that in 2012 I’d like to get through 3 chapters a month in my quest to be more organized.”

I revised this in April to acting on 3 suggestions a month. I’d say I’ve had a measure of success with this, albeit not in a formal way. I’ve definitely started tackling organizing projects (my magazines, my dresser, my clothing drawers, my constant clutter piles). I’m happy with what I’ve gotten done, even if it wasn’t what I foresaw.

4. “..In 2012 I’d like to read at least 25 books again (so mostly 2 books a month).”

By April, I’d read 6 books. And, as of right now, I’ve read 14 (more about those in a future post). So, I feel pretty good about this one.

5. “One thing that I’ve put in monthly goals and failed on is taking better care of my hands (they get chapped/cracked in the winter and I wash/sanitize them to death) and they start to hurt/flake/peel. So in 2012, I want to use hand cream on them at least 1 time each day and will do “higher” maintenance (nail clipping/filing/buffing…maybe even a manicure one of these days) twice a month (so 1 time every other week)….”

This one has still proven tricky, but I think I’ve been better. Certainly the higher maintenance has happened. In fact, the other day I decided to go out and have this done.

hot pink manicure

I goofed and touched things before I should have…but it’s been nice to look at my nails!

So, even though I’m not exactly where I want to be with all my goals, I haven’t dropped them all completely…I’m not cringing too much looking at what I wrote I wanted to do in 2012!

How has your 2012 been so far, goal or otherwise?

revisitation time

Apr2

How did this happen? We’re one quarter of the way through 2012! When I planned out my “countdown” goals for 2012, I wasn’t entirely sure how often I wanted to go back and examine how it’s going. I did check in at the beginning of February, but felt once a month was too often. At the moment, I feel like a check in every quarter could be a good thing to do!

So, how am I doing? Right on target with some things and not so much with others. I figure this check in gives me a chance to decide if I want to change or modify in some way.

My goals from the original post (in green), followed by my current status.

“In 2012, I’d like to be able to run 10 miles (or 2 times 5 miles). I started 2011 at 2.5 to 3 miles and am now up to 7.5, so I think this is doable if I’m able to keep my schedule.”

I hit the 9 mile mark on March 31, 2011. I’m still ahead of my schedule (I figured on bumping up a quarter a month, but I’ve gone up by a mile and a half)

“In 2012, I’d like to write 200 posts (which would average out to almost 4 a week–giving myself a little break with travel or things that happen that might pull me away)…”

I think I modified this one by the end of January to say 3 to 4 posts a week, aiming for 175 to 200 this year. I just felt too locked in…too pressured to just post any old thing to meet a number. I think there have only been two weeks so far that had 3 posts instead of 4, so I’d say I’m doing pretty well. I just needed some breathing room!

“I did indeed get…Organize Now! … The book is broken down into 56 chapters with the idea that you’ll do one a week. Not every chapter applies to me, so I’ve decided that in 2012 I’d like to get through 3 chapters a month in my quest to be more organized.”

Well…not so much. I haven’t really spent time with that book since January, when I did really well. But, I have managed to accomplish/implement some organization and tidying. I’m not where I want to be, but I’m better than I was. So, to revisit this goal, I’m going to modify it from 3 chapters a month to looking it over and acting on 3 suggestions/recommendations it makes a month. I think that will help me keep up what I’m doing and it won’t feel like a chore.

“..In 2012 I’d like to read at least 25 books again (so mostly 2 books a month).”

I’m pretty much on target with this one. I’ve read 6 books so far in 2012, which is 2 a month. I suspect a vacation will help with getting a three book month in. The last book I read was This Body of Death by Elizabeth George, which was more than 700 pages! (like reading two books, but I won’t “cheat” and say it was when it wasn’t).

“One thing that I’ve put in monthly goals and failed on is taking better care of my hands (they get chapped/cracked in the winter and I wash/sanitize them to death) and they start to hurt/flake/peel. So in 2012, I want to use hand cream on them at least 1 time each day and will do “higher” maintenance (nail clipping/filing/buffing…maybe even a manicure one of these days) twice a month (so 1 time every other week)….”

This is another instance where I haven’t been 100% perfect, but I’m doing better than I used to. For some reason, I am just bad about using my dishwashing gloves. And I’m not great about applying cream every day. I would say I do manage it more days than not…and although the nails have gotten too long/jagged a few times…I have been better about maintenance. So, I’m going to keep this goal and put more effort into it.

So, my verdict so far is that I’m doing pretty well. I’d like to be doing better, but I’m happy to see that I think I made good choices in my goal setting. I also think the quarterly check in will be useful for seeing what my thoughts are about my goals and progress.

What are your thoughts on where you are now that 2012 is one quarter over?

one month in…

Feb6

I thought it would be good to do a “how it went in January with my goals” post….now that February is almost a week old. Clearly, I decided to invoke my “wiggle room” clause and took a day off from posting (I was tired and uninspired…exactly what the wiggle room clause was designed for). Now I’m raring to go. So, here are the updates (and here is the goal setting post).

Run 10 (or 2 x 5) miles goal. As usual, I’m on track with my running goal…in fact I’m a little ahead. Saturday, I ran more than 8.25 miles…which was my goal for March since I started at 7.5 and planned on adding .25 a month.

200 (4 a week) blog posts. I did pretty well with this in January (18 posts), but one of them was the “wiggle room” post I mentioned earlier. I modified the goal to 175-200 (3-4 a week) because I realized that by locking myself into 4, I might end up really not enjoying blogging because it would feel more like an obligation. This was a good move.

3 Chapters a month of Organize Now! (to help me get more organized). This is a sort of…I read 3 chapters of ON, but didn’t do much to act on the last one (setting up a cleaning schedule). So, I need to do some remedial and catch up work!

Read 2 books a month (I’m hoping to read at least 25 books a year). I did fine on this one, although I took a bit of a break after The Girl Who Played with Fire. I then read a pretty short graphic novel, but I followed it up with The Help, which I finished yesterday (and counts as book no. 1 for February). I basically learned that I need to choose the next book as soon as I finish what I’m reading, so there’s something to be picked up and looked at (and the next book is Books by Larry McMurtry).

And finally, do 1 thing a day for my hands…meaning hand lotion, since they get so chapped and I’m not as good as I could be. Also, higher maintenance twice a month (1 time every two weeks–clip, file, manicure). This one has had mostly positive results. I’ve been good about hand lotion,  but not great about gloves for dishwashing (they’re right there and yet, I can’t always be bothered to put them on). And I did indeed do clipping, filing, buffing, or painting twice this month.

So, on the whole, not bad. Nothing totally fell off the map, which I think is a good start. I will say though, that I thought January went pretty slowly. I couldn’t believe Christmas had only been weeks ago. But with February, I’m wondering how it could almost be a week in already!

How was January for you? If you set up resolutions for the new year, how are they working out for you so far?

numbers rule

Jan7

A few months ago I posted about how I’d had a weird WordPress stats experience where one day I inexplicably had hundreds of views that were not the result of searches or clicking a referral link from anywhere (I’ve linked to this before, but in case you missed it, here it is. I came to the conclusion that I had to write off most of the 332 alleged views to some sort of bug in the system.

One thing that bummed me out about the “ghost views” was that maybe the week before, I had said something to mr. strivingcynic to the effect of “Gee, it would be cool if I had 5,000 views on the blog by the end of the year.” So my first reaction to 332 views considering I still think 20 is a pretty good day was “Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!” but once I realized that they probably weren’t real (okay, I think 10 may have been real)….well, the number in my head jumped to 5,332.

By mid December, I had reached 5,000. I was excited, or rather, I said I was excited, but I was not-so-secretly (mr. sc knows my thought patterns too well) thinking that it wasn’t really 5,000. So, I was much more excited as December was coming to an end and 5,332 was reached. The weight lifted and I could enjoy my views.

goal plus!

So, I shot this when I woke up New Year’s Day and there were two views from that day already, so the tally for views by the end of 2011 is actually 5,395. Minus 332 is…………above 5,000 (okay, it’s 5,063)!

Of course, why I care so much is another issue!

[I mentioned in earlier this week, that this year, I'm hoping to have 200 posts (up from about 145). I haven't set my "wouldn't it be nice if I got x in 2012 number" yet....but I guess I think it would be nice if it were more than 5,000!]

Do you “care” about views? Do you set numbers goals for your blog?

…and, now it’s 2012

Jan2

First, it feels weird to know I can’t used the postaweek2011 tag for this post (or can I since I referred to it?).

Although I don’t always make resolutions, I felt that I needed some for 2012 since there’s some stuff I don’t seem to be getting done otherwise. My experience with my countdown goals in 2011 showed me that I can be good about following through…at least sometimes. And I’m also realizing that just like everyone says, having a plan helps (it is funny how I can ignore certain pieces of advice like “don’t just make up in the air goals with no plan to back it up” expecting that I’ll be fine…apparently it doesn’t work that way).

I thought about it, and although I have a number of goals, I decided to select five to write about on the blog for 2012. And yes, they’re in my countdown form. I’m doing this for several reasons. First, I don’t necessarily want to do monthly goals every month…if I do, fine. If I don’t, I’m still (hopefully) working on the others. Second, seeing how some goals made it on the list for each month I had goals, I think it would save me from repeating myself by just setting them up at the beginning of the year.

And here they are

In 2012, I’d like to be able to run 10 miles (or 2 times 5 miles). I started 2011 at 2.5 to 3 miles and am now up to 7.5, so I think this is doable if I’m able to keep my schedule.

In 2012, I’d like to write 200 posts (which would average out to almost 4 a week–giving myself a little break with travel or things that happen that might pull me away). I seem to have found a groove with 4 a week this last month (although sometimes it’s challenging). I had 132 posts in 2011, so we’ll see if I can pull this one off.

and yes, that does mean more pictures of strivingcynic cat!

I did indeed get the Organize Now!  book I mentioned in my “books I want Santa to bring” post. The book is broken down into 56 chapters with the idea that you’ll do one a week. Not every chapter applies to me, so I’ve decided that in 2012 I’d like to get through 3 chapters a month in my quest to be more organized.

I actually managed to get two more books read by the end of 2011, bringing my total up to 25. I discovered last year that I was good about reading books when I set book reading as a goal. So, now it’s a goal for the year. In 2012 I’d like to read at least 25 books again (so mostly 2 books a month).

One thing that I’ve put in monthly goals and failed on is taking better care of my hands (they get chapped/cracked in the winter and I wash/sanitize them to death) and they start to hurt/flake/peel. So in 2012, I want to use hand cream on them at least 1 time each day and will do “higher” maintenance (nail clipping/filing/buffing…maybe even a manicure one of these days) twice a month (so 1 time every other week). Sadly enough, this would be more than what I do for them now!

I’m not sure how often I’ll do checking in posts on these. For now I’ll say quarterly and if I decide to do it more often (I don’t think it should be less…), then I will!

Other areas that may pop up as goals through the year would involve doing more cooking and getting back into my knitting (other things I wasn’t as successful with in 2011).  I can see that a big challenge with these goals (particularly 4-2 will be making and finding time [perhaps this will help me keep off the iPhone a bit too...)].

Happy 2012!  Feel free to tell me about how organized you are, that you’re a  running, blog posting, or book reading machine, or that you’re a hand model…anything to help inspire me (or make me feel better…)!