Revised Goals - 2015

When I set goals for 2015 at the beginning of the year, I was skeptical. I have never been a meticulous planner, and was not sure how well this level of goal setting would work out for me. In the last few months, I have realized that though this activity has helped me, I can make my goals more effective. What I really want to do this year is focus on some important themes in my life, and work towards them. That, at present, is not happening, and that’s why I need to re-look at my goals, classify them in these broad themes, and then pursue them.

There are three broad themes that I want to focus on this year:

Making the World a Happier Place

One of the key things I learnt from the Live Your Legend course was that I want to assist other people live happier lives. That's part of my why. This finding has generated my interest in Positive Psychology. In the next few months, I want to focus on learning about the science of happiness, and ways in which I can use it to help other people. For this theme, I have three goals:

1. Pursue courses in Positive Psychology: I am currently enrolled in two MOOCs on the topic, and would like to complete them
2. Read books on Positive Psychology/Happiness: My goal is to read at least ten books on the subject in the next few months
3. Explore any other avenues that support this theme: This is open ended, but I want to be open to what comes my way as I am new to the area.

Writing

This has been, and will remain an important theme. Here’s what I need to accomplish as a part of this:

1. The Book: I have found out about the publishing options, and am working on sending a proposal to some publishers in the next month or so
2. 1000 words every day: I have been struggling with this, but I don’t want to give up. Due to this goal, I end up writing a lot more than I normally would have, and so even if I don’t meet the numbers, I will continue to have this on my list for the time being
3. Posting once a week on this blog: One problem that I struggle with are the topics - what do I write about? I am thinking I will start writing about whatever I learn during my readings on happiness - this will help me combine my two main themes, and may also be useful to people who read this blog
4. One word a day: This is on track, the whole point of this goal was to be able to improve my English, especially for writing, and so I am clubbing it under the theme of writing

Health & Fitness

I have been focusing on exercise and healthy eating for last couple of years, and I think it is important to keep this up. The eventual outcome I am looking for is getting to my ideal weight of 50 kg from my current 54. Here is how I plan to get to that number:

1. By exercising 5 days a week: More or less in line with what I have been doing, except for a few lapses here and there
2. By eating more fruits and vegetables: Again something I have been doing and will continue to do

As a part of my original goals, I had planned to launch another blog - but am putting that on hold for now. The idea behind it is still evolving and I don’t think I am ready to start that blog yet. I am also taking off “better planning and management” from the list - not because it is not working, but because I have already formed a routine around it and it no longer needs to be a separate goal.

One thing that I do want to achieve this year is beginning to earn money by doing things I love. However, the reason I am not keeping it as a goal any more is because I want it to be a by-product of pursuing the others goals, and not the end in itself.