Seven months of the year have passed, and since old habits die hard, it is time for a slightly delayed performance appraisal for me. Unlike in my corporate job, I don’t have a boss who will do this with me this time. I also have no one else I can blame or credit with what I have done so far this year. It is all on me.
In March, I had identified three main themes that I wanted to work on in 2015, and those will be the focus of this review.
1. Making the World a Happier Place:
Progress so far:
As time passes, I realize that this is what I would like to do next in terms of my career. I could work in the field of Positive Psychology or with a non-profit that helps people lead better lives, but I want to be a part of something that genuinely helps people flourish. I completed one of the courses that I was taking online, have read a couple of books, and am considering joining a certification program in Positive Psychology in the next few months. My self-rating on this goal would be a 3 on 5 - as ideally, I should have completed the other course as well, and read more books on the subject.
The Plan for remaining months:
At least one book on the subject per month. Complete the other course which will again start in September.
2. Writing:
Progress so far:
I have made progress with the book - the proposal has been sent to several publishers and I am now waiting to hear back from them. The goal that I have missed terribly is writing on a regular basis. The 1000 words a day was just not happening, and discouraged, I have hardly written anything in the last couple of months. I have also realized the fatal mistake I had made in setting this goal. When I set it in Jan 2015, I just wanted to build a regular writing habit. I thought that by specifying how many words I wanted to write, I would have a specific and measurable goal and it will keep me on track. But the problem was that I was aiming for too lofty a target too soon. 1000 words a day became such a humongous goal for me to achieve, that despite genuine efforts, I could not keep up with it. And after a point, I just gave it up. What I needed to do to build a habit was to start small - with, let’s say - 100 or 200 words a day. After being able to sustain that for a couple of months, I could have looked at revisiting the target. But starting with 1000 words a day was liking sitting for high school exam in second grade. I had set myself up for failure. On this goal, I would rate myself a 2 on 5 - long way to go.
The Plan for remaining months:
Having learnt my lesson, I will focus on building a writing habit with the target of 200 words a day. I should be able to post more regularly on the blog if I am able to build this habit.
3. Health and Fitness
Progress so far:
I have taken a big step with the half-marathon training, and it is helping me a lot. I ran 9 miles (over 14 km) on the last two Saturdays! It would have been unimaginable just a few months ago. I have also made some changes to my diet, and am including a lot more fruits and vegetables in it. This is working out pretty good, except that I did miss a few days of running while I was traveling. I would say I am a 4 on 5 on this goal.
The Plan for remaining months:
To continue doing what I am doing, and try to miss fewer days of training.
That, then, is the update on my goals so far. I am working on building a writing habit and will share more on that in my next post.
