Goals setting day is here! A day where I disregard the lackluster success ratio of the previous four years and assume I can make numerous radical changes in 365 days.
I’m rolling several of the goals over from last year, convinced that things will be different this time.
Health
- Eat Four Servings Vegetables for 200 Days
- Drink 10 Cups of Water for 200 Days
- Eat Four Servings Fruit for 200 Days
- Meditate for 200 Days
Sleep, exercise, and diet are the foundation of a healthy life (or so I’m told). I’m a champion of sleep, exercise like it’s a part time job, and diet like I can’t wait to be obese. There’s monumental room for improvement on the gluttony front. I’ve also heard good things about meditating so we’re going to try and make that a habit.
Triathlon
- Bike 5,000 Miles
- Run 1,000 Miles
- Swim 500,000 Yards
- Weight Training 50 times
- Flexibility: Be Able To Touch Toes
- Learn To Do All Bike Maintenance
There’s all these cool triathlons/ultramarathons/endurance events that I’d like to compete in, but I don’t have the fitness to do so. This year, I’ll worry less about the quality of the workouts and more about the quantity (which is horrible training advice)
Lethal Engineering / Lethal Tri
- Ultimate Computer Setup Video
- Solar Death Ray Video
- Halloween Video
- Quadcopter Build Video
- 20 Blog Posts
- One LethalTri Video
- Finish Workshop
I’ve got several half-finished projects that I’ll wrap up and make videos for.
Business
- Produce 250 ‘Units’ of Work.
- Pursue Two Railroads For Additional Business
- 30 Hours of Studying To Increase Railroad Knowledge
- Train One Other Person for Checking Responsibilities
All of those things will help to grow the business.
Adventure
- Bike The Entire Cowboy Trail or Wabash Trace
- Learn Song On Piano and Play In Public
- See a Rocket Launch in Person
Have you seen pictures of the Cowboy Trail? Who knew such a majestic place existed in Nebraska.
I’m a big Elon Musk fanboy and would like to see a SpaceX launch in person.
I really dig this song and want to learn to play it.
Other
- One MIT Open Courseware Course
- Read 20 Books
- Net Worth > $100,000
- Track Goals Daily for 200 Days
- Review Goals Daily for 200 Days
I was more concerned with getting passing grades than actually learning in college. I would cram for tests only to write over that section of memory when the next exam came along. I value learning much more now than when I was in school and would like to study more math, physics, and computer programming.
What’s Going To Be Different This Year?
The commitment contract worked well last year so I’ll be using it from the beginning this year. Basically, there will be deadlines for each goal and a punishment if they are not reached. That’s where you come in. I need ideas for punishment. The classic example is to donate to a organization you hate, whether that be the NRA or Planned Parenthood. A majority of the punishments will be financial, but others can just be embarrassing, like having a temporary Mike Tyson face tattoo for a day. Leave a comment if you have any ridiculous ideas.
Lethal Tri 
For the commitment contract, Instead of a “punishment” I recommend you volunteer a set number of hours for a nonprofit organization to help those in need.
+1
Great idea!
[Sorry if this posts twice.]
Love these goals!
If I may, I’d like to offer a tip re #2: force yourself to drink, like, a liter of water soon after you wake up in the morning. I recently started doing this; it’s rejuvenating. Pre-coffee water helps me rehydrate after sleeping and prepare for a morning workout when I do one. (It also, ahem, helps wake up the bowels.)
In fact, for #1–3, a breakfast smoothie would go a long way. A handful of spinach, two bananas, berries, maybe some beets or carrots.
Commitment contracts seem effective, but I worry about a system that makes your goal #27 more difficult to achieve when your other goals aren’t going well. K suggests eating a big ole bowl of broccoli as punishment for breaking a commitment contract. Seems like a good idea to me, and that’d be a positive contribution to goal #1. If you do decide to send money away, you don’t have to give it to the NRA. (Shouldn’t losing the money be bad enough?) If you’re a fastidious budgeter, your punishment could even be a deduction from a spending or eating-out budget category. You could put the money in savings, helping #27.
-Z
P.S. My bike needs a new bottom bracket. If it’d help you for #10, you’re welcome to stop by and replace it. =^]