My goals for 2015

My momma says that as long as you write your Christmas/New Year’s cards before the end of January, you’re good. So, I’m extending this do blog posts that are related to reviewing 2014, and setting goals for 2015.

I set my goals for 2015 before the end of 2014, but I didn’t get around writing a post about it. I know you must be feeling overly stuffed with “best of 2014” posts and “goals for 2015” posts by now, but I’m presenting you my goals for 2015 anyways – because somehow I feel more motivated when my goals are Out There in the Internetz. As if anybody would ever really come after me and kick my arse somewhere in April when I start slacking off…

For 2014 I had an impossibly long list of goals. Needless to say, I didn’t accomplish all of that in 2014, but I did get a fair amount of Stuff Done.

I’ve learned a lesson, and limited myself to 15 goals for 2015. Just because of the symmetry of numbers 🙂

Not only did I set these goals, but I also clearly wrote down when I want to work on these goals, and how I’m going to make sure that I achieve them.

Here’s my list of goals for 2015:

1. Try a month of writing from 6am to 8am

I recycled this goal from my 2014 list, since I never got this done, but I am curious to try out this experiment. I will do this in March 2015. Feel free to bug me mid-March and see if I managed to stick with it. (I will only write Monday – Friday at these hours.)

2. Submit 6 journal papers for review

I’ve outlined the papers that I will write, when I will write them, and to which journal I will submit them. #Acwri 2015 – here we come!

3. Meditate daily

I’ve been on and off with meditating for the last 13 years *__* so it’s really time to turn this into a consistent habit. I know it’s good for me, I know I can focus better when I practice – yet it’s always one of the first things to slip to the side. I’m using Lift to track my daily sessions.

4. Work through the Dotzauer books for cello

For the last 10 years, I haven’t practiced seriously, but last September I accidentally joined a band as cello player, and last August I flew my cello to Ecuador, so it’s time to get going again. The Dotzauer books are 4 volumes of technical work, and after looking at the final etudes in the fourth book, I already regret setting this goal… I vouch the play daily, as long as I’m in Ecuador (or, in other words, as long as I have actually access to my cello – an instrument which is unfortunately not so handy to travel with, as Mr. Cello Lantsoght needs to travel as a ticketed passenger on flights). I’m using Lift to track my practice.

5. Write 80 poems and bundle the 20 best

Another recycled goal from 2014. I need to practice creativity in a more varied ranges of fields, and I used to write a lot and win prizes and stuff, and then suddenly life took over… I’m setting a reminder in Todoist to write every 4 days. I might use the prompts when I need a little push in my back.

6. Draw 7 mandalas

Another exercise to flex my creativity muscle, and another recycled goal from 2014.

7. Go without refined sugar for 40 days

Another recycled goal from 2014 – and one that might be very, very difficult for me, since I easily eat an entire bar of chocolate a day. However, I’m planning to do this between the 18th of February and the 30th of March (during Lent, in other words, even though I am not a Christian – but I like the 40-day challenges people put themselves during Lent, so I thought I might feel motivated to join the herd).

8. Revisit the Silva meditation technique

I worked through the basic Silva course on the Mindvalley website in 2012/2013, but then I dropped these meditation exercises. I like these exercises, so I want to pick it up again. Another recycled goal from 2014.

9. Get a tattoo

I know exactly what I want, but I’m terrified by needles. I also know that I want crueltyfree ink. I just need to work up the courage, and I think I will do this in June 2015, when I am in Delft. And before I turn 30.

10. Visit the Galapagos Islands

I’ve been living in Ecuador for 1,5 years now, and I haven’t made it to the Galapagos – clearly, I’m doing something wrong (or tell my boss, I’m doing something right). I’m hoping to go during the Easter break, in April.

11. Buy a house

Another recycled goal for 2014. But by now, at least my husband fulfills the requirements to make the loan. I need to be living in the country for 3 years before I qualify…

12. Write a grant proposal

Yet another recycled goal from 2014… This year, it’s time to move my position as researcher at USFQ one notch up, and try to get a research grant, instead of fully depending on projects from Delft to keep me busy (even though I love Delft projects, don’t get me wrong, but I need to develop research lines here too, and direct more theses based on these research lines).

13. Write a book

I am so going to do #nanowrimo and write a book chockful of advice for PhD students. I’ve been wanting to do this for way too long.

14. Read 40 books

This goals shouldn’t’ be too hard – I read 105 books in 2015. In 2014, however, I want to chew through a few harder, lengthier books. I should finish Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, for example.

15. Improve my Spanish

I haven’t taken any formal course in Spanish, but I babble and write emails when necessary. However, I have no understanding of the Spanish grammar at all, so I probably sound like a caveman. I have two coursebooks on intermediate Spanish that I want to work through. I’ve set a reminder every 3 days to fork out some time to study…

(And, above all, I’ll remain committed to eating well (aka plant-based), training (a lot), getting enough sleep, playing with my cat, pomodoring through hard tasks, and generally keep up with the good habits I’ve developed over the past years).