Birthday Goals 2015

This is an in-development list of 36+ goals that I want to achieve by my 36th birthday.

Having created birthday goals for the last few years, I’ve found that I have achieved some of the bigger “bucket list” type goals that I’ve set. As a result, some of the goals I set in the last couple of years just weren’t that important to me. However,  I’ve been able to set smaller more spontaneous goals throughout the year. So, I’ve changed my goal-setting structure.  I’ll set a couple of year-long goals, but mostly, this year, I’ll set goals by the month. 

Overall goals:

Exercise 3-6 times a week for 30-60 minutes. I used to exercise so regularly, but fell out of the habit. It is high time to fix this.

Make all of the salads in the Salad Samurai cookbook. Just because this goal will be delicious and help me to commit to eating more meals at home (brought from home), another thing that had been a great part of my life, but slipped from my grasp.

Take a photo every day.

3 goals x 12 months = 36 birthday goals.

September

1. Overcome my longstanding fear/disdain/avoidance of public restrooms by actually drinking appropriate volumes of liquid throughout the days.  Nobody should be as proud as I am for simply going to the bathroom when I need to instead of thinking Well, it’s already 3:00, I can wait until I get home… That’s craziness, especially since I usually get home around 6:30-7:00. I’m calling this goal complete.
2. Finish, have peer-reviewed, and revise book proposal for Head of State Cakes. I had forgotten that I had completed some of these steps until I checked in here. 
3. Finish my Washington DC trip scrapbook.

October

1. Finish my bicycle shirt.
2. Submit book proposal for Head of State Cakes to at least 3 agents. Well, currently the count is at a meager 1 (8/15).
3. Make some jewelry. 

October-November

1. I decided to try to post to one of my sites daily for a period of 30 days.

December

This month I decided to embark upon a new project called The Mathematics of a Race Riot. Here, I explore the history and context of mass black-white racial violence in the United States.

January

1. Drink less alcohol. Get down to the recommendations for women of less than 1 drink per day. I’ll think of this in terms of weeks. So I get to have less than 7 drinks each week.
2. Schedule in and complete regular workouts throughout the month.
3. Pay attention to what I’m eating, documenting it in a non-boring way.
4. Finish the Head of State Cakes cupcakes. Better late than never. Better late than never. Finished in February. Posted the last one in March.

March

1. Make a scrapbook documenting my recent trip to New Orleans.
2. Increase my average daily steps to 9000. As of this goal setting, I’m right around 7 thousand something. My fitbit goal, though is 12,000 which I very occasionally hit.
3. Begin training for the 5k for which I registered. I participated in the Color Run. I didn’t run it, but I didn’t back out just because I hadn’t trained. Calling that a semi-win.

April-July

Went through the process of buying a house which consumed all of my extra thoughts, hopes, fears, and anxieties. I spend an impressive  embarrassing amount of time creating boards on Pinterest.

I also started developing Candidate Cookies for Head of State Cakes.

August

1. Finish moving out of my apartment/into my house.
2. Develop habits and routines that support my son’s school success, and the lifestyle we want to lead at home.
3. Paint the living room/hallway walls.
4. Plan a trip to Boston.
5. Update this website.
6. Create at least 3 more Candidate Cookies.