Wednesday, December 1, 2010

2011 Ambitions/Goals - a work in progress

I'm starting to think through how I want to structure my 2011 goals, & what I want to focus on. I have a few initial ideas, but these are not fully baked.

I want to stop shopping as a hobby. Once I start shopping, I quickly get offtrack & have no self control. As a result, I think I need to set up a goal that provides a reward for each month I don't shop (for clothes/shoes). I love massages/pedicures/spa stuff of all kind, & enjoy it so much more than clothing. But, the instant gratification of heading to the mall, the retail therapy aspect, and the hunt for a good bargain seem to outweigh that in the moment. Put another way, I truly enjoy treating myself to experiences more than a $15 shirt I'll wear twice, but I'm not spending my money in a way that reflects that.

  • 2011 goal for shopping: No shopping for a year for clothing, shoes, or makeup. Exceptions: replacing running shoes if they wear out, replacing any must have makeup that I wear every day. I think once I break myself of the habit of viewing shopping as a hobby, it will change my entire perspective for good. Other goal - make a list when shopping for the kids & stick to it. No random/impulse kids clothing purchases.
Reward for hitting my shopping goal: For each month that I stick to my goal, I'll get a massage. For three months of hitting my goal, I'll add in a mani/pedi. For six months of hitting my goal, I'll plan an entire spa day. If I hit my goal for the entire year, I'll do a spa-focused weekend getaway!

  • 2011 goal for budget: I've set up a goal for how much my credit card bill should be each month (we charge most of our regular expenses on our credit cards & then pay off each month), & want to stick to that every month of the year.
Reward for hitting my budget goal: Increased savings & financial flexibility! :-)

  • 2011 goal for paying off 401K loan: This is a huge goal for me in 2011. Paying off the 401K loan gets me maximum flexibility for eventually leaving my current company and either working somewhere else, working reduced hours, and/or taking a substantial pay cut to work at a non profit. I can't do any of these things with the loan hanging over me, so I'm highly motivated to ditch this. I'm still working on how I'm going to payoff my 401K loan by the end of 2011, but will have the details by the end of the month.
Reward for hitting my 401K payoff goal: Job/family life balance flexibility.

  • 2011 fitness goal: I'm pushing hard to hit my 150 workouts for 2010, but I want my goal in 2011 to be: more flexible, encourage strength training, & rewards me for longer cardio workouts. Right now, I give myself credit for any 30 minute cardio workout, which means that most of the time I stop at 30 minutes. Slacker. :-) I'm thinking of structuring the 2011 goal into three tiers:
    • Cardio - 4500 minutes of cardio in 2011. This is the same as my current goal of 150 workouts, but gives me flexibility to do longer workouts on the weekend, etc.
    • Strength - 1500 minutes of strength training in 2011. I definitely need to tone up, so this is a great way to build in time & make sure this happens.
    • Stretching/flexibility - 1000 minutes of flexibility in 2011. I'm thinking of using this for stretching or yoga/pilates.
    • Achieve my goal weight of 130 lbs.
Reward for hitting my fitness goal: Looking & feeling great!

I'm sure there is more to come, but what are your goals for 2011? How are you doing towards your 2010 goals?

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