My Goals for 2021
Per Ardua Ad Astra.
Making goals can be challenging. Sure, it’s easy to come up with New Year’s resolutions or vague ideas about how to improve, but outlining goals that will challenge you and that are specific and have measurable outcomes requires bit more reflection and planning. I like to break down my goals in terms of destinations— where I want to be — and journeys— how I’m going to get there. Below are some of my goals for 2021.
Fitness
Destination 1: Run the 2021 Baltimore marathon in under 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Destination 2: achieve 12% body fat composition.
Journey: 2–3 short runs per week and 1 long run per week.
I’ve come a long way in recent years, but there is plenty more gains to be made. I’m seeking to improve my physical fitness not only for the health benefits associated with doing so, but also the psycho-social benefits of boosted self-esteem/body image and improving/maintaining my cognitive capacities as well.
Writing
Destination: improve writing skills.
Journey: write 2–4 medium posts per month.
I don’t feel particularly confident about my writing skills (let’s just say I’m a little embarrassed about my GRE score for the essay-writing section), which is a problem because I’m going to be doing a lot of writing throughout the course of my PhD. I was challenged by Deus Ex Vita to start this blog, and one of the main reasons why I agreed to do it is simply to practice writing. I’m looking forward to practicing and honing my writing abilities in the coming months.
Wellbeing
Destination: Improve my focus and mental hygiene.
Journey: meditate daily.
I noticed during my postbac that I have difficulty maintaining my focus for long periods of time: forgetting if I had already added a reagent to a particular tube or mixing up which tube was which caused a few headaches. I found that it was difficult to stay in the moment and not let my mind wander to something else. I started practicing mindfulness meditation last September on and off and have already found that I’m able to focus a little bit longer than before, and that I tend to catch myself more quickly when my mind wanders. Recognizing thoughts as they arise has also been useful for nipping rumination and unhelpful thoughts in the bud. I want to continue making improvements in this area and so will be making time to meditate every day.
Final Thoughts
I’m challenging myself to achieve these things not only because the outcome will result in a future that is better than the present, but also because there is pleasure in the journey of taking on challenges and moving toward them. Creating goals can be intimidating because doing so inherently specifies the conditions of failure and forces you to come to grips with where you aren’t living up to your ideals. In this way, setting goals and striving toward them requires courage. If you have the courage to aim for the stars, with some determination and hard work you might just get there.
