So this, this is all too true. And with that, I present, Goals from 2011 – Revisited.
Small things
- Focus on the good things.
- Complete the onehundredpushups program and not derail. Yes, I am doing girly push-ups. It is better than no push-ups. If all goes well, this will be completed by the end of January.
- Stop making Saturday and Sunday the exception:
- the weekend is not an excuse to only brush my teeth once a day instead of twice
- it is not an excuse to forgo a workout or two
- and it is not a cop out for eating all kinds of random food.
- Become more reliable at hitting up the cardio workouts 45 minutes/day, 5 days/week.
- Read over the day’s notes when I get home from school and make study notes as the term goes on, because it will make finals suck less.
Bigger things
- Health advocacy: do new things, reach beyond what I’ve already been doing in some way. [Maybe that’s doing more races sporting the Team Asthma gear, maybe that’s trying to see if volunteering at asthma camp will work this year, maybe that’s giving my time and my own body for research if I’m eligible. It could be a lot of things, or all of these things].
- Actually walk a half marathon. I’ve been saying I’m going to do one for about two years, so let’s make 2012 the year pending all goes as planned.
- Work with others to help them realize their own potential, be a part of that ripple effect.
- Figure out where I’m at with God.
- Make another attempt at the 365 project.
- Hesitate less, do more.
[Posted in Awakening – 01/23/12]
So. How have I done?
Focus on the Good Things: It’s a conscious choice, but I try to nail it every. Single. Day. And I think I’m succeeding for the most part.
Onehundredpushups: Nope. I can safely say that I have not, nor am I trying presently, to be able to do 100 pushups… of any sort.
Stop making Saturday and Sunday the Exception: Here’s the issue: every day is Saturday and Sunday to me right now. Which means that I try often and fail at brushing my teeth twice daily—I always get bedtime in, morning is a bit tougher to remember and I don’t know why—I can tell you that I haven’t done any working out since several weeks ago when I impulsively bought a yoga app and did a yoga workout I really enjoyed and then… didn’t touch it again—and, I eat random food all the time. Right now I have Combos beside me. If you want to talk about random food, that is the epitome of it right there.
Become more reliable about hitting up the cardio workouts: 2013 derailed this because I was sick for so much of it. But you know what? it’s effing over. 2013 is effing over and it has been for a long time, and yes that got me off track but it is no reason to still be off track.
Studying: Currently irrelevant, but I can say I never really made good on this, except for in Anatomy round 3.
Health advocacy: In the big picture, I have done this—when I wrote this, I had maybe haphazardly filled out an app to medicine-x at Stanford… But then I got in for 2012. I had yet to learn of attending the World Congress of Asthma with the Asthma Society in Quebec City in 2012. And, I had yet to know that I’d start taking on more roles with the ASC, link up with the Canadian Severe Asthma Network, attend MedX again, and, most importantly, find more ways to practice everyday advocacy within the places I was all the time: school and work. So I’m going to give this a check mark—but it’s a constant growth, and I still have more work to do. See also: Badassmatics!
Actually walk a half-marathon: I don’t even know if this is on the goals anymore to be perfectly honest. But maybe see that thing about cardio above.
Work with others to help them realize their own potential, be part of that ripple effect. I’m gonna give this one a check-mark, but once again, that isn’t something that ends.
Figure out where I’m at with God. My journal would indicate that is still a big question mark, but it’s actually something I’ve been contemplating in the last week. And, I feel like I might never figure that out and that’s just part of my story.
Make another attempt at the 365 project. CHECK MARK. More to come on this!
Hesitate less, do more. Sometimes I meet random strangers off the internet in airports in a country I don’t live in, and they drive you down me state awhile and drop me off to crash in a hotel with someone I also don’t know. And then I repeat that process in a few different ways in a few different states. And, sometimes those people end up becoming your best friends. That’s a pretty extreme example, and I’m sure there was a lot of reservation, but… adventure is really not born of extreme caution, it’s born of optimism and trusting your instincts. And, it’s worked for me.
—
There are certainly things to build off of here, but the important thing is, I have been building. But, I need to act more, and more fully. And I know this—I just have to harness the energy to make it all happen, because I can. In the coming weeks, I’ll revamp the goals list for 2015—and be doing some introspection surrounding previous goals lists, too.
Even though I am to not be bound by calendar years, yes, that fresh start effect everyone gets so into is contagious.
Since I’ve been a kid, maintenance inhalers always have gone hand in hand with teeth brushing. Since you’re supposed to rinse out your mouth anyway right after inhaled steroids, I always brush my teeth immediately after my Symbicort, every morning and evening. Hence I never forget to brush my teeth. Can you establish the same habit? That might help on the teeth brushing front.
You know, that’s totally the easiest way to do it, and I still just fail haha. I think the thing is now that I take my inhalers as soon as I get up, and I’ve started eating in the morning for whatever reason (which i haven’t done in… ever, but can attribute fully to not having to wake up early right now), so I just miss the step AFTER I eat stuff. Oops.
Will try to work on reassociating the two, though–good thinking!! 🙂
I wake up, take symbicort, brush my teeth. Then later, after food and coffee I may or may not brush again. But even if I don’t, that first brushing is there and happened. Good luck!
P.S. I’ve seen this problem the other way – people forgetting to take their maintenance inhalers – and the solution is always to pair it with brushing their teeth. But never in this direction before 😛