5 Goals: 1 Year

A common theme I’ve been focusing on in my blogs has been committing to a detailed plan as opposed to an ambiguous one. I’m going to put that idea into action today as I commit myself to 5 achievable goals to complete in one year’s time. 

Here’s what I’ll be up to:

Read 30 books

Here is a list of books I have set out to read before the end of the summer. I wanted to extend that challenge through the rest of the year – if I can keep up this pace of roughly two and a half books per month, I can get to my new goal of thirty. I used to read pretty avidly as a kid continuing into high school, but as I got busy it slipped down my list of priorities. I’ve recently made it a point of focus in my life to dedicate at least 30-60 minutes every day to sit down and read. Books are an incredible source of information, and reading them consistently will increase the extent of my knowledge and will improve my vocabulary, focus, and even my own writing skills. 

Run a half-marathon

Here again, I am setting a goal that takes me back to my roots. In seventh and eighth grade, I was a member of my middle school’s cross country team. The sport was my first real introduction to running, and although it betrays most fibers of my being – I loved it. Some of it was the community aspect and hanging out with my friends, but I legitimately developed a moderate enthusiasm for running. My career was short-lived; an injury to my Achilles tendon discouraged me from returning. Now more than 8 years later, I think I’ve had enough time to heal. I know that it will be pretty difficult, but in addition to getting myself in better shape, I am excited at the prospect of working on my determination and completing a goal that I set before myself. 

Travel to another country

If you are interested in reading my thoughts on the benefits travel in general, you can read my thoughts here. The shift in perspective can be much more impactful when you travel out of the country simply because the culture shock is that much more significant. There are often different seasons, languages, and societal norms that can expand your worldview. I’ve only left the country one time when I was 16 on a mission trip to San José, Costa Rica, and owe it to myself to see more. 

Learn another language

There’s another perk of travel that actually goes hand-in-hand with learning another language. As I mentioned, I spent 2 weeks in Costa Rica when I was 16 and learned a good amount about Spanish that is comparable to what I learned in 3 years of high school Spanish. I learned so much faster and more efficiently while traveling because I was able to completely immerse myself in the language and be constantly improving with every conversation. I’m challenging myself to reach a level of proficiency in Spanish over the next year through programs like Duolingo and Rosetta Stone, but perhaps I need to make a trip to Spain or another Spanish speaking country to validate what I’ve learned. 

Establish my role with a business partner

If I can only succeed at one of these goals, this one absolutely takes precedence. One year from now, when all goes according to plan, I will be pretty recently removed from my 6-month Praxis apprenticeship. Currently, this goal is incredibly vague – I still don’t exactly know what region, business partner, or role within a business that I want to pursue. 

Here’s what I do know – everything I am doing in my life at this point is in pursuit of this goal. I am participating in Praxis to develop my character and skills to prepare me for the workplace. I moved away from my friends to live at home and save money. I work full-time to pay for Praxis and to prepare for an eventual move to a new city with an exciting startup company. Even the goals (sans perhaps running a half-marathon) I listed above will all contribute to finding professional success in the future. I know what I want – and I’m going to go get it.