In 2014 (before I even met Isabel!), I began setting annual goals. These goals covered several aspects of my personal enrichment: Financial, Physical, Social, Spiritual, and Mental. I found that my annual goal setting, coupled with my strength in Focus (which I identified from a program called Clifton StrengthsFinder), was a great way to motivate and remind myself throughout the year to develop and accomplish objectives outside of work. Later on, it served as a great way to measure my performance year on year.
When Isabel came into my life two years ago, we considered that in addition to setting personal goals, setting annual couple goals could be an effective way to keep our relationship exciting. More than that, goal setting was a means for us to grow together in essential ways. However, in coming up with our maiden year goals, we got carried away, agreeing on a long list of activities and goals to accomplish within the year. Looking back, we spread ourselves too thin with an unreasonable number of specific things to do. For perspective, below are just some of the many goals we tracked in 2016. We had four times this number, and with Isabel’s move to a new company and my undertaking of a new challenging project, we ended the year achieving only 69% of the items on our list.
| DIMENSION | GOAL |
| PHYSICAL | Have at least one active date a month |
| MENTAL | Read 2 books and discuss together |
| SPIRITUAL | Go on 1 pilgrimage (road trip) |
| FINANCIAL | Sponsor a child together |
| TRAVEL/LEISURE | Climb a mountain |
| FAMILY | Go on a planned trip with siblings |
Although we weren’t able to achieve all our goals, we agreed that 2016 was a great year of growth and learning overall. Nevertheless, we knew that we could be more effective in 2017. In the spirit of continuous improvement and progression of goals, we decided to focus further by decreasing our number of shared goals this year. By reflecting and choosing measurable and attainable goals, we condensed our set of 2017 goals into a straightforward list of 8 goals.
Without further ado, I would like to present our 2017 goals:
| DIMENSION | GOAL | OK | Total | % Done | |
| 1 | PHYSICAL | Lose cumulative 50 pounds together | 36 | 50 | 72% |
| 2 | MENTAL | Try Something New (1x a month) | 4 | 12 | 33% |
| 3 | SPIRITUAL | Attend 1 retreat each | 0 | 2 | 0% |
| Go on 1 pilgrimage (road trip) | 0 | 1 | 0% | ||
| Go to Confession 4x this year | 0 | 4 | 0% | ||
| 4 | TRAVEL/ LEISURE | Go on a trip together (1x a quarter) | 1 | 4 | 25% |
| 5 | FAMILY | Go on a planned trip with siblings | 1 | 2 | 50% |
| Attend one reunion per side | 1 | 2 | 50% | ||
| 43 | 77 | 28.8% |
We are currently at 28.8% achievement versus 18.9% time elapsed, which is not bad at all!
Our goals this year are more topline in nature, and are not only achievable but also challenging. Their flexibility also allows us to exercise more creativity in fitting our goals within the year, even if we should encounter sudden changes and challenges along the way.
I’m looking forward to completing our goals as the year progresses, and updating this blog with every new check mark!
M + I 