• My top 10 “fun goals” for the year ahead

    Posted on September 26th, 2010 Saver Queen 8 comments

    Last year at the start of September I wrote a post called, A New Season. Having just re-read it now, I remember once again how much has changed in the last year. Things are much easier now. That time of the year was so difficult for me, but I tried really hard to stay focused on what was good in my life and take advantage of everything around me that could bring me joy or nourishment.  I think that being creative helped me a lot - I was continually finding creative solutions to meet my needs on a ridiculously strict budget, but I was also applying creative thinking to my life, to identify different career paths and create different kinds of opportunities for myself.

    I’ve worked hard this year and it has recently occurred to me that I have achieved pretty much everything I was working towards - I have a wonderful job, a cute and comfortable but affordable apartment, financial stability, and I feel that I have further integrated into my community. Rather than reaching towards the next big goal, I want to simply enjoy where I am at the moment, appreciate what I have worked for, and have fun. To me, having fun means to meet new people, try different things, laugh more often and simply enjoy life; I want to enjoy being single, healthy, and secure and take advantage of the opportunities that this affords me.  So I drafted some “fun goals” for the year. Many of them have to do with physical fitness as I am slightly fearful of winter and want to avoid the winter blahs by being active and taking advantage of fun winter sports, rather than hiding indoors.

    So, here are my new goals for the year.  Because I believe goals need to be flexible (since circumstances and moods change,) any of these goals can be replaced by a similar goal if necessary.

    1. Visit Hawaii
    2. Go dog sledding
    3. Go rockclimbing outdoors (currently I only climb indoors and my participation in this sport has been sporadic; come winter I want to climb more frequently and purchase the proper equipment so that next spring/summer I am confident and capable to do outdoor climbing.)
    4. Investigate at least 5 bands that are new to me and see them perform live
    5. Go snow-shoeing
    6. Create a scavenger hunt with friends
    7. Build a miniature wunderkammer (ideally I would love to build a cabinet of scientific curiosities but my budget isn’t built for it at the moment, so I might consider building a collection of curiosities documenting my travels and experiences.)
    8. Go cross-country skiing
    9. Explore a city that I’ve never been to before
    10. Submit at least one proposal/article to a yoga magazine

    On Friday a friend of mine joined me in spending the night gaming with people who were basically complete strangers. I’m not sure how to quantify that kind of random opportunity-taking, the kind of spirit that says, “why not?” and is whimsical enough to play games with people you don’t know, but I want to do even more of that kind of thing as well.

    I’ve spent my life setting goals. Most of them have never materialized (if so I would already be married, have a phD, and be writing social policy in Ottawa or or New York City for the United Nations right now.) I’ve had ridiculously high standards for myself in the past and sometimes I’m skeptical of goal setting because it can overpower mindfulness, awareness and gratitude. But at the same time, I see how setting fun goals for me right now might be a great way to focus my attention on having more fun, and bringing adventure into my life again.

    Do you have goals for the year ahead and do they involve having fun?

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    8 responses to “My top 10 “fun goals” for the year ahead”

    1. it's me, Sam September 26th, 2010 at 20:00

      One of my “fun” goal for the next year is to go on a date a month. I’m also learning to run/jog and plan on not only doing my own 5 k run, but entering one of the local 5 k runs they have next spring!

    2. Saver Queen September 26th, 2010 at 20:03

      I love your goal of going on one date a month. That’s a great idea!

    3. Psychsarah September 27th, 2010 at 12:41

      I love the idea of fun goals. I’ve been floundering a bit in the last year or so because I am usually a person with big goals on the go, but since finishing school, and getting licensed in my profession, I quite like my life and don’t know what goals to set, though I feel like I should have some (though I’m not a big fan of “shoulds”). Your comment on goals vs mindfulness and gratitude really spoke to me. Thanks for the thought provoking post. I’m going to chew on this for sure.

    4. Saver Queen September 27th, 2010 at 14:14

      psychsarah, I hear you. i’ve always had big goals on the go. sometimes there is such a push to set bigger and bigger goals, and to “live your best life” and to really “make it” in this world, sometimes i wonder, when do we just start living and actually enjoying the life we’ve got right now? i think goals are important, but they can get out of control, especially when we’re constantly waiting for “someday” to be happy or if we start feeling like we’re never quite good enough. i’m in a similar position to you in that i actually got what i was working towards, so before moving on to “bigger and better”, i want to just pause for a second to have fun and enjoy the position i’m in today. it’s odd, because although i got everything i was working towards, i still have an air of melancholy and so i want to give myself a break for a while and focus on activities and people that make me happy. ironically, for me the natural way to move towards a particular direction is to make goals and lists, hence the fun goals! :)

    5. Angela October 10th, 2010 at 16:30

      So interesting to read this post - and so glad that I did (I haven’t visited for a while). I was thinking today of what I should do when I finish my degree course the year after next (a big decision because I will be 49) … should I do a Masters, do a Masters f/t or go straight into work and do a Masters p/t. I’m also transitioning from being married to being single having recently separated. Rather than getting caught up in goals I’ve decided to give some time over the next few months to thinking about what I want to invite into my life - what I want my life to look like. And, like you, I’m focusing on cultivating the things that nourish me (I’m so not into bigger and better even though that’s the dominant cultural value). I’m also trying to trust living more openly from a position of not knowing. I don’t know whether you’ve seen the film Eat Pray Love ? I’d read the book (and it’s better than the film) but I saw the film recently and I was really struck by the message it gives regarding living the questions without knowing what life holds. Love your blog!

    6. Bee October 13th, 2010 at 06:42

      I’m pretty sure Leiden is a city you’ve never visited….?

    7. Saver Queen October 13th, 2010 at 09:33

      Hi Angela,
      I’m so glad you stopped by to share your thoughts. I loved your comment. The world around us is so goal-oriented, sometimes it really requires to go against the grain just to focus on gratitude and mindfulness instead of the next big achievement ahead. Living in that position of not knowing is so difficult, but it really does give us a feeling of freedom, relinquishing some of that control. Now I want to see Eat, Pray, Love! I read the book and loved it so much that I avoided seeing the movie, for fear of it disappointing me. But I love the messages you’re sharing so I think I”ll just have to watch it!

      Bee… someday!!

    8. 2012: New resolutions, goals, and adventures @ Saver Queen January 3rd, 2012 at 14:30

      [...] may recall the “fun goals” I wrote out in September ‘10. I never gave an update on that list, so now is a good time to do [...]

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