As 2018 draws to a close, now is an ideal time to start thinking about your goals for next year.  Need some help with this task?  To read about the importance of setting goals, as well as some tips for doing so, please click here.

Here is a list of the goals I have set myself so far for 2019:

1.       Mental health

•          Continue to try to prevent the onset of psychosis and depression as I have been, by taking medication at six-monthly intervals for a period of two weeks

2.       Running

•          Complete the second phase of the YMCA 10k Summer Series in the Auckland Domain, from 10 January until the end of daylight savings in April
•          Try to set a PB for the YMCA 10k Summer Series of below an hour by the end of phase two
•          Make the 5k Park Run held at Barry Curtis Park on Saturdays part of my fitness regime
•          Use the 5k Park Run to work on speed to improve times for 10k races
•          In winter, compete in all the 10k races held by Sri Chinmoy at the Auckland Domain
•          For the Sri Chinmoy 10 k races, aim to finish as close to my friend Maureen Sutherland as possible.  Maureen is (i) a group fitness instructor at Les Mills Howick and (ii) usually clocks in around 53 minutes for these races, so this is a challenging goal on both fronts!

3.       Weight loss journey

•          Aim to exercise every day, whether running, walking, doing a gym class or weight training
•          Aim to eat well every day, logging my intake with My Fitness Pal
•          Continue to see Alice for PT every week
•          Continue to lose weight until I reach goal weight (to be determined)
•          Reduce waist measurement so it falls within an acceptable range
•          Aim to decrease body fat percentage to 18% (currently at 22%)

4.       Garden

•          You can read about my gardening goals for 2019 here and here.

5.       Blogging

•          Continue to develop my online blog, In the Circle
•          While it may be a bit too ambitious to post a blog every day, try to spend some time working on my blog posts behind the scenes every day

Ever wish things could be different in your life?  Change is possible, if you set some realistic goals and work towards achieving them.  In my last post, I reflected on my achievements in 2018.  I’m still thinking about my goals for next year but in the meantime, I thought I would write about the importance of setting goals. 

Why set goals?

•          They give you focus and motivation
•          They give you something to work towards
•          They are a tool for self-improvement
•          You get a real sense of achievement and inner-fulfilment that comes from attaining a goal

Who should set goals?
Everyone!  Age is no barrier.  Setting goals is not just for young people!   When I was at university studying towards my BA 20 years ago(!), there was an elderly person in one of my English literature classes who had obviously made it a goal to attend university and obtain a degree (or at least complete a paper).  As I have mentioned previously, I am currently participating in the YMCA 10k Summer Series.  Some of the elderly runners are still doing marathons and half marathons (not to mention making it a goal to participate in the 10k series!).  Very inspiring stuff.

When to set goals
Any time! A lot of people like making new year’s resolutions, whereas I prefer to think of them as goals I am working towards.  Whether you choose to set your goals at the beginning of the year or at any other time, remember that you can revise your goals at any time.  If you realise that you’ve set the bar is too high and your goal is unattainable, lower it.  If you have already achieved a goal, set a new one!  Don’t forget that it’s perfectly fine to set a goal for the following year (or even later).  When I started the YMCA 10k summer series in September, I set a goal to run the course in a time of under one hour by the end of the series in April 2019.

How to set goals

•          Have a think about what you’d like to achieve in different areas of your life, such as career, study, finances, health and relationships
•          For each goal you want to achieve, identify some concrete steps that you need to take in order to get there.  By breaking your goal down in this way, it becomes less daunting!

Tips for goal-setting

•          Don’t set too many goals.  You’ll lose focus if you spread yourself too thin and end up being disheartened if you can’t achieve everything
•          Make your goals realistic.  This year, I wanted to lose weight, but I knew I had a long road ahead of me because I needed to lose over 30 kg.  When I joined a new gym in July, my goal was to be 70 kg by Christmas, not 60 kg (my goal weight).  I managed to achieve this – I am 68.3 kg at present.  I can continue working towards my goal weight next year
•          Remember that you might achieve your goals.  Don’t be disheartened if you don’t achieve all of them. If you don’t achieve a goal, have a think about why you didn’t.  You might need to re-adjust the goal or give yourself a bit longer to achieve it.  On the same token, you may even achieve a goal that wasn’t on your list!  One side-effect of my weight loss was the change in my body composition and increase in overall muscle mass.  This wasn’t something I specifically sought to achieve this year- it was something I was intending on working towards next year
•          You might need to work towards some goals over a number of years.  For example, as I discussed in my gardening blog, I would like to make the garden more organic but this goal will take quite a bit of time
•          Remember to look back on your achievements to see how far you have come.  I chose to do this at the end of the year but you can do this any time.  Anything that you didn’t manage to achieve can always be added to next year’s goals!

As we progress rapidly through December, now is a good time to take stock and reflect on the year that has been.  It has perhaps been my best one since 2010, when I had my first psychotic episode.  I worked very hard this year and managed to get myself to a good place in many areas of my life.

1.       Mental health – I had a psychosis in February but by April, I managed to pick myself back up again.  When I recovered, an idea came to me.  Taking meds all the time didn’t work for me because of the toll it took on my physical health, so I moved away from that and only take them when relapses occur.  But instead of only taking meds when I’m sick, what if I took them periodically while I’m well, as a pre-emptive measure to prevent the onset of a psychosis?  In June, I took my meds for two weeks and will do the same again in December, when the YMCA takes a break from the 10k series which I am participating in every week (more about this below and also in a separate post in future).  At the moment, it is too soon to say definitively whether this method is effective, but I haven’t had a relapse since February last year, which was ten months ago.  It seems promising though and I will provide an update on this some time next year.

2.       Weight loss journey – I managed to lose 25 kg over the past five months without fad dieting or exercising excessively.  As you might recall me mentioning in a previous post, the community gym I joined at the start of the year simply wasn’t working for me, so in July I re-joined Les Mills and started training at the Howick branch.  It was the best decision I’ve ever made.  I see a trainer called Alice every week for motivation and support.  Her brother Dan also helped me for a few weeks when Alice was on holiday earlier in the year.  When I first started training at Les Mills back in July, I was 93.3 kg.  At my last weigh-in yesterday, I am now 68.3 kg.  I would still like to make further progress but am happy that I am out of the danger zone for diabetes.  My blood sugar levels are very well controlled now that I have lost weight.  The interesting thing is that although I am considerably heavier than my previous goal weight, my body composition (ie body fat percentage) has improved.  I am now at 22% body fat, whereas I used to be a trim 60 kg but at 27-29% body fat.  I am very pleased with this development and am keen to make even further progress with Alice’s help next year.

3.       YMCA 10k summer series – In parallel with wanting to lose weight this year, I also really wanted to compete in the YMCA’s 10k summer series in the Auckland Domain, which kicked off in September when daylight savings began and runs until April, when daylight savings ends.  So far, I have managed to compete in every weekly race, inspite of the weather (and there have been some horrible days).  To date, my PB for the course is 1 hour 4 mins 9 seconds.  I hope to bring my time below an hour by the end of the series in April.  Normally I exercise first thing in the morning, but there is something really nice about running at twilight.  There is also something about the Domain.  It’s a special place for me.  I used to run there a lot while I was at university, so it holds a lot of good memories.  I can lose myself in the run and it makes me forget all my problems.

4.       Garden – I had a very full winter garden this year and my summer garden looks like it could well be the biggest yet.  I also entered the Yates Spring Veggie Growing Challenge, blogging about the garden nearly every day.  On top of managing the garden and fitting in my training, this was challenging but incredibly rewarding.  To read more about my gardening achievements in 2018, please click here.

​What is in store for me in 2019?  I will cover my goals for next year in a separate post soon.