Yearly Goals

There has been talk on this forum of daily goals, and weekly goals, and part-time goals because someone read something interesting in a book that got them motivated. I want to talk now about yearly goals.

As each year comes to an end I start thinking about the next year and what I want to accomplish with it. I make a list of some of the books I'd like to read, and I revisit the major activities of my life and ask if I want to continue them or let them go and take up new activities instead. Here are my goals for 2017:

More time for loved ones. I want to send more emails, more cards, more letters, and more pictures for this year. There are people I've neglected, and I want to be sure I pay them more attention. NOTHING is more important than the people in my life.

More hiking. I want to hike EVERY month this year, come rain or shine, heat or chill. This includes difficult hikes, easy hikes, and of course Iron Mountain, my favorite moderate hike.

More reading. Sci-fi, fantasy, horror, world literature and classics, and non-fiction. I read about 30 books a year, and I will keep that up.

Less writing. I think writing stories is a good activity in itself, but too much of it seems to act as a trigger to my symptoms. So, less this year.

See how it's done? Know what you want and have an idea how to pull it off. The details you can work out on the way. All these are achievable goals, and they will give me a pleasurable year with real accomplishments and solid relationships as a result. I know a lot of people feel intimidated by setting goals for the year, because they don't follow through, but if you do it for a couple years you'll get used to it and do it naturally.

Good luck to all of you in setting your own goals, and achieving them!