Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Project 52 Review





Way back in January 2011 I decided to participate in Project 52. I came up with 40 goals that I wanted to complete in 2011 and listed them here on my blog. And for awhile I even updated my progress. And then I stopped. Updating, not necessarily working on my goals. Though I did kind of give up on some of those, too. One thing I learned is that keeping up with and keeping track of weekly goals is just too much trouble. I quickly got overwhelmed with all the "bookkeeping". But since I'm a complete Type A personality, I feel compelled to report on my progress. While I wasn't completely successful, participating in Project 52 did help me keep focused on some things that are important to me.

While I enjoyed participating in Project 52 and felt that it was a worthwhile endeavor, I've decided not to participate in 2012. One thing I spend too much time on is organizing, list making, archiving and generally "keeping track of" a myriad of things. Did I mention I'm Type A? Anyway, my goal for 2012 is to let go of some of this behavior. All the time I spend organizing is actually starting to take too much time. I need to give myself permission to stop unnecessary record keeping type behaviors. OMG! I sound completely loony. I'm really not - at least not completely. But it is time for more balance.

Now for the update. Ummm... Wait a second. I was going to go through the goals one by one and give an update, but in light of what I just wrote *slaps forehead* I think I'll just hit the highlights and reflect on what I learned during the process.

Many of my goals had to do with cooking. I really don't like to cook and find it a terrible chore. While having some specific goals did help me try new recipes, I came nowhere near my goal of cooking three times per week. I'm just going to accept this about myself and not fight it anymore. C'est la vie!

I did somewhat better on my exercise goals. While I didn't join a gym, try Pilates or go to a Zumba class, I did take a 6 week yoga class. And I far surpassed my walking goal of 3 times per week. I have consistently walked an hour a day, 5-7 times per week since the first week in January! I've decided that I'm no longer going to worry about going to a gym or weight training or resistance training or flexibility or any of that. I enjoy walking, I've been keeping it up and it's something I can do anywhere, any time and for the rest of my life. Having this revelation and making this commitment feels like a true success.

I also had some success with my reading/book goals. I did read a Jane Austen book, one book that has lingered on my tbr list for quite awhile and I visited one new to me library in RI. I did not however, read a Shakespeare play or a nonfiction book by Alison Weir from my tbr list. And I only managed to write book reviews for 12 of the 21 4 or 5 star books that I read in 2011.

I accomplished 2 of my 6 travel related goals. The most important of which was a getaway with my husband. I'll count that as a success.

I did a pretty good job with my explore RI goals. I did manage to eat at three swanky restaurants and to explore Hope St. in Providence. And while I didn't make to any of the big, ocean beaches here in RI, which is what I intended when I set the goal, I did visit my little town beach on Narragansett Bay a number of times. And I really do enjoy that. Maybe I need to focus on that and stop feeling bad about not going to the "real" beach.

Accomplishing my family goals proved to be a little harder. Maybe because they were tied to cooking. I set a goal of inviting my mother to dinner once a month and hosting 4 dinners for extended family. I made some progress, but not as much as I would have liked. I did, however, spend more time with my mom this past year doing other things and that was really the idea. So, I'm going to count that as a success. And I did spend lots of time with extended family, just not necessarily at dinners I hosted for that express purpose. So again, the spirit of the goal was met.

As for some of my miscellaneous goals, I did very well on some - keeping up with politics, buying flowers for the family room, saying "no" at work, donating to charity - and not so well on others - posting once a week, watching more movies and scheduling mental health days.

Overall, I think I did pretty well. Having the accountability of Project 52 definitely helped me keep some of my goals in mind, which certainly help me accomplish what I did. But having one more thing to track and organize was definitely not a good thing for me. And that is probably the best thing I got out of participating in Project 52. The realization that too much organizing, record keeping, etc. can actually make you less, not more, efficient. A valuable lesson to learn. And one I need to focus on in 2012. My goal - to become a Type A minus personality. Baby steps.

How about you? Have you set any goals for yourself in 2012? I'd love to hear from you.



7 comments:

Unknown said...

OMG, we are twins...I'm the queen of lists and organization and often get caught up in my own madness. I bought a new agenda this year just to keep up with my blog topics, reviews etc.....Type A...ya think??

I remember your Project 52, and even if incomplete, you made great strides!!

I honestly just wish you blogged more, book reviews, play reviews, family updates, something. I miss you my friend!!

Jen said...

We all learn something in the midst of project 52 and we're glad that you joined us in 2011 and learned from it! Best of luck at being a little more random and sporadic this year!

Katherine said...

I love the idea of becoming a Type A minus personality. I've been working on that, too. Although I'm not ready to get rid of my lists.

Andrea said...

I SO totally know what it's like to write those lists, and love to cross stuff off, etc. I'm glad you're cutting yourself some slack, even in your "recap" post. In mine I didn't even recap. ;) Not fully, anyway. But it sounds like you met some of your goals, and that is excellent!

Terra said...

of all those goals I think the walking one is HUGE you did amazing with that...I am thinking I am a little jealous. I hear you loud and clear on the time spent trying to keep up with goals can be totally stupid and over whelming. I am also with Anita...stop in and say HI a little more this year, don't make it a goal or add it to a list...just do it!!!

Sandy said...

As YOU know, I am so not the typical Type A. Although a friend has always said I am over-achiever. Not sure what that means.

I'm also not a resolution maker. Last year I did commit (not resolve) to use the 15th of each month as a Purge Day. While I did't purge on the 15th of every month, I did get rid of something/clean out a drawer during each month. Very refreshing. At least until this past week when I wanted something I had tossed 10 days before.
I intend to keep the purging up.

But what I am trying to do is finish things I start. I don't mean the painting I began in 1991 or the quilt I started in 1986, when I have something in my hand with a destination, NOT put it down on the counter half way there.

Karen M. Peterson said...

I love that you learned so much about yourself through this.

It sounds like you did really well with your goals overall. And I like what you said about having to just accept the fact that you aren't the gym type or the cook every night at home type. Sometimes we need to accept ourselves for who we are and quit fighting it.

 

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