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.