New year, improved me
Goals, not Resolutions
2023 was a great year. At least, the second half was. But as everything fell into place, 2024 started looking like it’s going to be an awesome year. I wanted to capitalize on that good vibe, so I went back to a book I read a couple of years ago: Michael Hyatt’s Your Best Year Ever.
When I originally read that book, I didn’t follow through with the suggestions fully, but still had some success. This year, I’ve decided to pull the goal-setting regimen from the book and see how well I can stick with them this year.
S.M.A.R.T.E.R Goals
Everyone has probably heard about S.M.A.R.T. goals – the usual acronym stands for “Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant (or Realistic), and Time-Bound.” Hyatt shakes it up a little bit:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Actionable
- Risky
- Time-Keyed
- Exciting
- Relevant
Achievements or Habits?
Goals can roughly be split into 2 types: achievements and habits. An achievement goal is something that has a discrete and defined outcome (“Run a half-marathon”), while a habit goal is something that you want to do regularly (“Exercise 3 times a week”).
Write them down!
Writing goals down tends to make them more “real.” If you believe in that sort of thing, it’s a form of manifesting. The main reason to write goals down, however, is so you can review them. The same way you would track the progress of a project (whether that’s creating a piece of software or building a boat), you can track the progress of your goals. Indeed, ticking off the progress of a habit goal can be immensely satisfying.
Find your motivation and reward
At the end of the day, if you don’t have sufficient motivation to achieve a goal, you’re not likely to succeed at it. For example, I’ve been trying to lose weight for years – indeed, it’s been on my New Year’s resolutions for almost all of the last 10 years – but have never had the correct motivation to drop the kilos.
The other thing to look at when setting a goal is the reward. You may treat yourself to a shiny new toy (“I will save £30 per week for a year and will then be able to afford a new Garmin Descent Mk3i”) or you may just get the warm and fuzzies (“I will climb Yr Wyddfa. The reward will be the amazing view from the top.”) or just feel the satisfaction of a job well done and enjoy the adulation of your peers (or loved ones).
My Goals for 2024
This is where I diverge slightly from Hyatt’s recommendations. He suggests to write down your goals, but be selective with whom you share that information. There’s an argument to be made that oversharing goals makes them less likely to happen. In my case, I don’t think there will be many people actually reading this article, so it’s a good mix of both worlds. 😁
I’ve split my goals into Habits, Achievements and Milestones. Milestones are effectively Achievement goals, but these will be formal qualifications or courses, so I feel they should be treated slightly differently.
Habits
- No TV on working days.
I work from Mon-Thu at my desk job, I want to try and not watch TV on those days. This will free up more time for reading, housework and sport. Bank Holidays and vacation days may be excepted, but I’ll see how I get on. - Screens off by 22:00, lights out by 22:45.
I have always had problems with sleeping (a separate blog post will follow on this topic), and I want to regularize my sleep schedule a bit more. I intend to follow this habit every day, where possible. - Write a blog post every week and create a video every 2 weeks.
Self-explanatory: I want to be more consistent with blogging and creating videos. The motivation is to tell my story and the reward will be seeing the progression over the year. - Wild camp once every month.
I want to be more in touch with nature again. Sleeping out under the stars, watching the Milky Way and the constellations wheel over your head is something everyone should get to experience. By setting this goal, I’ll actually be forcing myself to go out and Just Do It™. - Walk up Tal-y-Fan from home every month.
Tal-y-Fan is my “hausberg”, I see it from the garden every time I’m out there. It’s not very high as mountains go (610m), and the hike from my front door is about 2h to the summit, and the views from there are just amazing. This is a goal I’ve been meaning to set for a while, so here goes.
Achievements
- Run a half-marathon by the end of June 2024.
During the first covid lockdown, I trained for and ran a virtual half-marathon with my best friend. I made it through the 21.1km and swore “never again” – I’m not really sure I like running (if anyone asks, I’ll normally say “I hate running”), but I do enjoy the feeling of finishing a run and pressing the stop button on my Garmin (a separate blog post will follow on this topic too). Running, however, does like me and it does fantastic things for my fitness.The motivation and reward is that I will lose weight, I will pass my dive medical, diving will become easier, and I will be fitter in general. - Spend 60 days on the water by the end of 2024.
In 2023, I managed to make it to 38 days on the water. Any activity that gets me on the water counts, i.e. sailing, powerboat instructing, skippering a boat or doing some CPD on the water. Diving will not count, that’s a separate goal. The motivation is getting more in touch with nature again, and the reward is just being out on the water in nature. - Increase my dive count to 150 with quality dives by the end of 2024.
This will be a bit of a stretch. I’m currently at 59 dives. I don’t want to dip down for a few 20 minute dives, just to push the counter up. I want to enjoy quality dives, either training or pleasure dives, but I should come out of the water feeling that I’ve had a Good Dive™. The reward is that I expect my diving skills to have improved massively: buoyancy, trim, air consumption and calmness will all improve.
Milestones
- RYA Personal Watercraft certificate
AKA Jet Ski license. I’ve ridden jet-skis before, but I don’t have an official permit. I need this permit for the next milestone though… - RYA PWC Instructor Conversion
As a Powerboat Instructor, I can currently do a conversion course to obtain the PWC Instructor certificate. This will raise my freelance employability and hopefully open up further opportunities to get on the water. - RYA Advanced Powerboat Instructor
This is the highest instructor certification available in the RYA Powerboat Scheme. I think I will be ready to pursue this qualification in the 2nd half of 2024. - RYA Day Skipper (sail)
Ideally, I’d like to get the Yachtmaster Offshore, but I need another 2,000 miles of experience to be able to take that exam. With the Day Skipper, I’ll be able to start assisting on deliveries and get more enjoyment out of offshore sailing, which will allow me to build up my miles. - SSI Dive Master
The entry-level professional certification which will allow me to start gaining professional experience as a diver. - SSI Assistant Instructor
As an AI, I will be able to assist on open-water courses, and SSI allows AIs to take over some instructing duties under supervision. This will lead to: - SSI Open Water Instructor
With this certificate, I will be able to teach diving to beginners as well as start to collect Speciality Instructor certifications.
Summary
You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t put the clichéed resolutions “Lose weight” and “get fitter” on the goal lists. In order to run a half-marathon, I will need to start running 3 times a week, so that’s already baked in. Running 3 times a week and pursuing a more active lifestyle (hiking and wild-camping) will also result in better fitness, and better fitness goes hand in hand with weight loss. So this year, I’m confident I will hit my weight loss goals (which I’m not numerating this time) as well as becoming fitter and healthier.
Let me know what you think about this approach or whether you have any of your own goals in the comments down below.
2 Comments
MKF
I wasn’t expecting to learn something, so thanks for writing about SMARTER (and your next challenge is to fulfil the SMARTARSE criteria). 😜
Good luck for all of that, very courageous targets!
Do I have to do the HM with you?
simon b
Thank you, sir! You’re very welcome to join the virtual HM fun – last weekend of June? 🧐