Near the end of December, I wrote a bit about my philosophy about goals. At the time, I mentioned some of the artistic/professional goals I was pondering for 2024. Today, I want to come back to that general topic through a different lens, because I’ve set some new personal goals between then and now. The very existence of those personal goals is part of how I take care of myself.
Now, before this starts to sound like a self-improvement montage, that’s not what I’m talking about. I do have a fitness goal, but it’s literally to finish rehabbing an injury I got last year because I wasn’t being careful. There’s no “Faster! Harder! More!” about it.
In fact, some of my personal goals are deliberately gentle. Reminders to check in with myself once a day, and to keep in touch with the people and things that bring me joy.
So, why have them? Believe me, even after burning out in two different jobs, the Workaholic voice in my head thinks it is a waste of time to set actual goals around relaxation and joy.
That voice is wrong.
Most of us pay attention to the things we’re keeping track of. You know this if you’ve ever tried counting the number of vegetables servings you eat every day or keeping a gratitude journal. You see this play out in all areas of life from chore charts at home to performance metrics aligned with corporate goals at work.1
And I’m willing to bet that most of you have used this same principle by setting goals for your creative output. (Honestly, every writing community I’ve ever dipped a toe into has a little back channel where people are exchanging their wordcount spreadsheets.)
That’s all great. Decide what you want to focus on, start tracking it, and voila! The first steps toward making an improvement are already in place.
EXCEPT… If you only ever have goals in your professional or artistic settings, you risk neglecting all the other parts of your identity, and there are a LOT of parts to your identity: Human, artist, loved one, citizen, hobbyist, professional, neighbor… you get the point. I would like to humbly suggest you consider other kinds of goals, if only to make sure you pay attention to the other parts of you.
Even better if those goals don’t have anything to do with the dreaded self improvement. For years, I would set goals only in the areas where I thought I was lacking, which meant that I was constantly thinking about points of insecurity. And that was a direct road toward misery.
So – here are some of the OTHER goals I’ve set for myself recently:
- Spend 15 minutes every weekday checking in with my personal needs, instead of my professional ones. This keeps me on top of the practical stuff (did I remember to schedule that dentist appointment?), but then when I’m done with that, there’s still time for other considerations, “When was the last time I talked to my friend?” or “I keep forgetting to ask so-and-so for that recipe I loved…”
- Buy new “work from home” pants – the ones that feel like sweatpants but that look just polished enough to pop into the library or grocery store on a quick errand. I’ve been needing these for two years, but since there’s never been a deadline for it, I’ve never remembered to actually do it.
- Regularly read that good-news-newsletter that I signed up for last fall, and never actually made time for.
These aren’t big things, as you can see. They’re not part of any big changes in my life, except for the most important one: They’re going to make me happier. So, give it some thought. What kinds of goals could you set for yourself, today, or any time later this year, that would help you remember to take care of yourself.
1. Seriously, all areas of life: Imagine a world where all corporations are required to create an annual report on their effect on social justice and the environment, in addition to an annual report on their finances. Just think about how things would start to shift