So we’re off and running into 2019. January has come and gone. The weather has been interesting this month—within the first four days there was a snow/ice storm (did get out of work a little early, and then the next day started a little later)—so can’t wait to see how the weather is going to behave for the rest of the year.

So I decided that to start the year, I was going to start a little slower in terms of goals (not have quite as many as I’d been having) to see if I could get at least 80% on each of them. So what did my goals for January include?

They were:

At least 434,000 steps (this will be breaking down to the minimum of 14K/day), so that I can be on track for reaching 5 million steps again by New Year’s Eve.

Starting to interact more on Linkedin.

Restarting the photography challenge (may or may not be same picture on the blog and other social pages).

Working through different e-courses and on the transition plan (making notes and posting updates on the blog).

Working on different science posts for the blog.

Reading (or finishing) at least 3 non-fiction books (aiming to read at least 10% of a book a day—lovely thing with the kindle as it tells you the % of the book you’ve read; would make it approximately 3 new books a month).

Workout daily (either restart a beachbody program or start a hybrid program), alternating resistance training with cardio (and hopefully a walk on the weekend along with yoga).

Figure out how to ensure that I’m having my shakeology daily.

So how did I do with each of them?

  1. Step goal of 434,000: I managed to surpass the step goal this month. I got in 477,549 steps (and this was with four days being below average; three of which were below 5K). A little closer to reaching 500K in a month, but still a little short. But I’m on track for both the yearly goal (of 5 million) and my 1001-day goal (of either 14,014,000 or 19,124,000 steps).
  • Interacting more on Linkedin: This one is a little slow going. I’m liking posts, and sharing posts every so often, but I have yet to write an post or leave a detailed comment on someone’s post.
  • Restarting the photography challenge: This one has been difficult, mainly due to my cell phone acting up (during the week, that is usually how I take my pictures). So the challenge got restarted again on the 7th (though I did post on the 1st, and then several pictures over the weekend of the 5th & 6th to try to make up for not having a daily picture posted from the 2nd to the 4th).

I restarted the challenge again this week (starting on the 28th), and did a double post on 30th (since I had trouble trying to load any of the pages on the blog on the 29th). So we shall see how long I make it this year.

  • Working through the different e-courses and on the transition plan: I’ve managed to work through one e-course (which was more of a refresher on job searching), and did one or two little linkedin “courses”. In terms of my transition plan, I’ve come up with several things that I’d like to avoid doing, slowly figuring out my “professional lifestyle” and I have an idea about which biotech hubs I’d be willing to move to for a job.
  • Working on different science posts: I’m slowly working on this, as I’ve realized what my two major hang-ups are: 1) trying to draw what I want to relate (structures of DNA & RNA for example), and then 2) making sure that I’m not using a huge amount of scientific jargon. I want to write scientific posts that can be understood by someone who doesn’t have the scientific background.
  • Reading (or finishing) at least 3 non-fiction books: So I managed to finish reading the following books, and have also decided to color code them differently in my master list to differentiate between the books that I finished last year (in red) and the ones I will have finished this year (in green); though I also have one in purple (this is more of a reference book):

Move Your Æ Ash: Know, Grow, & Show Your Career Value by Paul Carney

Anti Goals: Find Success by Knowing what to avoid by Kevin Wagonfoot

Power Up Your Self Talk: 6 Simple Habits to Stop Beating Yourself Up and Reclaim Your Life by Michal Stawicki

Anti-Debt: A guide to personal finance, getting out debt and building a money plan for our life by Kevin Wagonfoot

Though I’ve only written one book review so far: Anti-Goals: Find Success by Knowing What to Avoid by Kevin Wagonfoot

  • Daily workout: I’ve managed to at least get my steps in 27 out of 31 days (which means that my fitbit registered at least 25 minutes of walking). I’ve also done numerous workouts—it may not have been daily though. So this is still something I’m going to be working on (see my other post on trying to finish at least 250 different Beachbody workouts).
  • Trying to figure out the best way to have my shakeology daily. This has been a total washout—I haven’t had shakeology at all this month. I’m considering cancelling my supplements for shakeology (as I have about 2 months worth to still go through). Mornings right now are too chilly for having a shake before leaving the house, and I’ve gotten spoiled having it mixed with almond milk instead of water and blended (instead shaken in a cup). So yeah—I’m still trying to figure out the best way of having my daily dose of shakeology.

So I think I’m off to a good start this year (at least in terms of certain things). There are always going to be bumps or roadblocks in the road, and I just need to go over them or figure out a way around them. So now it’s time to try to set some goals for the next twenty-eight days in February.

February goals will include:

At least 392,000 steps (again this breaks down to at least 14K/day; and will keep me on track for my other step goals).

Continue trying to interact more on linkedin.

Read at least one article on fiercepharma or fiercebiotech each day (maybe make notes for a small weekly recap blog post).

Continue with the photography challenge

Continue working through various e-courses/groups and the transition plan (pick specific cities, and have an idea of what my superpower trifecta is).

Continue trying to workout daily.

Aim for a week of no spend days (start money log)

Read (or finish) at least three non-fiction books

Start really trying to work on science posts for the blog (and potentially on linkedin as well).

Figure out the best way (still) of trying to have my shakeology daily.

Image of Goofy running: http://clipart-library.com/clipart/pc787erqi.htm