Category: 101 Goals

My next fitness challenge: combining Yoga Booty Ballet with LIIFT4

Sep

2020

So I am going to be finishing up with my first round of morning meltdown-100 next week (specifically on Sept 15^th), and then moving right into a combo/hybrid workout of another two programs—LIIFT4 (which will be my second time going through the program) and Yoga Booty Ballet (specifically using their abs & butt makeover calendar).

I’m combining these two programs for the following reasons: 1) I want to continue doing weight training, and I really enjoyed doing LIIFT 4; 2) I’ve always enjoyed the Yoga Booty Ballet program (and actually this was the first program I bought from Beachbody years ago); and 3) I think they will complement each other nicely.

The workouts in each program are between 30 and 45 minutes—which is basically the current amount of time I want to spend working out (especially in the mornings), and while the yoga booty ballet workouts aren’t ‘live’—I don’t mind doing them on repeat for the next eight and a half weeks.

One goal for this combination is to see if by the end of the program am I lifting heavier than I did at the end of the first round of LIIFT4?? I’m hoping with coming off of morning meltdown 100, I will be lifting a little heavier for some of the exercises (though I also know that there are several that I’ll still be lifting “light” on for quite a while as well). So we will have to see mid-November how much heavier I’m lifting on some of the exercises.

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Expanded Challenge: Now 150 goals to be completed in 2002 days

Jul

2020

100+ Goals to accomplish in 2002 Days

Start Date: July 19, 2020

End Date: January 10, 2026

Well I realized that since we’re over half way through July—that means there are less than six months left in 2020. I’ve come to the conclusion that trying to complete the 101 goals in 1001 days wasn’t going to work. For me it is due to the fact that I will only open the word document every so often—which makes it difficult to figure out which goal(s) I’m doing well on and which ones I’m not doing so well on meeting. Therefore, I am thinking of stretching out the time frame for this project and increasing the total number of goals to 150-200. There are numerous goals that are on hold (traveling), and will be at the bottom of the list. There are two reasons why the traveling goals are going to be at the bottom of the list: 1) we’re still in the middle of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. Cases aren’t going down really in the US (though there are some states, where they are decreasing—OK isn’t one of them) and 2) several countries (namely the EU) have banned travelers from the US—in other words if you try to fly into any EU country, you may be put right back on a plane for the US, since they’re flattening their curves—they don’t want potential virus carriers showing up and spiking cases.

So the world has been in the grasp of the SARS-CoV2 virus for seven months (probably a little longer than that for the countries that are neighboring China), and we’re still learning about the virus each day. While there are several vaccines that are being pushed into various clinical trial phases—a real contender may still not be ready for another 6 to 18 months. Vaccine development is a slow and tedious process that the world is currently rushing because everyone wants to get back to ‘normal’. Hate to break it to everyone but the ‘old normal’ needs to be left in the past and we all need to work together to develop a ‘new normal’.

Truthfully, even if there is a vaccine out by the end of the year—I will probably still continue to shelter in place and wait at least an additional 8 to 12 months before I’m willing to get the vaccine (just to see how efficient the vaccine(s) are). Though based on the current news, we could end up with needing seasonal shots, as it has been shown that with people who “recover” from SARS-CoV2 the antibodies against the virus slowly disappear over time.

So I’ve been self-reflecting over the past six months (though maybe not that much during April—I was too pissed at the world for how bad the pandemic was getting, and now that we’re into July, I can say I’m still pissed but trying to get back into a routine of doing other things that I can control the outcomes of)) and have decided a few things:

Try to organize the challenge list into categories

If needing to restart (and I am)—any day of the week can become day 1 again

Balance is needed

I want to balance using my strengths (learner, intellection, input, achiever, deliberative/ideation/arranger) with working on my weaknesses (communication, self-regulation, bravery, zest, love)

The only person I should be competing with is who I was yesterday

Always strive for progress over perfection

So below are my goals—but broken up into different categories (such as professional development/career, personal development, both personal/professional development, travel, health & fitness to name a few categories). I’m going to extend the time frame to 2002 days (which is not quite 5 ½ years—but considering 2020 has started the decade off with a global pandemic—this a good time frame).

I’ve also decided that since I’m basically restarting the challenge (instead of just extending it), that some of the things I’ve accomplished so far this year probably shouldn’t count towards it (such as reading 12 personal/professional development books, and the fact that I would be on day 42 of Morning Meltdown 100, tomorrow—the last 59 days of the workout would count towards my 2000 days of Beachbody workouts-just not the first 41 days).

More goals may be added over the years as I re-evaluate this list and see what may need to be removed, what has been finished, and where I think I could possibly push myself more.

Professional development and career:

1. Transition into an industry position (probably remote/online or freelancing at this point to start); there will be several posts on this goal

2. Learn a programming language (python or R—ties in with #6)

3. Finish various e-courses that I’ve bought, but in particular:

4. Dream Job Hack

5. Medical Writers Organization

6. Data Scientist Syndicate

7. Project Management Consortium

8. Management Consulting Firm

9. All other courses—see additional lists in the journal.

10. More interacting on Linkedin

11. Sharing articles from various biotech pages, and other science pages

12. Commenting on posts

13. Giving/Asking for recommendations

14. Start writing my own posts

15. Creating monthly/weekly/daily calendars for above goals

16. Renew professional memberships

Both Personal and Professional Development

17. Become fluent in Spanish

18. Become fluent in German

19. Become proficient in French, Norwegian, or Swedish

20. Read at least 300 personal/professional development books

21. Finish the books on scientific writing

22. Start building up a portfolio of work (writing/data analysis/plus other ideas)

23. Develop a daily writing habit (tied with several goals below)

24. Write a letter to my future self

Personal development and hobbies

25. Paint and frame at least one original painting

26. More photography

27. 365-Day Challenge (aim for 365 different pictures)

28. Update photography pages on blog

29. Make my own jewelry

30. Learn to cross-stitch

31. Get a new sewing machine

32. Make a new quilt (or this may wait until I move)

33. Make a set of drapes for the bedroom (for backdrop for any zoom calls)

34. Start a new afghan (write a post on finishing the other)

35. Show case crafts on blog (possibly a weekly update?)

36. Start writing a book

37. Learn Photoshop

38. Write in journal daily (answer questions/prompts from journaling books and free thought)

39. Create my own coffee-table photography book

40. Learn basic sign language

41. Start a virtual book club

Finances

42. Create monthly budgets

43. Credit card debts down and hopefully paid off monthly

44. Declutter the house (way of earning extra cash)

45. Savings account up another 20K (hopefully)

46. Talk with financial person about short-term investment possibilities

47. Continue doing the small surveys as a way of earning a little extra cash

48. Finish the various financial e-courses, and decide when/how to start investing

Fitness & Health

49. Get into the best shape of my life

50. Multivitamin and supplements daily

51. Manage at least 2000 days of Beachbody workouts

Finish the following programs (some will probably be more than 1 or 2 times)

52. Morning Meltdown 100 (will probably do this 2-3 times, as I’m currently doing this program right now—07/19/2020)

53. Yoga Booty Ballet—Abs & Butt

54. 10 Rounds

55. Barre Blend

56. Insanity Max 30

57. LIIFT4–all three phases (have already done this program once)

58. 22 Minute Hard Corps

59. T20

60. Insanity

61. Insanity: Asylum 1

62. Insanity: Asylum 2

63. 4 weeks of Prep

64. 6 weeks of the work

65. T25 (have already done this program once)

66. Brazil Butt Lift

67. 21-Day Fix (Already done this program once)

68. 21-Day Fix Extreme (Already done this program once)

69. Country Heat (already done this program once)

70. CIZE

71. Muscle Burns Fat

72. Muscle Burns Fat Advanced

73. 30-Day Breakaway (this is a maybe—it’s running based)

74. 9-week control freak

75. Shawn Week

Plus any other possible Beachbody program that is coming out that I may want to add.

76. Manage 5 push-ups on my toes

77. Manage 10 push-ups on my toes

78. Hold a two-minute forearm plank

79. Hold a 90 second plank

80. Meditate nightly

81. Start jogging (as another way to try to keep my mental health up)—may tie this in with #73

82. 60-80 oz of water a day

83. Stretch daily

84. Go one weekend a month with no social media (no scrolling through social media pages; may still post on the sites)

85. Get at least 10,010,000 steps (breaks down to 5K/day)

Blog and Social Media

86. Finish YouTube for bosses course

87. Finish YouTube course creation for bosses course

88. Finish blog to biz course

89. Launch a YouTube channel

90. Launch an online course

91. Get blog traffic to 500+ views a day

92. Rebrand myself (?)

93. Get Instagram followers to constant 800+

94. Get pintrest followers to constant 400+

95. Get twitter followers to constant 1000+

96. Publish at least two blog series

97. Editorial calendars (monthly/weekly/daily)

98. Blog

99. Instagram

100. Facebook pages

101. Twitter

102. Get Fit with Jessi to 1000+ likes/follows

103. Get becomingJessi (or new name if I change) to 1000+ likes/follows

104. Various top 10 author lists

105. Various top 10 book series lists

106. Launch a podcast

Spirituality

107. Full/New Moon Goals

108. Create my own altar (wicca/pagan)

109. Weekly (or daily) tarot/oracle card readings

110. 15 minutes outdoors in the morning (coffee only) weather permitting

Others

111. Keep at least 3 plants alive

112. Design a science based board game

113. Create and update digital vision board

114. Reorganize my storage unit

115. Put in at least one flower garden around the house (backyard, and/or front yard)

116. Help put up partial privacy fence in backyard

117. Start downsizing clothes and creating different “minimum” wardrobes (work/professional/casual; home/casual/working out)

118. Develop at least 10 different 100-day challenges

119. Start downsizing rest of my belongs as well—would like to probably be able to live comfortably in a smallish size apartment (or house) where ever I move for the next job.

TV shows to binge watch

120. Hawaii 5-0 (latest remake)

121. Grimm

122. The Librarians

123. Once Upon A Time

124. Blacklist

125. Numbers

Goals on hold due to the global coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak (either because they require traveling, going into a large store, and/or being around large groups of people):

126. Re-pierce my ears

127. Go to at least 1 scientific conference

128. Present at a scientific conference

129. Go to at least 2 professional networking events

130. Move to a new (or maybe not new) city for job

131. Visit at least 3 new countries

132. Visit at least one new national and/or state park

133. Visit at least one new national and/or state monument

134. Visit at least one new zoo

135. Visit at least one new aquarium

136. Fly out and/or land at 3 new (to me) airports

137. Visit at least one new city

138. Visit at least one new state

139. See the northern lights

140. Attend at least one blogging conference

141. Attend at least one author-reader conference

142. Swim with whale sharks

143. Parasailing

144. Run a 5K (connects back to goals #73 & #81)

Once I move:

145. Get fabric and foam and make new cushions for chairs

146. New couch & chair for living room

147. New dresser for bedroom

148. New mattress & box spring for bed and/or a new bed set

149. New TV & stand

150. New desk/craft workstation

So I now have roughly 150 goals to accomplish in 2002 days. Some of the goals may be accomplished well before the 2002 days are up—others may be up to the end (namely the fitness workouts and steps). So how will I accomplish these 150 goals??? Well, there are 25 goals that are “on-hold” until the virus is under control (goals #126-150)—so these may not be looked at for the first 500+ days (though I will probably be checking the stats on the pandemic more often).

In terms of the other 125 goals—I already have some ‘habits’ in place—I have set up monthly calendar/check-ins for my steps, daily workouts, and spending, plus I do a monthly money check-in when I set up payments for various bills. So what I’m going to be doing is adding in additional trackers (e-courses, photography, tarot/oracle card readings) and seeing tracking that ways helps me move through things better. Also in terms of the e-courses, I’m going to be trying to take better notes so that I can post little recaps on the blog as well (all of this will also help me possibly finally design and keep up with editorial calendars as well).

But above else, I need to remember the following phrases: Aim for progress and not perfection, work hard in silence, let your success by your noise, and make it happen, shock everyone.

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Update on Reboot Break

Jan

2020

So I’m about a month into my reboot break, and am still trying to figure out the best routine. One thing I’ve noticed after going through notes that I’ve taken over the past couple of years—I need to try to find (or actually rediscover) my “voice” or who I am. I’ve realized that I’ve spent the past couple of years just drifting along, and when it comes to trying to answer personal/professional development questions such as “who are you” or “what is the difference between you and someone else for this role”—I can almost generically answer the first one, but can’t come up with answers of what makes me unique for roles. I realize that I’ve spent years blending in with my surroundings and trying to stay in the background unnoticed. This all comes from childhood and being a victim of bullying—not of which was physical, and I learned it was better to pretend to be invisible and blend into the background than draw attention to the situation.

While it is nice that I’ve identified the problem (my unconscious moves to blend into the background), now I need to work on breaking those patterns. I need to rediscover things that I enjoy doing (things that make me uniquely me), and then determine the best ways of weaving those hobbies into “transferable skills” for job interviews. I would say that I’m fairly confident that I should move R&D scientist down the list on interesting job titles (as it is more or less my comfort zone), and start trying to step outside of what I’m use to doing to see what grabs my interest in terms of the other possible job titles.

I’m thinking that the list is going to now look something like this:

Health Economist

Market Research Analyst

Scientific/Medical Writer

Market Communications Specialist

Clinical Data Analyst/Manager

Quantitative Analyst

Patent Analyst

R&D scientist (up to R&D manager)

Though the top seven are more or less fluid (I just rearranged a few from how I’ve previously listed them).

So this week is going to be spent getting back into a workout routine, spending some time practicing photography, puppy training (I adopted a puppy just before Christmas), reading, working a rough draft of everything that I would like to accomplish this year, and looking more into the above roles.

Once I remember (or better yet remind myself) of things I like to do, that aren’t related to work, I will be that much further on my path to finding the optimal industry position to transition into this year.

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Take Three of the 101 goals in 1001 days

Nov

2019

So in one of my many self reflection periods this past month, I realized that I hadn’t been looking at my 101 goal list and seeing how close I was to any of the goals (with the exception of my step goal). I also realized looking at the list, it was all jumbled together and that made it hard to see which goals could “feed” off of each other in terms of the daily/weekly/monthly goals that I should be setting to reach them.

Therefore, I took the time and rewrote my list—this time grouping things into different categories. I’m going to be hitting restart on the time, to where if I start on November 2, 2019—I should then be finishing up around July 29, 2022.

Professional development and career:

1. Transition into an industry position (tied to latest self reflections post); there will be several posts on this goal

2. Learn a programming language

3. Finish various e-courses that I’ve bought, but in particular:

4. Dream Job Hack

5. Medical Writers Organization

6. More interacting on Linkedin

7. Sharing articles from various biotech pages, and other science pages

8. Commenting on posts

9. Giving/Asking for recommendations

10. Creating monthly/weekly/daily calendars for above goals

11. Go to at least 1 scientific conference

12. Present at a scientific conference

13. Go to at least 2 professional networking events

14. Renew professional memberships

15. Move to a new (or maybe not new) city for job

Both Personal and Professional Development

16. Become fluent in Spanish

17. Become fluent in German (or maybe French)

18. Read at least 100 personal/professional development books

19. Finish the books on scientific writing

Personal development and hobbies

20. Paint and frame at least one original painting

21. More photography

22. 365-Day Challenge (aim for 365 different pictures)

23. Update photography pages on blog

24. Make my own jewelry

25. Learn to cross-stitch

26. Finish my latest afghan

27. Show case crafts on blog (possibly a weekly update?)

28. Start writing a book

29. Learn Photoshop

30. Write in journal daily (answer questions/prompts from journaling books and free thought)

31. Create my own coffee-table photography book

32. Learn basic sign language

Finances

33. Create monthly budgets

34. Credit card debts down and hopefully paid off monthly

35. Declutter the house (way of earning extra cash)

36. Savings account up another 20K (hopefully)

37. Talk with financial person about short-term investment possibilities

Travel

38. Visit at least 3 new countries

39. Visit at least one new national and/or state park

40. Visit at least one new national and/or state monument

41. Visit at least one new zoo

42. Visit at least one new aquarium

43. Fly out and/or land at 3 new (to me) airports

44. Visit at least one new city

45. Visit at least one new state

46. See the northern lights

47. Attend at least one blogging conference

48. Attend at least one author-reader conference

49. Attend Beachbody Coach Summit 2020

Fitness & Health

50. Get into the best shape of my life

51. Multivitamin and supplements daily

52. Manage at least 250 days of Beachbody workouts

53. Manage 5 push-ups on my toes

54. Manage 10 push-ups on my toes

55. Hold a two-minute forearm plank

56. Hold a 90 second plank

57. Meditate nightly

58. 30-day Zumba challenge

59. 60-80 oz of water a day

60. Stretch daily

61. Go one weekend a month with no social media (no scrolling through social media pages; may still post on the sites)

62. Get at least 14,014,000 steps (breaks down to 14K/day)

Blog and Social Media

63. Finish YouTube for bosses course

64. Finish YouTube course creation for bosses course

65. Finish blog to biz course

66. Launch a YouTube channel

67. Launch an online course

68. Get blog traffic to 500+ views a day

69. Rebrand myself (?)

70. Get Instagram followers to constant 800+

71. Get pintrest followers to constant 400+

72. Get twitter followers to constant 1000+

73. Publish at least two blog series

74. Editorial calendars (monthly/weekly/daily)

75. Blog

76. Instagram

77. Facebook pages

78. Get Fit with Jessi to 1000+ likes/follows

79. Get becomingJessi (or new name if I change) to 1000+ likes/follows

80. Various top 10 author lists

81. Various top 10 book series lists

Spirituality

82. Full/New Moon Goals

83. Create my own altar (wicca/pagan)

84. Weekly tarot/oracle card readings

Others

85. Keep at least 3 plants alive

86. Design a science based board game

87. Create and update a digital vision board

88. Re-pierce my ears

89. Reorganize my storage unit

Once I move:

90. Get a new sewing machine

91. Make a new quilt

92. Get fabric and foam and make new cushions for chairs

93. New couch & chair for living room

94. New dresser for bedroom

95. New mattress & box spring for bed

96. New TV & stand

TV shows to binge watch

97. Hawaii 5-0 (latest remake)

98. Grimm

99. The Librarians

100. Once Upon A Time

101. Blacklist

So that is my update and “organized” 101 goals in 1001 days. This time I’m trying to balance things out—personal and professional development, career and then just odds and ends. Hopefully with it being organized, I will be better at tracking how close I am to completing certain items and which items when completed will flow into another one being started.

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Check-in on 101 goals

Jul

2019

So we’re officially a little over halfway through 2019, which means that there are 815 days left in this challenge (as today is July 5^th 2019). So I decided that I should probably do a check-in on the goals and see where I’m at with them. Updates are in bold.

The dates for my 101 goal challenges are:

So my original start and finish dates were:

Start Date: January 1 2018

Finish Date: September 28 2020

My new start and finish dates:

Start Date: January 1, 2019

Finish Date: September 28, 2021

Here are my 101 goals for the next 1001 days (random and non-grouped):

Transition into a biotech or biopharma company as a research scientist
Become fluent in Spanish
Become fluent in German
Learn to program (R and maybe python)
Visit at least three new countries (0/3)
Finish the various other e-course bundles that I bought (list out later)
Move to a new(ish) city for #1
Make it through at least 250 days of beachbody workouts (share on twitter?) (0/250) *Luckily it doesn’t have to be consecutive days (though I would like that)—I haven’t done a Beachbody workout in awhile (I also can’t remember how many I’d done before I hit my slump).
Paint & frame at least one original painting (0/1)
Finish the Dream Job Hack program
Finish the Youtube for bosses course
Finish the Youtube course creation for bosses course
Launch a youtube channel
Launch a online course
Get blog traffic to 500+ views/day
Publish 5-10 scientific blog posts (0/10)
Practice more photography (1-2 posts a week) I’ve managed to stick with the photography challenge so far, so at least on the blog there have been new pictures post on a semi-constant basis (at least for the past three-four months).
Get instagram followers to 800+
Showcase crafts on blog (afghans, artwork, jewelry)
Learn to make my own jewelry
Re-pierce my ears
Finish at least 200 personal/professional development books (and post reviews) (35/200) *So out of the 274 books I have on my book reading list for both personal and professional development (and this number is growing)—I’ve read 20 in 2018, and 15 so far in 2019—that means I only have another 238 books to read to finish the list (and that is only if I don’t add anymore books to the list).
Interact more on Linkedin (actually network with connections) (at least 4 a week) (0/140)
Reach at least 14,014,000 steps (0/14,014,000); though if I add in the steps from 2018—this could actually be closer to 20,000,000 steps (goal—19,124,000 by Sept 28 2021 (as of yesterday (07/04/19) 8,047,645/19,124,000).
Visit at least one new national (or state) park (0/1)
Visit at least one new national (or state) monument (0/1)
5 pushups on toes (0/5)
10 pushups on toes (0/10)
Fly/land at least 3 new airports
Visit one new city & state (US) (0/1; 0/1)
Go to one or more scientific conferences (0/1)
Go to a blogging conference (0/1)
See the Northern Lights
Present at a scientific conference (0/1)
Post free monthly challenges in facebook groups
Write (or start) a book
Complete a 365 day photography challenge (137/365) I started the challenge a little late this year, or more accurately it took me awhile to build momentum to continue posting a daily picture.
Learn to cross-stitch
Reach 400+ followers on pintrest
Reach 1000+ followers on twitter
Publish at least two blog series (0/2)
Mediate at least 5 minutes a day (0/1001) This one has been an off and on success—there have been at least one or two weeks when I didn’t feel like meditating nightly, and therefore I didn’t—but I’m slowly getting back into the routine.
No extra snacks at work (i.e. no hitting the coffee shop for cookies in the morning) This one is a work in progress, there are some days when I’m really good at not getting extra snacks at work, and there are other days when I cave and get chocolate.
Declutter the movies in the house
Create an editorial calendar for blog (0/33) Well I’m slowly starting to try creating editorial calendars, but have only been really good at posting certain topics (new/full moon goals & updates, monthly updates & photography challenge). This is something I still need to work on.
Credit card debt down to less than $500 a month (and getting paid off monthly in full) This is almost happening—I do have my debt at a level that I can pay off monthly, though some bills get a little higher than planned.
Monthly budget (plus list of monthly recurring charges on credit cards) (0/33) I’ve been doing this, though not listing the recurring charges on my credit cards.
~~Learn to give mani/pedi and give myself one a month (0/33)~~ This one is off the list—because I have yet to do it, and while I might in the future I don’t see me doing it quite yet.
Get a new sewing machine and make a new quilt for bed. This one is on hold until I move and then I’ll be buying a new sewing machine.
Make my new moon & full moon goals (0/66) I’ve been keeping up with this one. Though I may not hit all the goals for both the new moon & the full moon—I’m at least putting my intentions out there for the universe to hear.
Buy a new couch and chair for my living room. This one and #s 52-54 are dependent on success with #1 & #7
Buy a new dresser for my bedroom
Buy a new mattress & box-spring for my bed
Buy a new TV & stand for living room
Reorganize my storage unit
Buy fabric & foam and make new cushions for rocking chair
Create a posting schedule (editorial calendar) for facebook pages (0/66) I’m behind on this.
Generate at least three months of memes for facebook pages (0/3)
Create posting schedule (editorial calendar) for instagram (0/33) Behind on this.
Learn to use photoshop for memes & posts
Make a 30-day Zumba schedule & stick with it (0/30) Haven’t done this yet.
Visit one or more new zoos (0/1)
Visit one or more new aquariums (0/1)
Make a top 10 favorite author list (for different genera; romance, fantasy/sci-fi, mystery/thriller, non-fiction) for blog
Write and share at least two posts on linkedin every two months (0/32) Behind on this as well.
Ask for endorsements from 6 well known connections on linkedin (0/6) Behind on this well.
Endorse 3 to 5 people on linkedin every four months (0/40) Behind on this.
Renew professional memberships (0/6) Need to do this soon.
Get into the “best shape” of my life. This is one of the things I’m going to try to focus on more, and maybe should be moved higher in the list.
Finish reading books on scientific writing (review and post) (0/7)
Take a multivitamin & supplements daily (0/1001). There have been several days (going on to a week) that I’ve missed taking my multivitamin & supplements.
Design a logo for my blog/website
Finish 3 hidden object games without using hints, or the strategy guide
Go to a author-reader conference and meet authors
Write in journal daily (0/1001). There have been several weeks that I didn’t do this (mainly due to my current mood—even though I know when I’m feeling down or in a funk that is actually a good time to journal).
Complete my book of Sudoku puzzles (minus the ones crossed out)
Drink 70 oz of water a day (0/1001). There have been quite a few days when this hasn’t happened.
Color in two coloring books (0/2) (pictures on blog/instagram)
Knit another afghan (diamond pattern) This has been started, and hopefully will be finished this coming winter.
Watch all the episodes of Hawaii 5-0
Go to at least 2 professional networking events (0/2)
Update Linkedin profile (0/2)
Watch all the episodes of Grimm
Design a science based board game
Hold a two minute plank (on forearms)
Hold a 90 second plank (full)
Go at least one weekend a month without social media (0/33) This hasn’t happened yet, though with the way the world is going I might start doing it.
Create (and update) a vision board. I’ve created and updated a digital vision board, and will probably try to update it at least every two to three months.
Create my own altar (wiccan/pagan)
Learn basic sign language
Create job searching/networking editorial calendar (0/12)
Get an additional external hard drive to back up the laptop & external DVD drive for installing printer program on laptop
Create my own coffee table photography book
Touch base with friends that I haven’t talked to lately
Savings up another 20K (0/20K)
Get at least three plants and keep them alive (0/3)
Stretch daily (0/1001)
Watch all the episodes of The Librarians
Watch all the episodes of Once Upon A Time
Get Fit with Jessi to 1000+ likes
Get BecomingJessi to 1000+ likes

I’ve only removed one goal from the list—giving myself a mani/pedi monthly. I’ve never been the type to fuss with their nails (though I know with job searching, I do need to start taking better care of my nails, and this does include painting them every so often). I’ve realized that I have fallen behind on some of the daily goals (taking my multivitamins, drinking a certain amount of water a day, and writing in my journal every day)—but at least I do start back up, even if it tampers off, and then starts again.

I also know that there are goals that I haven’t started on, and others that require another goal to be accomplished before they are looked at. I know where I need to try to focus for the next few months (personal care—mental and physical health, and slowly figuring out my career objectives), and once these are on track, I think the others will follow suit.

jessimatts No Comments 101 GoalsBooksCraftsfinancesfitnessHealthjob searchingLifestyle Challengesmoney saving challengesno spend challengesPersonal Developmentprofessional developmentspiritualitytravel 101goalsupdateadultingsucksattimesbookstoreadfitnesshealthjobsearchingpersonaldevelopmentprofessionaldevelopmentselfcaretransitionplantomaketravelplanstomake

12 month plan update: starting slow and trying to stay moving

Apr

2019

So I had posted earlier this week that I was in the process of developing a new 12 month plan that encompassed several different areas: health and fitness, career, finances, and spirituality. These areas were picked because they can more or less feed off of each other and once you have some of these areas under control everything else can then hopefully fall into place.

So I know that starting out I probably won’t reach 100% on each area, and that there will be some weeks when I subconsciously focus on one more than the others. The purpose here is to keep moving forward (even if it seems to be at a snail’s pace).

I decided that each week I’d set two to three goals per area, and then on Saturday and Sunday review how I did the previous week and then adjust the goals accordingly for the following week. Today’s review/check-in will cover my goals for health and fitness, and finances. Tomorrow will be career and spirituality/personal development.

Since my main fitness goal is to get into the best shape of my life.

So my goals for fitness and nutrition this week were:

Set up a new workout schedule for the week.

No sweets at work.

Hitting my step goal daily.

So how did I do with each one?

My workout schedule for the week was to do the following workouts:

Monday—LIIFT4: Chest & Triceps

Tuesday—LIIFT4: Back & Biceps

Wednesday—Country Heat: Country Swing

Thursday—LIIFT4: Shoulders

Friday—LIIFT4: Legs

Saturday—Country Heat: Giddy Up

So today I will be probably doing a double workout (as long as the internet/wifi behaves) of Country Heat: Giddy Up followed by LIIFT4: Legs as I took yesterday off as a rest day. Also for full disclosure, Wednesday’s workout was only 20 minutes of the 30-minute workout (because the wifi in the house blinked out and then reset itself—and I wasn’t in the mood to do the entire program again or try to get it back to where it was). But I have managed to do a workout basically daily—which is a lot better than what I’ve managed to get done the past couple of weeks. I’m also starting back a little light on the weights and hopefully working my way back up to where I was when I finished my first round of LIIFT4—my NSV goal is to be able to do bicep curls with 14-20 pound weights.

In terms of no sweets at work—I managed to go three out of five days (60%) of not getting any sweets at work. I had bought coffee and breakfast on Thursday (which included a candy bar—that I ate with my lunch on Friday), and I guess I bought some candy Tuesday afternoon as well (though I had forgotten about that candy splurge). While it short of my goal of five days it is a lot better than what I’d been doing the previous couple of weeks.

In terms of hitting my step goal daily—yesterday was the day that I fell short of the goal of a minimum of 14,000 steps (I finished with 11,518; which was 82% of my daily step goal). But every other day this week I managed to get at least 14,000 steps; so even though I didn’t hit yesterday—I’m still close to my weekly goal of 98,000 (Sunday-Saturday).

So I managed to hit the goals 75% of the time—rest days are important so I’m not going to beat myself up on the fact that I took one yesterday instead of doing my workout. I also know that stress/anxiety and having a bad night sleep are usually the culprits for me going to look for sugar fix on campus during the week. Know what the triggers are is helpful—but now I need to find a different way of reacting that doesn’t include sweets or spending money.

I am also trying to get back into the routine of writing down what I eat daily (usually at the end of the day; though sometimes I remember to start my daily food journal at lunch). This is just so that I can maybe start trying to determine if certain foods are also making me feel uncomfortable and then adjust what I eat accordingly.

So my goals for the coming week in terms of fitness and nutrition, are going to be more or less the same (as I’m happy with being at about 75% for all three):

Set up the workout calendar again (LIIFT4 with either Country Heat or Yoga Booty Ballet)

Trying to avoid buying sweets on campus (this also helps with the no spend challenges)

Hitting the step goal daily (this way I can work towards my monthly and yearly step goals).

In terms of my finances—I realize that I’m going to be 39 this year, which means that I should be thinking about making sure that I have enough money when I retire (in basically 25-30 years; or possibly sooner if I can swing it). Currently my finances are okay (mainly because I’m living at home and have very few monthly expenses).

Finance goals–broad, but currently better than not having any.

I have managed to get my credit debt back to down to basically zero from the astronomically high amount that I owed when I moved back home six years ago. I probably could have had it paid off sooner, but I was also trying to build my savings account back up at the same time.

By the end of twelve months I would like to hopefully have my savings up another 10-15K (or at least steady—which means having saved hopefully an additional 6-8K to cover any moving expenses for when I get an new job and have to move out of Oklahoma). I always want to start getting my retirement account a little higher (which means having some money set aside that I can put into another type of retirement account that is separate from my current one).

My goals for this week were:

Fill in my money log for the first part of the month (I know that I’d spent money during the first part of the month—but I didn’t fill in the sheets; so I need to have gotten that done).

No spending money at work.

Check all credit card accounts and readjust my monthly budget accordingly.

So how did I do with each one?

I filled in my monthly money tracker. This was more of trying to keep track of money spent on campus—so there were one or two things that I had forgotten to put on it (like the e-book that I bought or the two journals that I’d bought for note taking).

I did spend a little money on campus this week—two out of the five days (but that is one day better than the week before where I spent money three out of five days).

I’ve done my credit check, and my monthly budget that I set up is looking like it is still good—I’ll probably readjust it after the next biweekly paycheck comes in so that I can set up for my May budget.

One thing that I will be doing is making a list of monthly re-occurring fees and looking to see which ones I might cancel. I know that I do support a couple of non-profits via monthly donations that I charge to a credit card; plus I have several other things that come in monthly that are charged to a credit card as well. My goal is to try to have a monthly sum (via all credit cards) of less than $750 dollars—that way it can also get paid off monthly as well (and there will be no interest charged). So we will have to see how this goes.

My goals for the coming week in terms of my finances are:

No spending any money at work (keep money log up to date).

Transfer about half a paycheck to the savings account.

Resubmit the declutter order and sell quite a few DVDs back for a little bit of money.

So overall I’m pleased with the first week’s progress for both my fitness and nutrition journey and getting my finances back on track. I realize that there may be weeks that I have a set back in both areas—but I need to remember that small setbacks are okay (and even expected)—I just need to keep moving forward and not allow them to derail me like I have in the past.

jessimatts No Comments 101 GoalsfitnessHealthPersonal Development 12monthplancheckindayatatimeweekatatimefinancegoalcheckinfitnessgoalcheckinhealthgoalcheckinselfaccountabilityslowprogressbetterthannone

Trying to get back into a workout routine

Jan

2019

So one of my goals from my 101-goal list is to make it through at least 250 days of Beachbody workouts. Now this doesn’t mean that it’s all going to be back-to-back (because you do need rest days in addition to workouts), but that I’d make sure that I’ve done at least 250 days of exercise over the next 1001 days. Yes, this does seem small when you compare the days—but if you also add in rest days, walking, and possibly biking and/or hiking come late spring & summer—you get the 1001 days. Plus, the 250 days is just the minimum, I will probably go over the total by the end of the time period.

I’ve also decided that it needs to be 250 different workouts—so it will probably be done in more than 250 days. Because if we look at what I’ve done in January—I’ve done a workout I’d say 20 out of the past 30 days—but I’ve only done 3 programs (most of my workouts have been country heat, one LIIFT4 workout & 1 combat workout). So I’d only count all that as doing 7 different workouts (as I’ve been doing all 5 of the country heat workouts). I’ve also realized that while it’s good to try to go all in on a workout—when it’s been a year or so since you’ve done the workout, you should probably dial back the intensity just a little.

Basically, on Monday I did combat 30 for the first time in probably a year or so—I love the program, but have never made it all the way through (mainly because the later two workouts are 45 minutes & an hour long—and sometimes I don’t have that amount of time during the week to do a workout; 45 minutes I can almost squeak in—the full hour workout not so much). I slept really well Monday night, and didn’t feel all that sore for most of the day—but around 3 or so yesterday afternoon, my back and legs decided to remind me exactly what I did on Monday. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been this stiff and sore (I’m hoping the acupuncture mat helped relieve some of the stiffness, but I still took today as a “rest” day–though I walked a good 45+ minutes on campus today), and I’ve realize that I’m going to have to start a little slower than I want—but since it’s been about two or three months since my last consistent workout schedule, I really shouldn’t be surprised.

So I think that I’m going to have work in some Pilates or yoga for awhile to help stretch out the muscles before I jump back into any hard core cardio. One goal is to see if I can make it through all of the workouts that I have on DVD from Beachbody before starting on the ones that are solely available via the online streaming platform. Also for the programs that are pushing the hour time limit–they will be done on the weekends, when I have that time to spare.

jessimatts No Comments 101 GoalsfitnessFitness ChallengesPersonal Development 101goalsupdatebabystepsbacktofitnessbeachbodyworkoutsFitnessChallengefitnessupdate

Revised 101 Goal List

Jan

2019

So I’ve decided that since the past couple of months haven’t been the best (and that is an understatement especially for the month of October), that I’d revise my 101 goals list and slightly “restart” it. This isn’t to say that I’m making a new list—I’m just going to go through and revise, reorder, and possibly remove some of the goals that I actually may not accomplish (because lets be honest—I don’t see myself taking up jogging any time soon).

So my original start and finish dates were:

Start Date: January 1 2018

Finish Date: September 28 2020

My new start and finish dates:

Start Date: January 1, 2019

Finish Date: September 28, 2021

Here are my 101+ goals for the next 1001 days (random and non-grouped):

Transition into a biotech or biopharma company as a research scientist
Become fluent in Spanish
Become fluent in German
Learn to program (R and maybe python)
Visit at least three new countries (0/3)
Finish the various other e-course bundles that I bought (list out later)
Move to a new(ish) city for #1
Make it through at least 250 days of beachbody workouts (share before/after or calendars; method of accountability still to be determined.) (0/250)
Paint & frame at least one original painting (0/1)
Finish the Dream Job Hack program
Finish the Youtube for bosses course
Finish the Youtube course creation for bosses course
Launch a youtube channel
Launch a online course
Get blog traffic to 500+ views/day
Publish 5-10 scientific blog posts (0/10)
Practice more photography (1-2 posts a week)
Get instagram followers to 800+
Showcase crafts on blog (afghans, artwork, jewelry)
Learn to make my own jewelry
Re-pierce my ears
Finish at least 200 personal/professional development books (and post reviews) (20/200; though I’ve only written & posted book reviews for 8 of those)
Interact more on Linkedin (actually network with connections) (at least 4 a week) (0/140)
Reach at least 14,014,000 steps (0/14,014,000); though if I add in the steps from 2018—this could actually be closer to 20,000,000 steps (it would actually be 19,124,000 steps. I’m currently at: 5,292,617/19,124,000 steps).
Visit at least one new national (or state) park (0/1). Technically I’ve done this with the visit to New Mexico last spring (but I want to try to go to another one).
Visit at least one new national (or state) monument (0/1). Again, technically I’ve done this one with the visit to New Mexico last spring. But I want to try to go to another one.
5 pushups on toes (0/5)
10 pushups on toes (0/10)
Fly/land at least 3 new airports
Visit one new city & state (US) (0/1; 0/1). Have visited Roswell NM last spring.
Go to one or more scientific conferences (0/1)
Go to a blogging conference (0/1)
See the Northern Lights
Present at a scientific conference (0/1)
Post free monthly challenges in facebook groups
Write (or start) a book
Complete a 365 day photography challenge (0/365)
Learn to cross-stitch
Reach 400+ followers on pintrest
Reach 1000+ followers on twitter
Publish at least two blog series (0/2)
Mediate at least 5 minutes a day (0/1001)
No extra snacks at work (i.e. no hitting the coffee shop for cookies in the morning)
Declutter the movies in the house
Create an editorial calendar for blog (0/33)
Credit card debt down to less than $500 a month (and getting paid off monthly in full)
Monthly budget (plus list of monthly recurring charges on credit cards) (0/33)
Learn to give mani/pedi and give myself one a month (0/33)
Get a new sewing machine and make a new quilt for bed
Make my new moon & full moon goals (0/66)
Buy a new couch and chair for my living room
Buy a new dresser for my bedroom
Buy a new mattress & box-spring for my bed
Buy a new TV & stand for living room
Reorganize my storage unit
Buy fabric & foam and make new cushions for rocking chair
Create a posting schedule (editorial calendar) for facebook pages (0/66)
Generate at least three months of memes for facebook pages (0/3)
Create posting schedule (editorial calendar) for instagram (0/33)
Learn to use photoshop for memes & posts
Make a 30 day Zumba schedule & stick with it (0/30)
Visit one or more new zoos (0/1)
Visit one or more new aquariums (0/1)
Make a top 10 favorite author list (for different genera; romance, fantasy/sci-fi, mystery/thriller, non-fiction) for blog
Write and share at least two posts on linkedin every two months (0/32)
Ask for endorsements from 6 well known connections on linkedin (0/6)
Endorse 3 to 5 people on linkedin every four months (0/40)
Renew professional memberships (0/6)
Get into the “best shape” of my life
Finish reading books on scientific writing (review and post) (0/7)
Take a multivitamin & supplements daily (0/1001)
Design a logo for my blog/website
Finish 3 hidden object games without using hints, or the strategy guide
Go to a author-reader conference and meet authors
Write in journal daily (0/1001)
Complete my book of Sudoku puzzles (minus the ones crossed out)
Drink 70 oz of water a day (0/1001)
Color in two coloring books (0/2) (pictures on blog/instagram)
Knit another afghan (diamond pattern)
Watch all the episodes of Hawaii 5-0
Go to at least 2 professional networking events (0/2)
Update Linkedin profile (0/2)
Watch all the episodes of Grimm
Design a science based board game
Hold a two minute plank (on forearms)
Hold a 90 second plank (full)
Go at least one weekend a month without social media (0/33)
Create (and update) a vision board
Create my own altar (wiccan/pagan)
Learn basic sign language
Create job searching/networking editorial calendar (0/12)
Get an additional external hard drive to back up the laptop & external DVD drive for installing printer program on laptop
Create my own coffee table photography book
Touch base with friends that I haven’t talked to lately
Savings up another 20K (0/20K)
Get at least three plants and keep them alive (0/3)
Stretch daily (0/1001)
Watch all the episodes of The Librarians
Watch all the episodes of Once Upon A Time
Get Fit with Jessi to 1000+ likes
Get BecomingJessi to 1000+ likes

The list will be update periodically (either with a link to the blog post covering said goal, crossed out, or dated and crossed out). The only goals that in theory will be “starting over” on are the ones that have specific number of days (such as taking vitamins, writing in my journal, drinking water daily), as these are some of the tasks that I’ve really fallen behind on this year.

jessimatts No Comments 101 GoalsPersonal DevelopmentPhotographyprofessional development 101goals2019to2021goalspersonaldevelopmentprofessionaldevelopmentupdated101goals

Starting to organize the storage unit

Jul

2018

Well I finally managed to work up both the energy and the nerve to start dealing with my storage unit this week. I’ve had the unit for basically five and a half years now (since I moved home from Boston at the end of 2012), and realized that I really, really needed to get it somewhat organized. It is nice to have something else semi-checked off my 101+ goal list.

The organization was needed badly, because when the movers unpacked everything for me—they didn’t put in the unit correctly—all the boxes were more or less behind larger pieces of furniture (or mattresses) and were unreachable. See the above and below pictures.

So I spent a good solid two hours Thursday morning rearranging the unit (and my shoulders are still extremely sore from the lifting and carrying that I did). I had planned on only dealing with part of it Thursday, and then finishing it up on Friday—but realized that I couldn’t leave boxes in the middle of the mini hall in the storage unit (doing that would have probably resulted in either boxes being thrown out or stolen) and I wasn’t going to just cram them back in to the unit.

So during the two hours—I managed to get things reorganized. The mattress and box spring are against the side of the unit (instead of in the front). Then the bookcase was pushed back against the back (though I probably can still reorganize things to where the bookcase is totally against the back and boxes can be placed at least on the bottom shelf). Then I more or less have all the boxes in the front of the unit. I still need to get a lot of boxes so that I can spend another couple of hours (probably across several days) repacking things. I wasn’t that surprised when I saw how many boxes were falling apart or were caving in—all of the boxes had been acquired before moving out to Boston (so they’re all about eight years old), and if they’ve just started falling apart—its nice to know that they have about an eight year life span (though it could be a little less, since I wasn’t getting into it constantly).

Once boxes are repacked, there will be even a little more room for other boxes (and some furniture and/or bikes) from the house to also be placed within the unit.

It was nice to see that 1) I could actually stand within the unit and still have space for boxes, and 2) I have the small foot stool/ottoman down so that when I do need to repack things I have something to sit on. Yes, the kitty condo is leaning–but I think that is because there is a loose screw between the top house and the bottom portion.

So my next goal with the storage unit is to repack boxes, and also to maybe get rid of a few things that I probably don’t really need anymore. One thing I noticed was that I still have years worth of birding articles in the unit (since I do enjoy bird watching and reading bird articles; though I haven’t been saving the ones from the newspaper lately)—but unless I buy another photo album to make into a birding scrapbook—there really isn’t any point in saving the articles—they’d just wind up in the trash sooner or later. I have decided that I’m going to try and start limiting the amount of things I own and collect. Having collections are great, until you have to move them to the next place. While I know it will probably never happen—I’d like to get my belongings to a small enough number that if I just wanted to start traveling the country or world, it wouldn’t cost me a fortune in storage fees to house them somewhere.

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Second Quarter Update on 101+ Goals

Jul

2018

So I thought of just cutting and pasting in my 101+ goals again with the “newer” notes added to it. But then decided that having two or more extremely wordy posts getting posted might be pushing it for the day. So I’m going to just post what’s been going on this second quarter in terms of meeting some of the goals. There are now only 820 days left in the challenge, and what I’ve gotten checked off the list includes:

Finishing up the modules for two programs that I’m in within another group (these are to help transition into an industry position).

I’ve visited one new national park:

Had gone to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico last month. It was a great experience, but next time I go–I want to be in better shape so that I might go on one of the guided tours, which goes into other caves. The self guided tour is only in the main cavern (which is still like a round 2 mile hike). Also visited a new national monument (White Sands) and a new wildlife refuge (Bitter Lake), both of which were also in New Mexico. So while I had list one new state or national park–I’ve met the goal, but would still like to see more (both state and national) over the next couple of years). Also with the trip to New Mexico, visited a new city: Roswell.

I loved the UFO museum.

I got a new camera, which I used to take numerous pictures both in New Mexico and since I’ve been home. Its nice having two (well technically three if you count the cell phone) cameras for photography–you don’t have to worry quite as much about how much memory you have when you’re out and about. You can take as many pictures as you want, then if any look bad once you get home, you can delete them.

I created my digital vision board:

Which is serving as the background for my laptop. It’s reminding me of the more critical things that I need to be focusing on right now: my transition into industry, and getting into shape. Everything else can be accomplished once I have managed those two things. My current position is a dead end position with no possibility of advancement, and I need to get into better physical condition if I want to be able to do different outdoor activities.

Other things I have also managed to get done:

Cleaning up my desk (and trying to keep it straightened), and thinning out the monkey grass around the maple tree in the front yard (it doesn’t look that bad anymore).

So I have about six things that can be checked off as done (where I’ve at least reached the minimum of one). There are other things that I won’t know the final tally of until the end of the challenge (the total days of: taking my vitamins daily, drinking 70oz or more water daily, meditation, journaling, things like that). Other things will be able to be checked off once they’re completed. So it will be interesting to see over the course of this third quarter of 2018, how many other things I can get accomplished.

jessimatts No Comments 101 GoalsFitness ChallengesHealthPersonal Developmentprofessional development 101goalsIwanttotravelmorepersonaldevelopmentprofessionaldevelopmentquarterlycheckin