S14: E263 Halfway Point Goals Review for 2023

Want to set goals and go after them?  Check out the Get Your Goals Course on my website at jessicagrant.org.  For $15, you get video tutorials and access to both Google Sheets templates and a printable workbook.  You’ll learn how I’ve brainstormed, selected, planned, and gone after goals for years!  Go Get Your Goals!

Hello everyone!  It’s the halfway point of 2023.  Always blown away at how quickly the year is going by.  At this point you may be in a place where you want to reset expectations for yourself, evaluate your current goals, set some new goals and figure out where you want to focus your time, energy and attention.

I don’t believe that goal setting is ever a one and done decision.  We set goals based on what is front of us and what we hope for.  And our lives change so our goals are bound to change as well.  If you want to hear more about goal setting, I was fortunate to be a guest on the Inspiration from the Couch Podcast, where I shared ideas related to goal setting in Part I and talked about my Get Your Goals Course in Part II.  I’ll be sure to link to these episodes in the shownotes and on my website in the podcast tab.

This year I tried to really pare down my goals to focus on fewer areas.  I love to set goals related to specific areas of my life such as running, reading, creating, composing, teaching, writing, eating, and my faith.  Different periods of my life have focused on different areas and I don’t work on all of these at the same time.  But I do like to have a few goals going at the same time.  

Here are a few I’ve been working on this year and continuing to work on

Reading 52 Books:  I’ve never actually met this goal and I’ve set it for several years now.  Closest I’ve come is 40 books!  But I’m in a great place this year where I’m trying to be more purposeful in scrolling my phone less and reaching for my iPad to read on Kindle or Apple Books.  The reason for this goal is that I love learning, I find reading relaxing and it forces me to sit or lay down.  I love that I can escape into the character’s lives or learn something new related to education.

Taking a Class From Every Peloton Instructor Every Month:  I’m a little obsessed with Peloton and love all of the class options.  I do have favorite instructors, but love variety so I have set a goal this year to try to take one class from every Peloton instructor each month.  There are five minute classes that make this easy!  A few favorite ways to do this:

10x10 Challenge: Select 10-ten minute workouts to create a 100 minute workout.  I’ve only done this once so far this year, but really enjoyed it!  I stacked ten different classes (warm-up, core, low impact ride, HIIT ride, etc…) from ten different instructors.  

Follow the HCOTF Calendar as much as I can.  Sub out classes with instructors I haven’t taken.  For example, if there’s a core class scheduled with Rebecca Kennedy, but I’ve already taken a workout by her then I choose another instructor’s core workout.  I keep track of the instructor workouts in a Google Sheet.  I love spreadsheets and am dorky like that. I only take classes in English because I don’t speak the other languages.  This means there are fewer instructors to take from.

Publishing two books.  Sounds insane, but I have had two books I’ve been working on over the past year or so.  One that has been going even longer than a year and is now out on Amazon.  The interactive online version has been postponed a few times, but will be released this fall with F-Flat Books!  Another that just came out a few weeks ago that I cowrote with my friend Danielle.  My goal this year was to get them out into the world!  This was a huge goal and I’ve done it.  So exciting!!  

Creating a Capsule Wardrobe.  I’ve purchased a lot fewer clothing items this year as a result of being more purposeful in what I’m buying and what I want to buy.  I’ve been more particular about what I’m looking for and having fun building a more solid group of items that can interchange into different outfits.

What I didn’t plan for and am adjusting my goals for in the last half of the year

Role Shift: I’m making a role shift at my school from middle school music teacher to assistant head of middle school.  I’m beyond excited to help support teachers, students and our community.  It’s a huge shift!  But an exciting one.  I’m planning to make some goals related to my new position as I work to  support the Head of Middle School, discover areas of growth and need, and figure out boundaries with time and workload.

Goals I’m letting go of

There are always goals that sound amazing at the start of the year, but you realize aren’t the things that need to be focused on as the year continues.

Running 400 miles

I have spent time working out in areas unrelated to running.  And I LOVE to run.  But I haven’t had the time to do it and haven’t felt comfortable running outside in the dark before school so I’ve focused on working out in other areas like cycling, rowing, yoga, and strength.  This summer I’m hoping to do some interval training with walking and running, but not with the goal of reaching 400 miles.

Posting on Social Media regularly

I have the ‘ideal’ posting schedule for social media set up, but it requires so much content creation and I don’t have time for that.  So I’m giving up on trying to post and share in specific ways online.  I’ll do the best I can to share about music ed and life, but with the purpose of sharing when I can and not feeling like I have to meet a specific schedule.

Goals I still have, but haven’t started yet

Painting the front door

Hanging my guitar and soprano ukulele on the wall 

What are you goals this year?  What are you hoping to work on in the last half of the year?  Follow me on Instagram (@howtoteachmusicwithjessica) and share your goals!  I truly love to hear what you’re doing.