Mid Year Review of 2008 Goals

It feels like just yesterday when I sat down to write out my 2008 goals at the beginning of the year. With June ending in just a few hours, it felt that it was time for me to take a step back and look at how much progress I’ve made to date to achieve my goals. As those of you who are familiar with the goal setting process that they always preach about in those corporate trainings, no goal is of any use if it is not reviewed for any necessary adjustment required to accomplish it within the stipulated time. Apply the same process to your personal goals and you definitely would reap the same rewards and sense of accomplishments at the end of the year.

Travel to at least 2 different destinations

I’m already half way to completing this goal as I’ve already went on my Indonesia trip back in April. I’ve also already made plans to travel again in November to Cambodia to visit the Angkor Wat temples there. The plan would have me traveling with a group of people in a guided tour which would cover the highlights of what the country has to offer. I’ve mostly have been traveling by myself so it would definitely be a different experience to travel in a tour group. At least I would be going with at least one other person who I know so it would be all unfamiliar faces for me.

I still want to get in some beach or island time before the end of the year. Haven’t really had a chance to plan any local excursions yet. I have to say that I’m just itching to get back to Perhentians but with so many islands in Malaysia that I have not visited yet, why limit myself to only one. Definitely will be looking at possibly Tioman or Pangkor for an island excursion soon.

Update my wardrobe

I can safely tick this goal from my list as completed!

Part of my major clean up earlier this year was to pack up all the clothes that I have been hoarding for more than 2 years. It took me about 2 days of sorting out them out and I ended up with about 5 black garbage bags full of clothes that I no longer needed to donate to a local charity. Once that was done, I had an empty wardrobe to fill again with new clothes which of course I was excited about. For someone with not much fashion sense, I definitely have a mild obsession about going shopping to buy clothes even sometimes when I don’t really need it.

Thanks to the time I spent at the gym, I can now buy clothes that better fit me right off the racks at the stores. Not only do they fit better but I get to try out some clothing options that I would never dreamed of trying back when I was more overweight that I am now. There is a reason why they say that clothes makes the man and I am definitely relishing the freedom to be able to try them out now.

Be more physically active

I initially planned to include some time for hiking and futsal this year to complement the time I spend at the gym. While I did have a chance to do 1 hiking trip earlier this year, I have yet to get myself to a futsal game with my ex-schoolmates. With the amount of time I already spend at the gym, it’s hard to see the need to especially when I could only do them on my gym off days when I actually should be resting.

Still, it’s a goal that I currently think that is still worthy to be included in my plans for 2008. I guess I just have to seek out more opportunities to partake in outdoor activities rather than restrict myself at the gym.

Enhance my gym experience

If it has not been clear in my blog entries from the past months, most of my daily routine this year has been focused around gym and fitness. I’ve been called out as being obsessed by it and I admit at a certain level I guess I am. How else can I explain the unfailing need to arrange my social life around my gym hours and how I look forward to go to the gym more than I do to go to my day job. I fairly aware that I may be getting hooked on the endorphin rush that I get from working out since I’m always restless on the days that I don’t go. The gym has now become my prefered outlet for me to let go of my frustrations both from my personal and professional life.

The goal for 2008 was for me to join in one of the classes provided by the gym and to work out using more free weights. I happy to document that I have accomplished both of these goals. Once I got over the initial reluctance to work out in a group of strangers, I started to attend the spinning class that they have at my gym. I am now up to between 3-4 spinning classes a week depending if I was around in Sunway to go to the gym. The classes was surprisingly easy to get used to and the fact that I come out of it sweating buckets gave me a visible measure of accomplishment that I needed.

Since I always start my gym sessions with the hour long spinning class, I had only ½ hour left to do my weight training. Thanks to what I learned in my PT sessions, I am now able to cobble together a training plan using free weights that I’m currently on. I guess that eventually I would need to push myself more with the training plan but for the time being, it’s good that I could now work with more free weights.

Get my drivers license

Of all the goals that I’ve set for 2008, this is the one that is still the most elusive. I have no excuse for not doing anything to accomplish this goal in the past 6 months. I have no excuse to not put in the effort for the next 6 months to finally get my drivers license!

And that’s all, folks. Reviewed all of my 2008 goals and I think now I have a clearer picture of what I need to do for the rest of the year to accomplish those that I have not completed. You may want to do the same for your own goals if you have some that you set at the beginning of this year. It is always a nice thing to be able to feel a sense of accomplishment in what you have achieved to date.