I've been struggling to figure out what I want to write for my "goals" post this year. Almost every year since I've had this blog, I've written some sort of post talking about what I hope to accomplish, but this year I'm just really drawing a blank.

It's not because I don't have goals for the year. I definitely do. It's just that they aren't really big or fancy or anything all that impressive.

In the last year or so, I've realized with grad school taking up a very large chunk of my time and energy, that I don't have a lot of extra hours to dedicate to tackling big, hairy audacious goals.

And it's the BHAGs that usually make for good blog posts.

I wasn't sure my smaller, less ambitious goals for the year would be really worth sharing, but then I saw this picture that my friend Adam shared on Facebook.



It sort of nicely summed up the way I was breaking down some of my goals and helped me organize them in my mind enough to come up with a format for sharing them coherently. So without further ado, here's what I want to work on in 2016. 

Physical



Find a workout schedule that works with grad school. Ever since I started grad school I feel like my workouts have been seriously in flux. My running hasn't improved in the last 1.5 years. I mean it hasn't drastically declined either. It's more just plateaued (more on this in a later post). I want to find a mix of workouts that fits in my schedule, lets me blow off stress and keeps me in decent shape. I have big running goals for when I finish grad school, but for this year, I just want to embrace a schedule that works for me, keeps a strong fitness base and let's me race when I want to.

Yoga at least once a week. Part of that schedule that I figure out has to include at least one yoga class per week. Ever since Megan and I started doing yoga regularly right before Thanksgiving, I've noticed a major improvement in my stress and anxiety levels, plus I'm finding all these new little muscles popping up in places from some of the poses.

Financial


I have two things I want to work on in the financial realm.

The first is to reign in some of my discretionary spending. I'm pretty meticulous with my budget, but in the last half of 2015, I just got really lazy. I didn't do anything irresponsible like wrack up a bunch of credit card debt, I just spent a little more on some silly things than necessary. If you saw how much money I spent on Uber in the month of December, you'd probably want to cry. (Or at least I wanted to cry when I saw the numbers). So goal number one is to dial back my spending on some of the little luxuries that I indulged in too much in 2015 like Uber and buying lunch literally every day at work.

Goal number two is to start saving more for retirement. I read an article recently talking about what percentage of your salary you should be putting toward retirement savings by the time you're 35. I have a bit to go until I reach that number, so I want to start incrementally putting a little more toward retirement savings each year so that I can hit the number the experts recommend by the time I'm 35.

Mental



Read more books that will actually make me learn things. I read a ton as it, and in general I read a lot of fiction books, but lately I've been on a bit of a nonfiction/historical fiction kick. I want to expand on that more in 2016. My boss knows I love to read and actually sent me a list of 33 business books to read before you turn 30. I'd like to try to knock out that list before my 30th birthday this summer. If I can't get through them by August, then I'd like to knock them out by the end of the calendar year. I've already read some, so I think it's probably doable.

Social


Take more advantage of all the things there are to do in this city. I live in a great city with so much going on all the time, but I feel like sometimes I take all that for granted. I have a friend who is only going to be in DC for one more year, and he is actively trying to cram in all the DC experiences he can. So I want to take a page out of his book and embrace this city more. Several of my friends have said they want to do this too, so that should make it even more fun. My goal is to try one new thing each month. Even with grad school, I think that should be manageable.

Travel more, ideally with friends, but don't blow my budget to do it. JetBlue literally sends me an email every week with cheap flights to all sorts of places I've never been. I want to see more of the world/country this year. That doesn't mean I always have to jump on a plane, there are plenty of drivable day trips that I'd like to make happen too.

Spiritual



Find more time to be mindful of and grateful for what I have in life. I'm pretty blessed to have a largely happy life. Good friends, wonderful family, a job I'm passionate about, a roof over my head and the ability to put food on the table. So my goal this year is to be more mindful of those things and grateful for the small happy things that happen each day.

So there you have it. Those are the things I'm hoping to work on and accomplish in 2016. Nothing too big, nothing too crazy, just a few things that I think will help me grow as a person this year.

Do you do the goals/resolutions thing? What are you working on in 2016?