Make smaller, more manageable, short-term goals

Part of the reason I was gone from 43 Things for so long (despite how fun it is) is that while I liked most of the goals on my list, I changed quite a lot from the person I was who first put them there. Some of them I do not want to do anymore, but they are such nice goals that it seems wrong to give up on them. Some of them were simply too open-ended. And some I still want to do, but I have given in to the fact that they will not happen for a long time, due to monetary/time/opportunistic/mobility restraints.

Here are the ones I weeded that will never come back:
Start a movement (for there are many worthy ones already in existence; why spread my energy too thin?)
Clean my room weekly (I’m just not that sort of person, it seems)
Kiss a stranger (fun in theory, stressful to carry out)
Learn to cook Indian food (maybe, in the faaaaaarr future I will have time and opportunity to do this)
Read The Princess Bride (I started to do this and was very unimpressed)

Weeded goals that will come back when I gain money/time/mobility-as is, I am not at a place in my life where I can do these things:
White water raft the Colorado River at the Grand Canyon
Take a road trip across Australia
Attend the Burning Man festival
Be a Big Sister (for the Boys and Girls Club)

Weeded goals that will come back when the opportunity presents itself:
See Hamlet performed live
See Oedipus Rex again
See a ghost
Take a philosophy class (unlikely to happen, but one never knows)

Activism goals that I wish I had more energy for:
Call my representatives at least once a month (at the moment I hover at about once every two months)
Send one snail-mail letter a week for Amnesty International (perhaps better to do with a buddy?)
Spread transgender awareness (a goal best accomplished when it has specific campaigns in mind)

I have finally seen the light in making smaller, more managable goals. This is the most productive I have ever been in my entire life. I’m officially crossing this one off my list because this is what started all the other smaller, more lovely goals. Good luck to everyone else. <3

I’m making smaller goals daily and I am getting so much accomplished. I cannot believe I didn’t try this sooner! Since I started doing this a month or so ago I’ve managed to cut out junk food, clean up my diet, head back to the gym, keep my room clean, do my laundry regularly, and a million other things.

I have to keep this goal up. It’s changing my life for the better! <3

I always create really difficult goals so I’m going to try to break them down into smaller ones. So far, I’m doing great. I’m starting with smaller goals and working my way up. I’m keeping this goal on my list to remind myself to take it slow.

these goals seem so much closer now than they had been even three weeks ago. For instance, Canada (and the Northern Lights) are just a car trip away, and there are student groups for both Amnesty International and Planned Parenthood. I feel so much like I can accomplish more in the right environment.

So maybe that’s it: environment. Obviously it has a lot to do with everyday life and it definitely affects the achievement of goals and the types of goals one has, but much more than I thought it would. I appreciate the struggles of those who live in rural areas so much more now; even with the Internet, not all goals are achieveable without the proper environment.

Start a movement? Learn Italian? Fuck with traditional family values? These are all long-term, life-long goals, baby. I need to accomplish some of ‘em soon, yes, but I also need to feel like I am actually accomplishing something good, for me. No one can save the world, though we try. I know this. Therefore I will devote myself to improving my own world in little ways.