Autumn 2016 Goals Retrospective

Earlier this year I set out some goals I wanted to accomplish this autumn. I accomplished a few things and I failed others.

Exercise and Health

  1. Eat more strict LCHF for 1 month ok

  2. Train BJJ or MMA for 1 month ok

  3. 2 months of lifting at the gym ok

  4. Powerlifting

    • 100 kg deadlift 5x5 ok
    • 75 kg bench 5x5 failed
    • 85 kg squat 5x5 ok
  5. Side split with both feet besides the yoga mat failed

Hobby Projects

  1. Build a 3x3 LED cube ok
  2. Go through Programming Phoenix and Programming Elixir partly
  3. Construct a custom keyboard ok
  4. Create a usable budgeting tool on par with my currently used system failed

The only habits I successfully started was to take daily D-vitamine supplements and I went to the gym three times a week, on average.

Lessons learned

While I did accomplish a few things I did not complete them all. I failed the bench press as I overestimated how much I could take, which is understandable as I didn’t really know where my baseline were. In the future I would need to get that before throwing numbers around. I didn’t increase the side split as I never got in the habit of proper stretching, maybe because I wished to but I didn’t really want to achieve it. The hobby programming again got left behind as I just didn’t have the energy left after work to motivate myself.

I guess I will try to do something similar next year, but then be more selective of my goals and focus more on the habits, the process, than of the goals themselves. The ones I did accomplish were easier and had a clear path to victory (go train X times).

As far as the habits go I never outlined a strategy for actually starting them. It goes without saying that I would fail almost all of them. I’m currently trying to start meditating via Headspace and the strategy I have now is focus on one goal at a time and when I’ve accomplished it 21 times I consider it ingrained and I can focus on the next one.