Goals – Page 6 – Life In Limbo

Reading Challenge 2014

September 24, 2014

I feel like a broken record, but can someone please tell me how it’s September 24th? How is that possible? Does time move at warp speed as soon as you’re finished university? Don’t tell me the answer to that, I actually don’t want to know. Somehow it’s been more than 9 months since I set my goals + feelings for the year, including my reading goal for 2014. It doesn’t seem possible how quickly this year has gone by, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down either.

I’m happy to report that I’ve stuck to my reading challenge as much as was humanly possible for me this year. Having a full time job for the majority of the year put a tiny cramp in my reading style, though I do still read quite a bit. In 2013 I read 75 books, but I was travelling or working a not very demanding job for most of the year so I knew that 2014 would pose some more challenges to my reading life. But I was hopeful I could overcome them! (Sadly yes, I am that serious about my reading. You have to be if you love to read as much as I do, and if you want to read an absurd number of books every year!)

On my last post about reading, a friend left a comment asking when I read. The answer is: when I’m eating, when I have nothing to do at work, when I have a break, when I need to commute somewhere, before bed, while stretching, while brushing my teeth, and if it’s a really good book…. then when I’d normally be surfing the internet or writing. I don’t watch much TV – maybe about 3 hours per week – and messing around on the computer and reading are my two favourite pastimes so I spend a lot of time doing one of the two.

I stay accountable to my goals by religiously logging my books on Goodreads, putting books on hold through OverDrive so I always have a new exciting book to read, and of course sharing my favourites here every few months on the blog.

So where do I stand?

I’ve got 27 books to go before January 1, 2015. That number seems a tad high, especially since according to GoodReads I’m 6 books behind schedule to complete this goal. But the good news is, the challenge has already been a success for me! It always is, no matter what the outcome. I discovered some authors I love (Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Elin Hilderbrand) and read some really wonderful books. I’ll read at least 50 books this year, which feels like a major accomplishment my first year as a full time employee. It proves that I can do it, despite what all the naysayers always say (abundance 4ever!). I’m not giving up on the goal of 75, but everything from here on out feels like icing on the cake. Wish me luck!

You can read about how I read so many books for free here, and see my favourite book recommendations of 2014 so far here. You can also add me on GoodReads here, I love to see what other people are reading!

Training for a Half Marathon!

August 21, 2014

They say being held accountable makes things happen, so here I am, making it official: I will be running the Busan Half Marathon on October 5, 2014!

Or let’s put it this way: at the very least, if all goes wrong, I am running the Busan 10K on October 5th, 2014!

For whatever reason, a half marathon lately hasn’t felt like A Big Deal as much as it quite honestly should. I should be terrified or something but for whatever reason, I’m not. I’m going for the low and slow, don’t get hurt, try your best school of philosophy. I’m channeling my fave blogger, Elise (see her race reports from her two half marathons here and here) who trained but didn’t panic for one, and didn’t train as much for the second.

Barring injuries (which despite my seemingly casual attitude, I am planning to be very careful about), the very worst that happens is that I don’t finish the race, but probably run further than I ever have before and am in better shape than I am currently. The best case is that I achieve an exciting goal, run further than I ever have before and am in better shape than I am currently. I believe this is what they call a win/win.

I’ve said it before, but this is why I love goal setting so much. It inspires me to try things I’ve never tried before and push myself further. If it hadn’t been patiently sitting on my goals list for so long, slowly convincing me that running a half marathon is just as approachable as having a beautiful picnic, I’m sure I’d be panicking a lot more right now. But as it is? I’m fine, even though my app is currently angry at me for officially starting my training so late to the game.

I’m using the Coach program on my favourite app Nike+ to train for this half. It’s prescribing me about 4-5 runs a week until the race, plus a rest day and a cross training day. It’s a lot, of course, but I’m just trying my best. Already it’s been such a great motivation to know I have an official race to train for – much more so than a vague goal like “get in shape” or “run further”.

I think I’m feeling calm because I know exactly what I have to do and exactly how much time I have to do it in. Specificity rules. Also, I’m not hanging expectations on this race – ideally, I just want to finish. Stay tuned and wish me luck!

24 Before 24: My First Sale!

July 17, 2014

When I made my 24 before 24 list, I included a few things that, truthfully, I had no idea how or when I would accomplish. “Make business cards” might sound easy to do, but it becomes much harder when you don’t have any idea what your professional life is going to look like a year from now. The incredibly vague “Sell something I make” was on the list because it’s been a dream of mine to be a small business owner for a few years now, but when I wrote it down it was more of a pipe dream. I didn’t necessarily expect to accomplish it, because I had no idea what I would make, what I could sell, or how I could sell it. It was on the list because it represented a step in the direction of how I wanted my life to look. I couldn’t necessarily picture it happening, but I knew it was the kind of thing I wanted to work towards.

Well all I can say is thank goodness for goal setting. It’s the way I push myself to experience new things, work harder, and explore the world. Setting big goals and working towards them one tiny step at a time is how I end up growing as a person. Every step of the way I learn a little more. I’ve been trying to make my motto ABL: Always Be Learning.

The other night, after a rainy, so-so day, right before I went to bed, I got the above notification on my phone. I won’t be able to explain the feeling, but I’ll try: joy mixed with shock, disbelief, happiness and gratitude. I did a crazy-looking happy dance in my apartment while smiling like a fool.

This is the first time I’ve sold one of my photos, and it is one of the best feelings in the world. I joked to my friends last night “Well, that’s it! I’ve made it! Anything on top of this is bonus.” In a way I’m kidding, because I do hope the shop continues to grow, change, and continue to be successful, but on the other hand I’m not kidding. I feel very proud, and I’ve achieved something that’s worth pausing to appreciate. The sale means more to me than just earning money – it also represents that I have something to offer that others might enjoy. It means this could actually be something I could pursue in some small way. It really means so very much to me.

Thank you for your support and kind words over the last few days! I truly appreciate it. I’m on the moon!

If you haven’t yet had a chance to check out my new travel photography shop, you can see all the photos I’m offering by clicking right here.

30 Days of Handstands

July 1, 2014

I’m over on Guinea Pigging Green today sharing my thoughts on our 30 day handstand challenge. About a month ago, Laura and I challenged each other to do a handstand a day, take photos of ourselves (shameless selfies) doing so, and share them with each other. Of course, true to form, we stopped keeping track of the days pretty soon after we started and we didn’t always take a picture. I for one didn’t even do a handstand every day, and I have no idea if I did 30 days worth of handstands, let alone consecutively.

That being said, the experience was a very positive one, and I’m very happy that we decided to take on this challenge. My handstand has come a long way since the beginning of this challenge, and while I’m nowhere near my freestanding handstand goal, I’ve gotten much closer than I was before. I can now hold my handstand – on a good day – for at least 3 seconds, and that’s with good form and no wall. When I started the challenge, I had to use a wall to kick up against, but of course when you do that you get the infamous “banana back” (which just means “bad form”) and it’s not a very sustainable posture.

I’m happy to report that my form is better than ever, thanks to all the safe falling I’ve been doing. The absolute best thing for my handstand practice has been to do it outside on grass or sand. I’m lucky to live in Busan where there are beaches everywhere, since sand is probably the most forgiving surface you could find for handstand practice. It helps me not be afraid so I can tumble as many times as I need to – nowadays, that means into a wheel pose. It means that I can kick up gently into a handstand and hold it for longer because I’m not using the wall which can throw me off balance.

Another thing that’s really helped me in this journey has been to learn to breathe deeply as much as I can while upside down. I have a tendency to hold my breath as soon as I get my legs in the air, but breathing helps you regulate your balance which is something I didn’t know before I started this journey.

If you read my blog, you probably know how much I love challenges, especially short ones. This one, all things considered, was really easy but of course there were still days that I didn’t get it done. Happily, I did get it done more days than not, and ended up learning quite a bit along the way even though I still have a long way to go. I don’t know what my next short-term challenge will be, but I love the 30 day format and I’m sure I’ll be using it countless more times in the future.

You can read more of my thoughts on this challenge over at the Guinea Pigging Green blog today right here.