The New Year’s is a time when many make resolutions to better themselves in the coming year with hope and positivity, so I figured that I better get in on some of the positive vibes and share some of my goals for 2018.

To make a New Year’s Resolution more than mere wishing, you must be willing to put in the work and put in steps in order to accomplish your goals, create habits that will make them achievable, and implement ways to check your progress on those goals.

 

I had already made a list of short term and long term goals that I wanted to pursue in the future, so this will be a look at some of these goals and why I want to pursue them, and how I’m doing on these goals so far. I’ve omitted some goals that are more personal, but these Fitness and Professional goals are where a lot of my effort will be directed.

 

Goals: June 12, 2017

 

Fitness Goals

1-5 years:

Run a marathon

-Running a marathon has always been on my long-term goal list but since I’ve stopped loving running as much as I used to, it’s been quite way sided. Still, I really want to be able to say I’ve done this, so while this goal is a bit ambitious considering I haven’t run consistently in the past 6 years and the passion isn’t quite there, I’ve moved it up to my short term goals. While in China, I won’t be training, so it’s realistically more a goal that will be 2-5 years out instead of 1-5. Specifically, I’ll start running light 8-9 months out and gradually increase my mileage so that I’ll be able to acclimate to running again. I assume there will be times I’ll have to walk over the course of 26.2 miles (especially since my arches probably won’t be able to continue running all the way). It’ll be a long process, but if I eat right and stick to my program, it should be a doable goal.

 

Complete a triathlon

-A triathlon is another thing that was on my long term goal list that I wanted to move up. The prospect of using the 2 of the physical activities I’ve spent the most time doing (running and swimming) is pretty appealing to me, and I definitely want to see how far I can push my body in this race. While in China, I won’t be training, so it’s realistically more a goal that will be 2-5 years out instead of 1-5.

 

Do another Spartan Sprint

-The Spartan Sprint I did in 2016 was surprisingly fun (and painful). I want to another one with more than a little than 0 training this time around. The goal here is completion, but also to not have to recover for a month straight.

 

100 Pushups/sit-ups every weekday

-This goal is important to me because without this goal, I would be doing very little exercise right now. This challenge has kept my body moving and has definitely fought off the urge to become sedimentary, so I’m trying to continue this routine. In the future, if I buy gym membership, I’ll adjust the goal to reflect that.

 

5-10 years:

Stay healthy physically (Maintain exercise routine/basketball/swim)

                -As we get farther out into the future, it gets a little more difficult to define exactly what you want to do and how you want to do it, but I know that I want to be fit enough to travel, explore, play, and be able to say ‘I’m down’ if someone asks me to do something. The how is in the goal itself; spending time moving my body and occasionally pushing it to its limit should help me to stay healthy enough to do what I want to do in life.

 

Half Iron Man or a more difficult Spartan Race

-Amping it up from a marathon, but I will evaluate whether or not this is something I want to accomplish after I complete the marathon.

 

Professional

1-5 years:

50-70K a year salary

-Financial stability is something that’s important in the sense that it will allow me to do more things that I want to do and do more for others as well. This is the baseline number that I believe will help me accomplish those two things. To do that, I plan to:

 

Get back into advertising

                -Advertising is the industry that I believe interests me the most, and where I’ve developed the most professional skills for. I know that I want to work in this space, and advertising can offer professional growth paths that compensate within the salary range above. Above all, I want to do my work with clear purpose and dedication, so re-entering the industry will be my first step on that path.

 

Maintain a professional motivation to improve and rise- Keep learning and growing

                -Goals about motivation and mindset are really fickle because there are days when I just don’t want to get out of bed and others where I feel like jumping out of it and doing something. What this goal really means is that I need to develop and maintain professional work habits that are conducive to learning and growth to continue moving forward- regardless of how motivated I feel that day. At the same time, I need to make sure that I’m not sacrificing other areas of my life for the sake of my ambition. To check this, I’ll need to take time to self-reflect periodically to maintain my balance.

 

Find some area I’m extremely passionate about

-Within advertising, there really isn’t a more specific picture I have for my career. Defining my professional role, what industry I want to work in, and what exactly fuels my fire will be challenges I want to address head on in the coming years.

 

5-10 years:

60-100K a year

                -The next level up- with growing and developing as a professional, increasing my salary will help me to accomplish more things that I want to do in my life.

 

Moving into management and leadership roles and becoming more sure of what I want to do

 

Keep learning and growing day by day [Same as maintaining professional motivation]

 

Have a concrete path I can choose to go down

-Professionally, it’s always a little unclear what the next step forward will be, but I’m hoping to put a little more planning behind my career moves down the line, and be strategic in how I specialize in the broad field that is advertising and marketing.

 

Experiences:

These are places I want to see, things I want to do, and experiences that are high on my wish list. I want to accomplish these things simply because they are things I find interesting or fun. Travel and food will be a large part of this list.

 

1-5 years:

-China

-Beijing/ Great Wall

-Xi’an

-Hong Kong

-Korea

-Japan

-The Killers/Blink-182/Chance the Rapper

 

 

5-10 years:

-More of Asia (SEA, the other three again, etc)

-Australia

-Paris again

-Italy

-Amsterdam

-Genuine Kobe Beef

-Jiro’s Sushi

-Michelin star Unagi

Personal:

I’ve gone back and forth whether or not to include personal goals on a public blog, but they’re important to how I make decisions in other areas of my life, and I think a big part of the person I’m aiming to become, so I’ve decided to include some of them.

 

1-5 years:

-Stay close to my friends/visit when possible

-Practice mindfulness and appreciate moments as they come

-See/eat/discover as many things as I can

-Take care of my hygiene and style

-Stay positive

-Develop Mandarin/Japanese language skills as much as possible

 

5-10 years:

-Think about settling down in one place

-Consider starting a family

-Be generous to my parents and give back

-Stay positive

-Keep traveling when possible

-Master Mandarin/Japanese language as much as possible

-Write a novel/short story

 

 

 

Evaluating My Progress

As you may have noticed, some goals are ‘unachievable’ in the sense that they are continuous or things I’m already doing and want to keep doing. Still, they’re important to me, and not having them listed as a goal doesn’t feel right so if I keep doing those things by next check, I’ll count it as a win in my books. Things I’ve accomplished will be crossed out below.

 

As of: January, 2018

Fitness

1-5 years:

-Run a marathon

-Triathlon

-Another Spartan Sprint

-100 push ups/sit-ups every weekday

Added:

-Handstands every day for 1 year

A challenge that I’ve started with a friend for 2018. Another way to improve the way I use my body + it’s fun.

-Keep practicing yoga

I started practicing yoga about three months ago. It helps me improve my flexibility, gives me space to clear my head, and helps with my mindfulness goal. I’ll write more on my experience with yoga some time in the future, but it’s been a very positive discovery for me.

 

5-10 years:

-Stay healthy physically (maintain exercise/basketball/swim)

-Half Iron Man or next level Spartan Race

 

Professional

1-5 years:

-50-70K a year position

-Get back into advertising

-Maintain a professional motivation to improve and rise; keep learning and growing

-Find some area I’m extremely passionate about

I’ve made a lot of progress in this area. I know that I ultimately want to work in an industry/space that directly helps others or the environment. Cause marketing for nonprofits or advertising for solar/alternative energy seem like really appealing options to me. Something that also interests me a lot is sustainability/ethics in food. Working for organizations devoted to these causes would be a very fulfilling place for me to end up.

 

5-10 years:

-60-100K a year

-Moving into management and leadership roles and becoming more sure of what I want to do.

-Keep learning and growing day by day.

-Have a concrete path I can choose to go down.

Personal

1-5 years:

-Stay close to my friends/visit when possible

-Practice mindfulness and appreciate moments as they come

-Take Care of my hygiene/style

-Stay positive

-Develop Mandarin/Japanese language as much as possible

 

5-10 years:

-Think about settling down in one place

-Consider starting a family

-Be generous to my parents and give back

-Stay positive

-Keep traveling when possible

-Master Mandarin/Japanese language as much as possible

-Write a novel

Experiences:

1-5 years:

-China

See the rest of my blog for more on my time here.

-Beijing/ Great Wall

https://dylankainoalee.com/2017/10/16/the-wall-in-the-north/

https://dylankainoalee.com/2017/10/08/the-capital/

-Xi’an

I’ll likely be going to Xi’an for the Chinese New Year’s break.

-Hong Kong

https://dylankainoalee.com/2017/12/27/hong-kong/

-Korea

-Japan

-The Killers/Blink-182/Chance the Rapper

 

 

5-10 years:

-More of Asia (SEA, the other three again, etc)

Going to Bali, Indonesia in Feburary, so I’m ahead of schedule in terms of seeing SEA, since it wasn’t in my initial plans for my year in China, but I’m grateful that I’ll be going.

Adding:

-Phillipines

-Thailand

-Malaysia

-Singapore

-Australia

-Paris again

-Italy

-Amsterdam

-Genuine Kobe Beef

-Jiro’s Sushi

-Michelin star Unagi