2019 Goal Reflection and 2020 Goal Setting

We have a few blog posts in the hopper right now, but since we are already two weeks into 2020, we wanted to get a goal reflection and setting post out of the gate first. The reflection part is not super interesting, TBH, but we are humans that fail, and we like to be accountable and honest about what isn’t working for us.

Fitness

Workout 3x for 30+ min a week
Improve our 10k goal times: Alli (sub 52) Dylan (sub 47).
Run, hike, bike, and speed walk for a total of 350 miles in 2019

We did well with this goal. While we didn’t run a second 10k, we did run a half marathon in August, and both PR’d by several minutes. With our December trip in Argentina, we ended with more than 350 intentional miles – Alli: 405 miles Dylan: 370 miles

Mental Health –Yoga 2x a week

We did OK here. We just weren’t super consistent… some weeks we practiced yoga 4 times, and others zero (especially traveling weeks).

Relationship –Have 1 special/creative date night a month

We really failed at this. We did some special things, but we were never intentional about this goal.

Technology – Daily average phone time below 1 hour/day

We fell off the boat with tracking our use each week. However, we really didn’t use our phones that much – probably because our internet was not super functional. We also didn’t bring phones into our bedroom at all, which we definitely want to keep as a best practice.

Environment – Inventory plastics at end of each month & use ecobricks

We did not inventory our plastics at all. But we did put them in ecobricks, and definitely did a good job of not using plastic bags, and buying in bulk. Going back to the states, we will want to have more specific goals around consumption, but our Paraguayan life makes it pretty easy to use less.

Culture & Art – Photo challenge 2x per month & read in Spanish for 15 mins, 3x a week

We really failed on the photography goal, guess that one wasn’t meant to be. But we kept up with reading in Spanish, and both scored in the advanced level on our oral language exams. We still have 5 months in South America, and definitely want to keep up with this goal!

Social connection –Visit someone in the community 1x per week

Yep.

Peace Corps –Start and finish year 2 strong & 1 blog post/2 weeks

Check – still here after finishing 2 years. Blog… not so much, but we’re still trying, so that counts for something, right?

One Month Challenges

1 month of no alcohol – did this one twice.
1 month of 1 mile run a day – check.
1 month of yoga every day – kiiiind of. Started a few times and got into the 20s, but traveling weeks always threw us off.
1 month without refined sugar – didn’t even try to do this one. We like sugar.

And now moving on to this year. We are of the belief that any time of year is a good time to make a resolution, but for us, the start of a new year feels like a natural time to reflect and put forth some of our intentions for the next turn around the sun. This year, we decided to set goals for just January through June. We will be making the transition back to the United States in mid-June, and with so much uncertainty around our next steps, we want to be sure we are being realistic and fair to ourselves. Also, we know that many goals will look different once we are stateside. Some of our professional goals are not as outlined, because we are still talking with our Peace Corps supervisors and municipality counterparts to see what the parameters of this work will be. For these 6 months, we are downsizing both the number and scope of our goals. We have a very limited time in the Chaco, and we want to be sure that we are being intentional with our time and efforts. We also recognize that we are guests in this country, and that we still have much to learn. We want to be present, and fully live in this unique opportunity.

PROFESSIONAL
- Identify 3-5 potential host families for Peace Corps, as well as 3-5 additional work contacts outside of the municipality
- Community Needs Assessment-related work
- Run an eco-club in partnership with our neighborhood school
- Be active learners in all municipality initiatives and participate where appropriate
- Complete 3 sessions/week of 20+ minutes to practice professional Spanish
- Update resumes, LinkedIn, and USA Jobs by beginning of March
PERSONAL
- Health
  - No phone Sundays (except for family calls)
  - Wear sunscreen and bug spray
  - Strength workouts 3x/week
  - Practice yoga 3x/week
- Civic
  - Vote in CO primary March 3^rd
  - Listen to podcasts such as “Up First” from NPR to stay current with US/world news 5x/week
  - Continue to use as few plastics as possible, and use eco-bricks for trash management
- Relationships
  - Properly say goodbyes in Yatytay in June
  - Continue to work on family tree project
  - Weekly video calls with family in US, and continue to exchange WhatsApp voice messages with friends in US and Paraguay

We are putting a copy of these goals up on our fridge, to have a gentle daily reminder of what we are committed to in these months.

We hope that you all got to spend meaningful time with loved ones during the holidays, and that this new year (and new decade) brings growth, positivity, and reflection.