IMG_7088When the year became 2016 and I found myself in January I was armed with a number of goals I wanted to accomplish for the year, primarily because I had committed to thinking about what I wanted to do in 2016 months before the calendar actually turned over. Previous years I had begun this consideration right before Christmas when life felt particularly hectic and crazy, this year I begun to think, research, and dream about 2016 in November.

I contemplated a number of goals, and I am still committed to creating a 10 year vision and working backwards (a la lululemon goal setting procedure) before the end of January, I felt three goals were particularly sticky to date so I  have committed to them this year as a start.

(Side note: the first time I did the lululemon 10 year vision followed by the 1 - 3- 5 year goals I was 22; reading my vision of what my life would be like now is simply mind-blowing. While totally off about the career aspect of what I thought I'd be doing the content of the work I wanted to do is exactly what I am doing now. Creepy, and awesome. However, I missed the boat on owning a second home in Canmore at this point. Oh, well.)

1. Grow Adesso's business by 10%

The first two years of Adesso's business where shaped largely by the hustling I did - along with some good old fashioned luck, I believe - and while most business owners include growth predictions in their business plans I did not. Rookie business owner me in 2013 I'd primarily hoped to cover off my overhead and take a little home myself; as I evolved in business thought and organization I realized my business also needed its own goals, specific, measurable, time-orientated. Despite the free fall of the Canadian economy (or perhaps because of the free fall of the Canadian economy) I plan to grow my business by 10% in these next 12 months. Instead of going into a much longer winded blog on the how and why, I think it's totally OK to leave it here.

2. Read 100 Books in 2016

I'd long dreamed of reading 100 books in a year ever since I first read about the challenge a few years ago. Late in 2015 I got onboard with a library card from Calgary Public Library and loved it so much I became a friend of the library; I figured out the library card saved me between $20-$100/ month on books, as well as it provided me an easy way to track, read, and discover new reading. Joining a book club expanded my reading horizons and forced me to read outside my box of what was easy and comfortable. Another friend pushed me towards GoodReads, and I have spent hours on the site, first uploading the books I have read and recorded in the past three years and then discovering books to read and making endless reading related lists. I loved the book list making so much I dug back through years of journals and began to pull out books I read in University and my 20s to attempt to built the most comprehensive list of my overall reading. In order to read 100 books in a year I avidly researched habits and practices of frequent readers, especially those who read 100 books a year most years. I have put a few lifestyle pieces in place to aid in my reading, adding to my usual practise of reading 20-30 minutes before bed each night. The practises are has follows. 1. Happy Hour - I have instituted a 20-30 minute window post-work I like to call "Happy Hour". Premise is simple: in between work and home (even if work is at home) set a timer for 20 minutes (or more, depending) for reading. Only reading can happen in this time, no snap chatting, no playing with the dog, no texting. Just reading, building a bridge between a work day and being home. 2. Constant Book Carrier-with the advent of working from your phone being totally possible it's easy to whip out and work from your phone anywhere you find yourself waiting. I decided an easy way to get in extra pages is to carry a book with me always and read from it when I am waiting.  3. Spare Time slayer- binge watch episodes of Brooklyn 99 on Saturday afternoon or open up a book? In spare time make the choice to read instead of something else. 4. Twenty Pages and Bust- Read 20 pages and if the book doesn't catch me, put it down and away. It's unlikely to change in the hundreds of pages that follow. I hope these four pieces aid in the adding of books to my list this year, as of this date in January I have read 7 books, a solid start.

3. Ride 200 Miles and Accomplish an Athletic 1st

I considered Ironman in 2016. I  pondered a number of races but ultimately understood that completing an Ironman simply didn't resonate with me. There is tremendous respect for the people that train and complete these long course races and I am certain I will one day, but not now. The goal doesn't sing to me and there is simply too much at stake to drive for such a time consuming goal without my heart in it. I did want to bite off something major, which is how I settled on Dirty Kanza in Kansas in June. It fit into our schedule (this year Jon and I are splitting the year, I get athletic priority from January-early June, Jon for the balance of the year), it's a huge challenge and it scares the living daylights out of me. In past endurance endeavours I have found this to be a critical part of the success of the events I choose, the utter fear of the event will drive me to train diligently and prepare with great care.

Three pieces for 2016 to work on and towards. Now to that 10 year vision!