Summer Goals
Happy Friday!
Two more days...summer is almost here!
All the good tough work that needs to happen in our country right now, is colliding with that summer feeling of just wanting to shake it all off and enjoy the lazy days that lie ahead. I am trying to stay focused on things that are going to be good for me - rest, relaxation, time spent with my family, and rejuvenation for the school year to come, but I also don't want to give up on the immense amount of learning that needs to happen as well!
This has me thinking about summer goals. I mentioned in a previous post that I am reading a book about habits by James Clear right now - here is the post - the book is fascinating so far and has made some links between habits and goals, Clear states that, "goals are about the results you want to achieve." and habits are the "systems that lead to those results." What clear is trying to say is that if you want to achieve a goal, you can just think about the end result or final goal, but that you need to think about the systems you put in place to get there.
1. After I work out each morning, I am going to sit on my cool back porch and read for at least 30 minutes. It will feel nice to relax and drink some tea or water after a good work out. I don't think we are going to have much to rush off to in the mornings this summer so I should have time each morning to devote to reading.
2. In connection with my reading goal, I am would like to read more about race and antiracism. To get there, I going to check out books from this list from embracerace.org and as I mentioned on Wednesday I am going to read Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You. Others I am interested in are White Fragility: Why Its So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, Alexander Hamilton, and every other book on my nightstand which I started but haven't finished! I think there are three!
3. A third goal I have for the summer is begin the process of getting relicensed as a school counselor in VT. This is something that we have to do every seven years, and my license needs to be renewed by June 2021. There is a lot of paperwork that this entails, and I want to work on a little bit of each week. I am going create a habit setting aside 2 hours each week to working on this. If I can get into this habit, I should be way ahead of the curve and will feel less anxious about completing it during the busy school year.
4. My last goal is to spend lots of time outdoors with my kids. I want to bike a lot, do some hiking with them, swim a ton, and go for walks in the evening. I also want to continue running which is something I've been getting into more these days, and actually - for once in my life kind of enjoy! I plan to have a no screen time zone in our house this summer with the TV's going off between 10 AM and 4 PM. This habit is going to be tough I am sure, especially on those rainy summer days, but for the health of my family, I think it's a habit worth shooting for.
I think that these four goals are relatively simple, and can be easily accomplished because I have outlined the systems, or the habits, that I need to put in place to get them done. My last "assignment" for you this school year is to think about some goals you have for the summer. Once you've outlined these goals, think about the habits you'll need to create to help you accomplish them.
After outlining goals and habits, I would encourage yourself to think of your self as the person you want to be this summer. This is another thing that James Clear proposes - that if we can think of ourselves as readers, we are more likely to become readers. If we think of ourselves as a screen-free family, then we will become a screen-free family. If we think of ourselves as athletes, we are more likely to become athletes.
Because so many things that we are used to participating in over the summer - lazy days at the pool, fourth of July celebrations, summer camps, and nights around the campfire with big groups of friends - won't happen, it is really important that you think about what your summer could look like before it slips away. You don't want it to pass you by in a haze of TV series and after TV series or video game after video game when there is still fun to be had out there.
If you are interested in talking through what your summer goals might look like, I am happy to brainstorm with you. We still have two days of school left! I know you are digging deep for these last two days, and are really looking for something to do, 😉 so come spend some time with me and we can talk about what's important to you!
I am sorry I am so slow with my blog post today, (yes it's 9:08 on Friday!), but the minutia of the day got in the way! However, I didn't want to miss today's opportunity to pass along some tiny bits of wisdom. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Be Well Everyone,
Mrs. Hempey
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