The Next Mountain

Is anyone else guilty of creating goals, plans, whatever, and then getting sidetracked or broadsided by life and then forgetting to check back in on the life you originally planned?

Sometimes - I get it - life hits hard and the goals, the plans, they need to be paused … or forgotten … been there, felt that. 

What I’m realizing - I don’t want to forget my big goals, I don’t want to pause my life … I may need to be reminded of this at a later point, but at this moment, coming back up for air after all things moving … I’m finding myself being pulled back to my original goals, my original hopes for 2025 and I am finding myself resonating with them, still wanting them.  Maybe with a little more urgency than before - but there is nothing wrong with that. 

I have three goals that I’m currently reviewing.  One is lighter and focussed on the summer, the other two are larger and have longer term impacts. 

The smaller one is really more of a modification to my plans for adventure … I’ve retreated just long enough, don’t get me wrong - I’m not finished pulling together my home, but I’m far enough along that it feels like a sanctuary, a place I can retreat to, I can recharge in, I can feel safe in.  I’ll take progress over perfection in that I’m almost at the spot where I’m comfortable pausing … knowing it’s not complete but it's far enough along that it’s not creating anxiety or stressing me out.  It’s at the place where I can leave and come back and just relax … curled up on the couch, with a book on the balcony … it’s uncluttered, it’s warm, it’s almost there …

So, mini-adventures … my soul craves escape, freedom, adventure … so, I’ve decided to map out what I’d like to do and figure out how to do it … I have ideas, but no plan.  

Slight detour: anyone else a structure kid?  I crave it … I need it.  I perform better with structure.  I can be flexible (some people will debate that … but I can) … but without structure … my productivity drops, motivation disappears … I can self correct and don’t need (read, don’t like) constant oversight, but for me, the structure provides the guidepost, the measuring stick.  

Having a plan will ensure the summer doesn’t come and go and I’ve not taken advantage of the warmer weather, the things I love, the things that fuel my soul.  So, I’m creating one.  

This is where reviews are mixed … in all my reading, my research, the “experts” are split … Focus on one big goal for x period of time (read 90 days, 120 days etc.), or focus on your top three.  

I’m feeling rebellious and I’m going to do what feels right for me.  Rules or recommendations be damned.  

At this particular moment in time, I’m choosing to focus on two high-level goals - which I’ll obviously need to break down into actionable pieces … but that’s my plan. 

Goal one is related to my finances and the second is my health - specifically my mobility.  

After my fall, I lost strength and mobility in my right hip …. This affects my movement (in small ways) and has the potential to disrupt my long-term ankle and knee mobility and health.  I’m not old enough to not be mobile, to have movement prevent me from doing things I love - so I’ve decided it won’t.  

Spoiler … when I’m 100, I still won’t be old enough to have movement prevent me from doing things I love.  

To date it’s been a painful process … the undoing to allow for the redoing … but it’s a process, and for me, a necessary one.  I’m reminding myself - “I didn’t come this far to only come this far”.  #Ifyouknowyouknow.

Lastly, finances … Buying a condo is agreeing to a large amount of debt, which, unsurprisingly, I’m not a fan of.  I’ve been playing with the narrative of how I can find the money to not be in debt … to still do the things I enjoy (read spoiling my bebes, travelling etc.).  The answer is there, it’s just beyond my reach. In the meantime I’m working on maintaining a healthy relationship with money.  I didn’t buy a home to not maintain it … but given I don’t have a lot of related skills, I’m working on aligning a value prop of time, return, etc. Despite my need for urgency when pulling together my space … I’ve balanced priority and value … not everyone would agree with my choices, but I don’t need them too, as long as I agree with them and I can justify them to myself, that’s all that matters. 

It feels like moving from stillness to action … despite not really having a lot of stillness … but it feels necessary … the timing should be now - action is appropriate.  

Not overwhelming, not busy for busy sake … but focussed, intentional.  Work a future version of me needs and wants me to take, allowing me to feel confident on the path I now find myself on … comfortable in the shoes I’m wearing … at the base of my next mountain.