I'm not sure that I should be setting targets. After all, surely one of the benefits of leaving the corporate world is to escape from chasing a bunch of targets, plus the luxury to do things as you want, when you want. On the other hand, I do believe in having a purpose - the thing, or things, that make you jump out of bed with enthusiasm each morning, and maybe targets are a useful part of that.
There are two other things as well. The first is that another blogger that I follow sets targets and gives updates on them during the year. I enjoy reading about his goals and seeing how he gets on in achieving them, or not, as the case may be. The second thing is that by setting my own targets and, more to the point, making them public, am I setting myself up for a fall? What if I don't achieve them - if one's going to miss, isn't it better to miss in private?
But I'm going to go ahead, set my targets and say what they are. Why? Because we spend too much of our lives worrying about what others may think, and the older I get, the more I realise that is not at all what matters. We need to be happy with ourselves, and what others may think really doesn't matter too much.
So here are my targets...it's a first effort, and they will probably need refining, or some new ones added as I continue to settle into my new lifestyle. But for now, in no particular order:
Financial
1. Get the monthly costs below £3,700 ($4,5,67).
2. Ensure "spare" cash is invested so that it is earning an income.
Exercise
3. Learn how to swim properly so that I can swim 2km without stopping (freestyle, with face in the water and proper breathing).
4. Get my 10km run time below 40 minutes.
Blog
5. Get 100 subscribers to my blog site www.iretiredyoung.net
6. Get my blog site www.iretiredyoung.net to appear in the first 10 pages in a Google search.
7. Publish 3 good GoPro videos.
Lifestyle
8. Learn French so that I can have basic conversations in shops, restaurants etc without feeling so dreadfully embarrassed.
9. Decide where we will be living from June 2018, and know a bit more about what we will be doing from that date.
For timescale, I'm going to have an early date of 31 December 2017 and a late date of 31 March 2018. I'll aim for the early one, but will still be happy if I make it by the later date.
At the moment, some of these targets are more understandable to me than others. For example, I have little idea whether the blog targets are relevant, or too easy or too hard, whereas getting the "spare" cash to earn an income is easily understood. I'll leave it for three or four weeks and then post an update with a bit more background information on each target about where I currently am and what I'm doing to move towards achieving the target.
Wish me luck!