Word of the Year: Mindful

And my 24 for 2024 list

Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash

Last year, I was feeling so dispirited, I decided not to set a word for the year. But as I was writing out my 24 goals for this year, a clear theme emerged.

Many of the things I would like to accomplish this year require mindfulness and intention. After three years of tang soo do and five years of yoga, I may have this mindfulness thing down.

(The key is not to try to stop intrusive thoughts. Let thoughts come. Just give them a glance, and let them keep on going.)

24 for ‘24

1. Read 24 books.
2. Find a dentist for myself and make appointment.
3. Arrange for my youngest to get braces.
4. Earn black belt in tang soo do.
5. Start going to the office twice a week.
6. Get a new used car.
7. Start eating 100g of protein a day.*
8. Start walking (at least) 5,000 steps a day.
9. Add two days of strength training to my workout regimen.
10. Learn how to do crow pose.
11. Schedule shingles shots.
12. Schedule a colonoscopy.
13. Get second piercing in ears (for real this time!).
14. Purge bookshelves.
15. Purge board games.
16. Eat more fruits and vegetables daily.*
17. Get sober(ish)*.
18. Be more intentionally social — If I call you to hang out, I mean it!
19. Publish 12 articles on Medium.
20. Go target shooting.
21. Work on and publish at least one work of short fiction.
22. Finish second novel / do NaNoWriMo.
23. Do a member presentation for work.
24. Join Toastmasters and give a Toastmasters talk.

*These are topics for which I have follow-up posts percolating. Stay tuned!