As soon as the plane landed, I called Cohesive Therapy to schedule an appointment for a long overdue massage that was an early Christmas gift from my neighbor.  Not that I was in desperate need of self-care, but massages are fantastic and I had time to burn.  Upon arrival at the clinic, I was provided with forms to complete, which sought the basics – personal info, address, insurance – along with three very familiar questions:

What are your physical health goals?

What are your mental health goals?

What are your emotional health goals?

These three questions are similar to the question I ask my students at the start of each quarter - “What are your physical, mental, and emotional health goals and how can I help you?”  Though I haven’t asked myself these three questions in several years, I figured by the time I answered the question on physical health, the next two would come to me rather easily.  To the contrary, the answers were left blank.   It then dawned on me, that in my haste to complete the paperwork and get to the good stuff, it had been far too long since I sat with the questions:

What are your physical health goals?

What are your mental health goals?

What are your emotional health goals?

In fact, I can’t recall the last time that I did set Mental and Emotional Health goals.  Two very recent events impressed even more upon me the fact that I haven’t set many personal goals at all in recent years, and honestly, even the physical health goal isn’t that challenging at this present moment.

In addition to the neglected goals stated above, a recent podcast that I subscribe to centering around the many topics within the field of Health further impressed the importance of setting goals in many areas of our lives including Social Health (making friends, getting out more, engaging in social events, etc.), Environmental Health (reducing your carbon footprint, walking or riding your bike to work or anything less than two miles, etc.), Intellectual Health (reading books, taking a new class, etc.), or even Intimacy Health (closeness, being vulnerable, prioritizing time with your significant other, etc.).

Obviously, I am a huge fan of Goal Setting.  Goal Setting is a common practice at Whisper and is something we do on a regular basis.  But our performance goals are often for the coming season, which if you are an old like me, you known that seasons come and go rather quickly. 

So, here’s a thought: What are your goals for the coming decade?  What are the things you want to achieve before 2030?  What are your goals before you turn 40 or 50 or 60, etc.?  As your bucket list continues to increase in numbers and your time here on earth continues to shorten, how will you prioritize your life heading into 2020 so that you may right the ship and begin the pursuit to these ambitions? 

The saying “Live vicariously through yourself” never sounded so good.

Here’s to happy and healthy years and decades ahead!