One year ago I turned 25.

Okay, that’s a weird way of saying I’m 26, but that aside, at age 25 I felt stuck in a rut. My life had stagnated, and I was having one of those bi-monthly millennial crises, so I decided to write up a list of 25 goals for year 25 to push myself out of my comfort zone and toward more of the lifetime goals I have for myself. I wrote a blog post outlining my goals and then created an Excel spreadsheet to track them. Here’s how I did:

Last Year’s #25for25 Goals:

Note: Goals in bold are ones I completed; my notes are in italics; things left undone are in regular ol’ type

1. Climb at 25 different areas: I climbed at 34
2. Climb in 5 states that aren’t Colorado: NH, KY, SD, RI, TN & UT (so six)
3. Climb outside of the US: Mexico! El Salto is my FAVORITE sport climbing destination on earth (thus far)
4. Spend 25 days outside October to April: I climbed outside 48 days between October and April and 92 days from May to Oct 4 for a total of 140 days outside
5. Spend 3 months (12 weeks) not in Colorado: Blaming COVID for this one, but still spent 2 months (8 weeks) outside of CO
6. Send 5 5.13s: Only sent 2; Tufa Luna (13a) in El Salto and Van Damage (13a/b) in Boulder Canyon, CO
7. Send 3 V8s: I sent 4; The Trough (V8), Hardboiled (V9), Crimping Matters Stand (V8) and Thunder Rolls SDS (V8)
8. Send 5.12a trad: Thunderdome in Boulder Canyon, CO
9. Send 25 boulders V5 and up: I sent 34; here are a few of them
10. Send 25 sport routes 5.12 and up: I sent 27
11. Climb 25 trad pitches: This was supposed to be a stepping stone to climbing Thunderdome; instead I just went for the bigger goal
12. Extreme sled: Didn’t get around to it, but I did backcountry ski for the firth time, which half counts
13. XC Ski: Got out at least 4 times
14. Hike a 14er
15. Deep water solo
16. Swim in an alpine lake: Jumped in the lake 2/3 of the way up Guanella Pass
17. Surf
18. Swim in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans: Swam in neither, again blaming COVID
19. Buy a mountain bike: I’m counting my gravel bike
20. Write 25 blog posts: Wrote 10
21. Create 25 YouTube videos: Uploaded 12
22. Create 25 graphics: Created 18
23. Drink 25 beers (yes, this is a goal…and no I don’t mean drink 25 beers in a day…): If you count half beers I’ve shared with others, I hit at least 25, otherwise I’m at 22
24. Find a job where I can remotely at least 75% of the time: I’d say I’m halfway there; I just landed two remote freelance gigs and EVO has been approving remote work
25. Put 10,000 miles on my van: I drove closer to 14,000 miles, ’cause climbing.

Striving toward these goals got me out of the rut at first, but as I turn 26, I once again find searching for more things that bring meaning to my life, which will most likely be a lifelong process, so to keep chugging along, here are some goals for year 26:

A Few of my Year 26 Goals:

The big goals:

1. Send 5.13b (8a)
2. Send V11 (also 8a) – ideally Clear Blue Skies

The ‘little’ goals to get me there:

1. Climb outside 150 days
2. Send 10 boulders V7 or harder
3. Send 53 boulders V5 or harder
4. Send 9 sport climbs 5.12d or harder
5. Hang with +50 pounds on the 20mm edge for 10 seconds
6. Hang on the 6mm for 10 seconds
7. Do a pistol squat
8. Gain 5 pounds and maintain it (’cause climbing is a STRENGTH to weight ratio sport, and I need more strength, which needs to come in the form of increased muscle mass)

(Non-climbing) Life Goals:

1. Find 2 steady REMOTE freelance gigs
2. Get outside for 15 minutes EVERY day regardless of the weather
3. Write 1x blog post every week
4. Upload 2x YouTube videos every month
5. Travel at least 2 weeks of every quarter
6. Volunteer at least 4 times

Photo by Graham Sudweeks