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
- Climb at 25 different areas: I climbed at 34
- Climb in 5 states that aren’t Colorado: NH, KY, SD, RI, TN & UT (so six)
- Climb outside of the US: Mexico! El Salto is my FAVORITE sport climbing destination on earth (thus far)
- 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
- Spend 3 months (12 weeks) not in Colorado: Blaming COVID for this one, but still spent 2 months (8 weeks) outside of CO
- Send 5 5.13s: Only sent 2; Tufa Luna (13a) in El Salto and Van Damage (13a/b) in Boulder Canyon, CO
- Send 3 V8s: I sent 4; The Trough (V8), Hardboiled (V9), Crimping Matters Stand (V8) and Thunder Rolls SDS (V8)
- Send 5.12a trad: Thunderdome in Boulder Canyon, CO
- Send 25 boulders V5 and up: I sent 34; here are a few of them
- Send 25 sport routes 5.12 and up: I sent 27
- Climb 25 trad pitches: This was supposed to be a stepping stone to climbing Thunderdome; instead I just went for the bigger goal
- Extreme sled: Didn’t get around to it, but I did backcountry ski for the firth time, which half counts
- XC Ski: Got out at least 4 times
- Hike a 14er
- Deep water solo
- Swim in an alpine lake: Jumped in the lake 2/3 of the way up Guanella Pass
- Surf
- Swim in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans: Swam in neither, again blaming COVID
- Buy a mountain bike: I’m counting my gravel bike
- Write 25 blog posts: Wrote 10
- Create 25 YouTube videos: Uploaded 12
- Create 25 graphics: Created 18
- 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
- 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
- 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:
- Send 5.13b (8a)
- Send V11 (also 8a) – ideally Clear Blue Skies
The ‘little’ goals to get me there:
- Climb outside 150 days
- Send 10 boulders V7 or harder
- Send 53 boulders V5 or harder
- Send 9 sport climbs 5.12d or harder
- Hang with +50 pounds on the 20mm edge for 10 seconds
- Hang on the 6mm for 10 seconds
- Do a pistol squat
- 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:
- Find 2 steady REMOTE freelance gigs
- Get outside for 15 minutes EVERY day regardless of the weather
- Write 1x blog post every week
- Upload 2x YouTube videos every month
- Travel at least 2 weeks of every quarter
- Volunteer at least 4 times
Photo by Graham Sudweeks