Goal Setting in Action

I wanted to kick off my new blog this month with putting the same skills and lessons that I instill in the clients I have worked with in various settings over the past decade of my work in the mental health field. Where that starts with initially will be with implementing goals for myself each month, in both my personal and professional domains of my life, and making sure to follow up at the end of each month to check in on how everything went.

The goal for this initiative for myself is two-fold. The first goal is to do my best efforts to practice what I have preached to my clients. To prove that the same skills, techniques, and guiding principles I have advocated endlessly about for years are powerful. The second goal, admittedly a selfish one, is to help myself continue to grow. Not only as a therapist, but also as a husband, father, friend, and person overall.

Without further ado, here are the goals I am planning to make efforts to move towards during July of 2024:

• Post a minimum of one blog post each week

  • Throughout my career, I have loved writing about mental health and the assorted topics that fall under that umbrella. I've done so in the past on my Medium account (https://medium.com/@thumoslife) or during my time at The Menninger Clinic (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-matters-menninger). I have always seen it as a way to not only sharpen my skills as a clinician, but also improve my ability to communicate about these incredibly important topics. I also view it as an opportunity to get to flex my creative muscles, which have admittedly not gotten nearly the attention they deserve in quite some time.

• Engage in a minimum of thirty minutes of physical activity at least three times each week

  • We all know that physical health is important for all of us. While the physical health benefits are most likely obvious to most, it cannot be stated enough how important for my own mental health it is for me to be physically active on a regular basis. Putting it simply, when I make an effort to be physically active on a regular basis, I am in a better mental state that week. This typically translates to me being a better therapist, a better husband and father, and overall a better person to be around.

• Finish adding options for people to the Resources section of my website (Check it out here if you're interested in learning more!!! https://www.thumos.life/resources)

  • A lot of these resources are things that I have found myself recommending to people countless times over the past decade. Even if someone does not choose to work with me as a therapist, I hope even just one person is able to find some assistance, relief, and support in the resources I put on that page. If you like any of the items I list, please let me know. Additionally, if you feel like I left something off that you think would be helpful, please make sure to let me know! I always love to pay it forward to others when I am able to do so.

• Take my daughter to the pool at least twice this month

  • My amazing daughter Evelyn learned how to swim earlier this year, and since the beginning of this Summer she has wanted to go to the pool non-stop. Full disclosure - I am not a big fan of swimming, not at the pool, the beach, or really anywhere if I am being completely honest. That being said, my daughter is quite literally my favorite person on the planet. So if it brings her joy or puts a smile on her face to get to go to the pool, then this grumpy old man is going to put on those swimming trunks and go to the pool! The only thing that may get in the way is the excruciating heat wave we keep being forced to endure in the Houston area lately (if you know, you know...)

• Read the Daily Stoic each day (either in the morning or in the evening)

  • If I complete the above goal related to the Resources section, you will quickly come to realize how much I am a fan of Stoicism, and a prominent author that writes about Stoicism named Ryan Holiday. One of my favorite books that he has written is a daily reader named The Daily Stoic, which has short excerpts about different topics to help people improve their lives overall.

• Meditate for at least ten minutes each day (either in the morning or in the evening)

  • We all live in a frantic world. All of us are bombarded nonstop with things that try to steal our attention and thoughts from us. Taking a few minutes each day to attempt to slow down and increase awareness of our internal processes is important to help improve how we relate to our thoughts.

And that is what I hope to make efforts to progress and improve upon over the next month! Please feel free to check in as the month progresses to see how things are going. I'll make sure to make another post at the end of the month to let people know what went well, what obstacles came up, and overall how it went for the month of July.