Dirt in your skirt blog

A New Year and Setting Micro-Goals for Yourself

Posted on January 2, 2017 by Margaret Schlachter

2017 is here! It’s a new year which means it is a time for new beginnings for many, resolutions that won’t statistically be followed through with. Each year many make huge resolutions only to have them fall by the wayside quickly.

This fall I read Steve Kamb’s (founder of Nerd Fitness) book, Level Up Your Life. Well actually listened to it but you get the idea. One of the big takeaways, was thinking of the big things you want to do as epic video game full of major and major quests. I was never a gamer but the idea of “leveling up” at a skill is enticing.

After finishing the book, I sat down and started to think what my quests would look like and then started to break them down into micro-goals.


Quest #1 –

Have a conversation in Spanish in Nicaragua to a cab driver or ferry passenger on the way to Ometepe in March. 

Micro-Quests

Practice Duolingo an hour a day – finish my tree

Find and Meet with a Spanish Tutor weekly

Speak Spanish to the checkout person at the Rancho Markets

Finish – Practical Spanish Grammar Workbook in 3 months


Quest #2 –

Find a new activity my partner and I can do together to spend more time together. (We are diving into the Wim Hof Method – 10 Week Course together)

Micro-Quests

Find New Challenge – Wim Hof 10 Week Course

Set aside the time to work on this together daily

Put actions into practice


Quest #3 –

Actively work to declutter my life and pare down to the essentials in life. 

Micro-Quests

Commit to 30-Day Minimalist Challenge

Work Through Clutter

Tackle the Small Stuff First

Complete Challenge


Check out the video to see all of my goals, why micro-goals are important to me, and what is on the horizon for Dirt in Your Skirt in 2017.