In an earlier post (Hundred-day mandates), I talked about the idea of doing “hundred-day mandates” for myself. There are 14 groups of hundred days before I get to my likely retirement date, and I’m planning on using them as milestones on my journey to retirement. I was also hoping that I could add some “oomph” to them by kicking off each block with perhaps a special dinner out.

To be honest, I struggle with momentum on some of my goals as they have to be almost entirely about me. I try to get Jacob and/or Andrea interested, but the topic is more like a roll your eyes/grit your teeth kind of thing than something that either of them is really interested in hearing about from me. I have tried to commit to things together, like watching movies on a regular night or playing games, and well, they are interested enough to grudgingly agree until the first night comes along and they have something else they want to do instead.

It’s not surprising; for most people, the idea of talking about goals is pretty lame. This is a bit of a self-fulfilling situation, I suppose…I set goals for myself, and because no one else is really interested, they are only about things I can do by myself, which in turn means no one else is really interested. I blog about them, and I get enough insights from people sometimes to make it worthwhile to keep blogging, but I’m not really feeling the desire right now. I’m plodding through some photos, but that is more work than much of a reward.

I am a bit disappointed, though, on this one. I had hoped to do a special dinner out, a countdown from 14 to 0, leading up to my retirement. And I thought the dinners would be a way to entice Andrea and Jacob to get excited with (or for?) me for my retirement. I thought we could try a new restaurant, do something different, and make it seem that the countdown and goals were a little more “joint” than something I just do on my own.

But Andrea isn’t really interested and is going out with another friend that night, so I let Jacob off the hook, too.

Searching for ways to celebrate something alone

So I guess I’m looking for other ways to “celebrate” / kickstart my goals in some way, albeit by myself, and in ways that hopefully won’t be a trigger for some sort of pity party. I did a search to see what others had to suggest on the web, but I’m not blown away by the ideas. The following group of 8 were ones I at least found interesting.

A. Make a big change. Well, this isn’t far off the goal-setting, but it is often pitched as making a big decision that you’ve been holding off on, like moving or breaking up with someone or asking someone out, etc. Or something simpler like a makeover, or committing to a new mindset. It’s not terrible advice, but it’s not very helpful either. Another idea might be — do some serious planning with a vision board? That’s out of the box, for sure, but still kind of lame. I can do that any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

B. Create something. This is an interesting one of sorts, in that I could do something crafty that I don’t normally do, creating a physical reminder of the block of time I’m starting.

C. Tick a box. This one is intriguing a bit. The idea is that you take something on your to-do list or bucket list, often an event, and do it. So maybe go axe-throwing or bungee-jumping, etc. Something you haven’t done before that you can do and then afterwards, look back with a small sense of accomplishment that you “did” it. Of course, if it is something that involves others, not the best idea.

D. Pamper yourself. This is a fairly common one, whether it is a visit to a spa (or a makeover), getting a massage, going shopping, sending yourself flowers, etc. Some do it as “buy yourself a gift”, whether it be something simple or expensive. I do have a gift certificate for a weekend retreat away at a hotel, if they’re still in business.

E. Find a non-corporeal friend. No, nobody actually calls it that…but it’s the idea that you find a TV series that is a guilty pleasure, or your favourite book, and visit with it like an old friend while shutting out the rest of the world. It’s not a bad idea, and there are some series I could read, for example, that would fit the bill, even some newer ones, not just old friends. Still, not sure it feels quite right. It doesn’t seem quite significant enough.

F. Create a celebration playlist. Well, it’s intriguing. Partly as having it afterwards would be a way to revisit your “win”.

G. Laugh. Hmm, this is also a bit intriguing. Basically, trying to recapture the innocence of youth a bit through laughter, and releasing the energy and stress that goes with it. Could go to a comedy club or something. Interesting idea.

H. Indulge yourself virtually. I wouldn’t have thought of this one, not at all, but the idea is treating yourself to something like a virtual tour of somewhere amazing, like the Louvre, the Vatican or a zoo. I don’t know what it would be for me, but it is out of the box.

The new plan so far

I’m going to start by taking the day off work, I think. Maybe book a massage and treat myself to lunch somewhere interesting. There’s a Thai restaurant in Bell’s Corners that I’ve been interested in for a while now, and they’re open 11:30 to 2:00 p.m. so that seems promising. I think for creativity, maybe I’ll try baking something, nothing too elaborate, and perhaps get a nice steak for the BBQ. I could go out for that though, will have to think on that one. And for the afternoon, I’ll do some immersive reading, picking a good mystery to dive into on my Kindle. And then at night? Maybe a movie somewhere or the comedy club.

Although, if I do all that, I’m left with another question. What do I do for the next one? Should I just do 2 or 3 of those? I’ve got two weeks of squirreldom to figure it out. Feel free to share your views in the comments…