Pivot

I hemmed and hawed again about what to do with goals in 2023.

Much of 2021 and 2022 was spent figuring out life post-academia. In starting work full-time, I learned quickly that I'm very goal and task-oriented. I love a good checklist. To the point where I'm very upset with myself when I don't check off enough tasks within a day, even if a significant portion of those tasks were unreasonable to accomplish within a single day.

Do you see where this is going?

Populating this post with some of Eggo's best moments

Not to get to into it, but it's looking more and more like I might have ADHD. It would explain . . . a lot. So my first thing to tackle in 2023 is going to the doctor. Beyond that, I need new glasses, my asthma has continued to act up, and I'd like to see if a nutritionist could help me better develop my vegetarian diet. I just recently learned what a "complete protein" is, and I'm enthralled.

There's a lot of lifestyle items that need work as well. Namely, my sleep and waking up. The cold snap in Florida has been awful for me; most places don't have heat. My apartment doesn't even have insulation (that or it's dry rotted by now), and I can literally see through the cracks around my front door. I get cold very easily, and this situation has worsened my insomnia. Not to mention the unhealthy relationship I have with my phone; to clarify, it's specifically with my phone, not screens. Time to go back to putting it down at least 15 minutes before bed and keeping it charging in the kitchen overnight.

I was on track for a no-spend year up until I found some Back on Track pads for $15 each . . . Honestly, the horses aren't even a large spending category for me. And as evidenced, I don't purchase unless it's a sweet deal. It's really food that's the big issue, even with Uber Eats out of the picture. Do not ask me how much I spent on dinner at WEF last weekend, it's embarrassing.

Pony wise, I'd like to ride more horses this year. It's a necessity. I can't overcome certain habits with Fuego as I've literally taught him to accommodate me specifically. We both need variety. That doesn't mean that I'll stop riding him at all, but he'll be getting more attention on the flat while I jump sticks with something else. Which leads me to another item: we need Dressage. Desperately. We now have a saddle that will hold us over for the time being. Some massage and appropriate stretching in hand should get us to a point where a true Dressage lesson would be helpful.

I did another local show this past weekend, and that'll be it for me until the fall. Hopefully we'll actually get in some trail riding over the summer. Then I want to try the schooling shows up at WEF. We won't be attempting the equitation until next season partially because of our tack situation but also because my position currently sucks. I need to give a lot more attention to my balance and core.

Recently, one of my barn friends was bemusing the idea of starting a business. We've both lamented to each other lately about struggling to find certain equestrian products, both horse and human. It's especially difficult since we're both young professionals with tight budgets (hence the excitement about the BoT pads). Nothing is set in stone yet, but I did put together a very nice branding package over the course of a few hours this week. I can't tell if I'm genuinely excited about the business if I just like making branding packages. We'll see.

So, in summary, here's what we're doing in 2023:

- Taking care of myself
- Taking care of the horses
- Taking care of business (maybe)

Oh, and I might quit my job. Stay tuned.

Fondly remembering when this fence felt big. So proud of my little dinosaur.