I turn 40 this year.

After rushing into an ultimately failed first marriage, I no longer get particularly hung up on where or who or what I’m supposed to be at a certain place in my life. While I’m not consumed by an existential wave of self-reflection, I have to acknowledge my 2014 went off the rails a bit, if for good reasons: deaths in the family, dog fighting cancer, armed robbery, etc. Now that we’ve turned out of the skid (great new job, healthy dog, etc.) it seemed a worthwhile endeavor to make sure 2015 had a magnetic north.

So I made a list.

The overall vibe I was going for was somewhere between basic weekly achievements and shoot-for-the-stars goals that would require some advance planning. It wouldn’t be the sum total of what I’ll accomplish this year. I wouldn’t include any goals related to my job, for instance. My ongoing fight against the forces of high blood pressure wouldn’t merit a mention aside from the efforts to work out more.

Some of these seem ridiculously easy (listening to new records, for instance) but I’ve found it’s easy to forget to do them even if they provide the spark to do more. Some are already in the planning stages and some (especially the activity goals) are grouped into one related topic.

I’m sharing them here because it makes it real. I won’t be posting updates unless they’re worth it. Though I suppose the whole point of making this list is to make my 40th year full of things worthy of discussion.

Health/productivity goals
1. Read six books
2. Work out three times a week
3. Listen to 12 new records and watch 12 new movies
4. Take an ongoing class in krav maga (or something similarly physical)
5. Re-learn Spanish

Family/house goals
6. Have a dinner date with Erin once a month
7. Paint our back porch stairs
8. Refinish the kitchen counters
9. Travel to England with the family
10. Go on a family road trip
11. Financial goal #1
12. Financial goal #2
13. Have a father/daughter outing with AG once a month

Creative/professional goals
14. Get published in a book and write a book proposal
15. Write 100 blog posts
16. Subscribe to at least one new magazine/newspaper
17. Read at six live events, including one I’ve never performed at and one that requires me to memorize a piece
18. Subscribe to the Beverly Review
19. Launch a South Side reading series
20. Learn to play the ukulele
21. Publish a piece in the Chicago Reader
22. Get on Chicago Tonight‘s Week In Review
23. Appear on a national TV show

Service goals
24. Join a board
25. Volunteer at a new organization
26. Launch a scholarship fund
27. Help a friend achieve one of their own year goals
28. Start Operation: Hydrate (more on this later)
29. Establish an ongoing recycling program in our house
30. Make an ongoing contribution of my mind, hands and time to the fight against youth gun violence in Chicago

Activity goals
31. Make a cocktail for every season
32. Buy and consume a bottle of Lagavulin (not all in one sitting, may be shared)
33. Pitchfork Fest, Hideout Fest or Riot Fest – pick one and go this year
34. Visit six Chicago museums: The National Museum of Mexican Art, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Driehaus Museum, Hull House and International Museum of Surgical Science, Museum of Holography, Museum of Contemporary Photography
35. Visit five Chicago bars: Cuneen’s, University of Chicago Pub, Twin Anchors, Schaller’s Pump, and Glascott’s Saloon
36. Visit five Chicago restaurants: Superdawg, Palace Grill, Nuevo Leon, Tufano’s, Gale Street Inn
37. Visit five historic Chicago places: South Shore Cultural Center, Pullman, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Union Stockyards Gate, Glessner House
38. See five bands live, including one I’ve been putting off for too long
39. Either finish The Wire and Battlestar Galactica or don’t but make a decision for crying out loud
40. Buy a new suit and a tux

Photo: Flickr user Palo via Creative Commons