2013 Knowledge Goals: Memory and Clarity

I saved the Knowledge and Personal sections for last as I knew they would have the most overlapping goals. Overlapping goals are perfectly fine, even encouraged.  They keep us sane by bettering ourselves with less stress yet ensuring we still feel accomplished.

As I mentioned in my Health Goals post, I am hypothyroid.  Among the many symptoms I struggle with, lack of memory and fogginess top the list.  The worst part is that forgetting makes me very frustrated with myself.  It's one of the reasons I put organization on my Home list; I get tired of being mad at myself for losing things simply because I'm in a fog and can't remember where I put them.  Heck, it's probably the most basic starting point for how The Progressive Planner got started.  I have to be so organized and write down all my to-do's if I want to have any kind of hope in remembering them.

This is one of the reasons why I chose Knowledge as one of my eight areas.  I remember a time where I could whip out 100% on advanced tests.  I have the IB diploma from high school.  When I was in college, I was never a B student, graduating with a 4.25 GPA summa cum laude with additional honors.  That's not a bragging right; it's just a fact - one that my inner voice shoves in my face every time I forget to turn the oven off or leave the dog's food bowl empty all day even though I've seen it multiple times.  Forgetting seems so harmless until you chance starving your beloved pet or burning down the house.

Strengthening my memory is of utmost importance to me in 2013.  But just how was I going to accomplish that?

Some goals to achieve better memory come from other sections of my Wheel of Life.  First and foremost is getting back on levothyroxine for my hypothyroidism, which will do me a world of good in a multitude of areas.  In addition to that, I need to start taking my supplements and vitamins again.  Whenever I go on extended trips, I feel like a crazy pill-popper with my bag of meds and supplements, but you can't diss what works.  Just my Omega-3's alone could make me feel more alert and ready to take on the world.

Of course, exercise has been proven to improve mental clarity, but you also have to work your brain like a muscle.  Daily mental exercises can improve even my wretched memory.  This is something I've already been working on - when I take my mom to physical therapy, I sit down with a Sudoku puzzle book.  Using pen, I don't make any marks on the page except for when I know a number goes in the box.

And I'm getting pretty fast, too!

But all of my goals above have been about improving my memory.  What about building on my knowledge base?  Reading is essential.  If there's one thing the International Baccalaureate program in high school broke me of, it was my love of books.  After having to read as much as we did in a single day, you'd hate reading too.  This year, I'd like to rediscover my love of reading by selecting twelve books I'd like to complete.  They can be on any topic - in fact, the one I've picked out for this month is spiritual.

Only one section left!  Look for tomorrow's post on my personal goals for 2013!

Do you have any knowledge or memory improvement goals?  Share them below!