How To Conquer Your Goliaths, by Filipino author Bo Sanchez is a sort of tag-lish (tagalog-english) self-help book. This book has really inspired me when it comes to setting my life goals.

The one lesson that really struck me from the book is to write your goals down. Another option that came to my mind is to have a vision board of your goals. I wrote my goals down on a large whiteboard in my bedroom and also created a picture collage of my goals on my phone. According to Sanchez, your goals also need to have a time frame.

For example, in 2018, I planned to graduate from SFU (which I kind of already did since I finished my last semester in December 2017 but my convocation was in June 2018) and also lose weight. Ever since going on medication, I have gained almost seventy pounds. It really affected and still does affect, my self-esteem. After finding out I had metabolic syndrome and fatty liver disease, I decided enough was enough. I was almost using my medication as a crutch, saying things like “it’s the medication’s fault that I’m overweight” and while I do understand that medication affects everyone differently, I decided that the way I was living my life even before I started taking the medication was unhealthy. I was just able to get away with eating junk without gaining weight prior to the start of my medications because my metabolism was faster but medication has obviously slowed it down.

I wrote my goal down of losing weight in August 2017 with the goal of losing 45-50 pounds by the end of 2018. I am still working on it and in February 2018, I was able to lose almost 15 pounds thanks to an exercise program with the Burnaby Mental Health Team. However, I gained back 8 pounds in April 2018 due to stopping the exercise program because I started a desk job that conflicted with the time of the exercise program. I may have made this slip-up but I am not giving up!

Another one of my goals, which I plan to achieve by the end of 2019, is to find a career. I am still exploring my options, currently working part-time as a tutor and applying to different, preferably full-time, jobs. One of my biggest goals, which I plan to reach by age 25, is to move out of my parent’s home. I hate being the stereotypical millennial living in my parents’ house and barely having any independence. It is ingrained in the culture I am from that people don’t move out of their parents’ home until they are married but I lean more towards the Western ideal of moving out at 18. Of course, I am almost 23 so that ship has sailed but I want to be able to reach that goal in order to become more independent.

If you’re looking for motivation for reaching your goals, or as Bo Sanchez would say, “conquering your Goliaths”, I suggest you listen to the song King of My Heart by Love and the Outcome or, alternatively, make a playlist of songs that inspire you and go to your local library and pick up some books on goal setting. So, as the kids say, go ahead and “slay”; slay your Goliaths!