Life Goals: Peeling an Orange in 1

A fun one for the afternoon. I often talk to my kids about goals. You know the kind—SMART goals, growth goals, stretch goals, and all the other acronyms we’ve seen in workbooks or performance reviews. I try to keep those conversations simple and relatable, especially when it’s just casual chats over dinner or on the school run. And when I think about the goals I share with them, there’s always one that I bring up regularly.

It’s not about fitness or productivity or learning a new language. It’s this: my goal is to always peel an orange in one piece. That includes clementines, satsumas, tangerines, and any other citrus variant that ends up in a lunchbox or fruit bowl. It’s a small thing, but it’s something I’ve been doing for years. I may not always succeed, but I always try. And when I do manage it, there’s a strange and satisfying sense of victory.

There’s something deeply enjoyable about that feeling. It turns a tiny, everyday task into a personal challenge. You focus, you commit, and then if it works you’re left holding a complete orange peel, like some kind of meditative spiral. I love the fact that it’s so low stakes, but still something I care about enough to keep trying. Sometimes it sparks laughs from my kids. Sometimes it gets them trying to do the same thing, which always becomes a fun little moment.

More than anything, it’s a reminder that not every goal has to be life-changing or earth-shattering to matter. Some goals are just there to bring a bit of joy to your day. And if you can pass that along to someone else, especially your kids, it’s worth every slightly ripped peel along the way.