Goals for 2010

I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. I used to, and they used to consist of the usual promises to eat better, work out more, get better organized, live more in the present, blah blah blah…

And then, of course, by mid January or at the latest February, half of those are forgotten, the rest lost in the daily activity of life.

New Year’s Resolutions are sort of a running joke, anyway, aren’t they? Everyone makes them, just so they can break them it seems. And why wait until January 1^st (well, technically 2^nd, because nobody starts on the first because it’s a holiday, right?) to make changes in your life? What’s wrong with December 21^st? Or July 15^th? October 10^th?

It just all seems so silly to me.

And yet, there is something inspiring and refreshing about the start of a New Year that makes you want to take control of your life, and make things happen. It’s true, silly or not, January 1^st holds a certain significance for new beginnings.

So, I decided that I would take advantage of this feeling, but not fall victim to the uselessness of resolutions.

Instead, I make plans, I have GOALS for the coming year.

It’s so much more productive for me to focus on actions I plan to take, instead of a “vague” idea of what I will and will not do.

That said, here are some of my “GOALS” for 2010:

1. Finish that novel – Yep, this is a lofty one, but I have all year to work on it. In winning “NaNoWriMo”, I accomplished 75% of this novel. This leaves me a full year to write the remaining 25% and focus on the editing process. Winning “NaNoWriMo” also provided me with a free “printing” of my manuscript, and I have until June to use that, so, this gives me a deadline of June to have a “working” manuscript done, so I can then focus on how in the world I’m finally going to get my work published. I can do this. I will do this. The goal is not so much to get it published as it is to make this novel a daily part of my life.

2. Stay healthy – that’s it. No crazy “lose this much” or “go to the gym this many times per week” scheme that is sure to fail. Just stay on the path I set for myself two years ago, and continue the daily exercise of focusing on being healthy. There is weight to be lost, and then maintained, and there is a goal for being at the gym regularly, but these are things I already focus on, and not some big resolution. The goal is simply to continue on my path.

3. Put God ahead of everything – if I’ve learned anything in the last few years, it is that without God in my life, things always make less sense. And yet, for some reason, I let the rest of my life overshadow this one most important relationship. I’m getting better at it, and I just hope to continue on this faith journey with my priorities straight.

4. De-clutter – and by that I mean EVERYTHING. My closets, my drawers, my computer files, my Twitter and FaceBook accounts, my toxic friendships, my calendar, my mind. Good grief there is too much STUFF everywhere. I need to simplify.

And finally:

5. Fall In Love. What? It can happen. If I put it on the list, then I’m putting out there in the universe. So, there you have it.

What are your goals and plans for 2010?

New Year's Resolutions

I'm not really a big fan of New Year's Resolutions. I just think they're sort of a joke. Every year people make this list of things they will accomplish in the coming year, as if January 1st holds some magical power that will make possible the completion of tasks we just couldn't seem to get it together to accomplish the year before.

And yet, for most people, by January 15th those "Resolutions" are already forgotten, shoved aside, postponed, or completely dismissed. And then we say "oh well, maybe next year". As if the other 350 days out of the year didn't even exist. What is that all about?

That being said, there is something inspiring about the idea that you can wipe the slate clean on all your failed projects and ideas and as of January 1, start off brand new.

In this past year I have undergone a pretty huge transformation myself, in more ways than one, so I've got to admit that this year I'm looking forward to making, and keeping, a few New Year's Resolutions. But I'm going to call them Goals, not Resolutions, because I just don't like that word.

So, without further ado, here are my 2009 New Year's Goals:


1. Finish the Novel I started for NaNoWriMo, edit it, and begin to earnestly research how I can go about submitting this thing to publishers.


2. Keep going with my current "decluttering" project. I started a few months ago to work on decluttering my life, and I want to keep this up. There is just too much "crap" in my life, and I need to get rid of those things I just don't need to keep around anymore. These things include not only that old coffee pot I haven't used in a year, or those pants I haven't worn since freshman year in college, but also files on my computer, so called "friends" who only drag me down, and self-imposed obligations that are helping noone, least of all myself.

3. Get organized. This one sort of follows with the previous one, but I spent too much of this year in a sort of chaos mode, so I really want to keep better track of my time and my stuff, so I have less chaos and more peace.

4. Get up half an hour earlier on weekdays. I'm really sick and tired of constantly running late in the mornings, so I need to change my routine so that I'm up at least 30 minutes earlier during the week. If this requires going to bed 30 minutes earlier as well, than so be it, but I really want to stop running late every morning.

5. Travel more. For several years now I had to put traveling on a shelf because my job was so overwhelming that the thought of taking time off only served to stress me out, which sort of defeated the purpose of taking a vacation. With this new job, I don't have that problem anymore. That little trip I took to Ft. Lauderdale last month woke up the "travel bug" and I've been bitten once again. So, in 2009, I plan to travel more.

6. Date. There, I said it. This is the year I will go on actual, real life dates. It's time folks, I'm getting out there.

And there you have it, my 6 main goals for the year. Other than that, my last, bonus one, is this:

7. Keep enjoying life, appreciating every day, and focusing on the important stuff, not stressing the little things.

What are your resolutions/goals??