Hello 2012!
Well, as everyone knows, a new year is upon us, and that means it is time for New Year's Resolutions.
Last year I kept my resolutions intentionally vague so they'd be easier to accomplish. Let's see what they were and how I did:
- Don't stay up as late. I'd say this one was a wash. I did no better or worse than previous years. Sometimes I'd stay up late, and sometimes I wouldn't. And in light of my last post, I don't think I'll be stressing too much about this in the future...
- Be better about working when I'm supposed to, so I can enjoy the time when I'm not supposed to be working. For the most part I did pretty well at this. I could be better though. But I was definitely much better than I have been in the past.
- Eat better. Another wash. There are two things that help us eat better in our household. A) planning meals ahead of time. If you wait until you are about to cook to decide what you are going to eat, you usually choose something easy. And usually if something is easy that means it is prepackaged and lacking in healthy goodness. B) having a clean kitchen. I'm in charge of the dishes around here, and historically I've been pretty bad about that.
- Be more active. Definitely succeeded here.
- Be a better friend. I'd say slightly better than a wash. I responded to more emails than past years probably, but was still an atrocious correspondent. But I think I did a pretty good job of staying in touch with people. I knew what most people were up to.
So overall I don't think I did all that great with my new years resolutions. And I think that was a direct consequence of having not been specific enough. Basically, I just plain forgot about them.
My new plan is to make new years resolutions with very clear rules. The only requirement about the rules though is that the resolutions have low barriers to entry. Basically instead of say, making it my resolution to walk 10,000 steps everyday, I'd make my resolution to intentionally walk 500. That way it is easy to do and if I'm busy or stressed I can do it real quick and get it over with. But odds are, if I get out there and do the small requirement I'll over achieve and to go with our example, walk much more than 500.
Anyway, here goes:
- Do some form of core exercise every day. Requirements for core exercise are that I do one of the following: A) 10 push ups or B) 60 seconds of planks. Both of those are easy enough these days, that if I get to the end of the day and haven't done my core workout yet, I could easily do them right before I go to sleep. So, far this year, I'm 4 for 4 with this one.
- Run one race a month. I think having something to train for gets you motivated and keeps you on track. This is kind of expensive, so maybe make a part of the resolution to find cheap races.
- Do dishes every day we are in our home. Like I mentioned above, we eat healthier when we have a clean kitchen. Now, everyday might sound like a lot for someone who has historically been pretty terrible about this. But let me tell you, starting in mid-November I've been doing exactly this. If I do it before I go to sleep there usually aren't very many and it is pretty painless. I'm excused from this one if we're travelling somewhere. I think it is fair to expect that when other people visit our home, we'll do the dishes and when we visit their home, they do the dishes. That way, if either of us are on vacation, we don't have to do dishes. I really do hate doing dishes.
- Plan out at least two meals a week ahead of time. Doesn't matter what we plan, even if it is unhealthy, but at least two meals can't be decided upon the night of. Again, like I said above, generally we eat healthier if we do this.
- Make monthly saving goals. Start out by recording all money transactions so we have a means of measuring this. We've done a good job of saving this last year when we can, but haven't made any concrete goals. I think a part of being financially responsible is making goals about how much you want to spend and save, and sticking to them. That way you are held accountable and can't say, "oh just one more pair of Smartwool socks" every time you go to REI (what can I say, my S.O. likes pink Smartwool socks and I like spoiling her!).
- Be a better friend. Same as last year, but with a new requirement: respond to at least one email or message from a friend a week.
Well, there they are! Basically the same in spirit as last years (eat healthier, stay in shape, be a good friend, though minus the work stuff—I'm getting pretty good at that), plus some money stuff. With one notable exception: hard concrete requirements. Though the requirements should all be pretty easy.
I think the daily resolutions have a better chance of happening than the others, so we'll see how things go. I'll be sure to keep you updated!
What are everyone else's New Year's Resolutions?
Here's to a new year!
5 January 2012 07:52am UTC • 79 views • 4 comments
Tagged with newyear, resolutions, change, yearinreview
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4 comments
Sailing Master Keri
6 January 2012 12:14am UTC
Great list! I especially like your resolution of doing dishes everyday! :)
My only resolution is also to do some form of core exercise each day. My minimums are: 5 push ups or 30 seconds of planks. I'm hoping to do more than that most days, so we'll see how it goes!
Seamonster Mom
6 January 2012 02:49am UTC
I started a list several weeks ago because I thought it would help me with my retirement. I hoped a list would keep me from getting scattered among many activities. When I got to #12 and wasn't even close to listing all the things I want to do. I gave up and started studying the TV schedule. So here are my resolutions: 1) Choose a few activities to concentrate on; 2) Dabble in whatever else I want to but don't set goals about those things; and 3) exercise 6 days a week, even if only a little. Number one will probably be the hardest and will be a year-long project!
Dread Pirate Benjamin
6 January 2012 07:10am UTC
Two more I forgot to mention:
Take one photo a day I just got a new camera and want to make sure I am using it for all it is worth and that means getting better at taking photos and that means practicing taking photos. It is amazing how much you can practice photography. From using the camera to planning the shot to capturing the right moment. It is all so hard! This resolution means I'm going to end up with A LOT of shots of the cats...
Read one book a month. I don't feel as strongly about this one, since sometimes I get busy but I think it is a reasonable goal that I always be working on a book and making progress. We'll make this a tentative resolution and see how it goes this year. Next year it might get moved up to a full resolution.
I have an ambitious year ahead of me I guess! Let's hope we can do it!
Erik the Redish-orange
6 January 2012 05:14pm UTC
I don't do New Year's Resolutions. Maybe I'm just using a different operational definition of "resolution" than everyone else, but when I think of resolutions I think of things like lose weight, quit smoking, and get out of debt. In my opinion all of these "resolutions" lack any gravity because they are not measurable, have no time frame, and are generally vague. I see them as wishes waiting to be given up on, nothing more.
I am a goal setter. To me goals have more power than resolutions if they are set in ways that are specific, measurable, and that have a deadline.
I set a bunch of goals for 2012. In fact, I set goals for 7 areas of my life. They are as wide ranging as going to the Olympic Trials this summer to cooking 2 times per week to running every day to reading 45 books.
Having a whole bunch of goals is overwhelming, though, and they also lose their power because they get lost in the shuffle. So, I took what I learned from running every day in 2011 and expanded on it for 2012. I came up with 5 daily disciplines that, if I can make into habit by doing them every day, should enable me to accomplish many of the goals on my list.
I'd write more about it here, but I've already used lots of the material I was planning on using in an upcoming blog post, so if you're interested you'll just have to check that out!