New Year’s Resolutions 2012
To begin with, this:
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2011/12/my-new-year-wish.html
and also, this:
http://www.marcandangel.com/2011/12/11/30-things-to-stop-doing-to-yourself/
Last year’s resolutions were good ones. Solid. Achievable. Measurable. However, I did not meet as many of them as I’d hoped. With some, I managed to be half successful. Some I missed altogether. Here’s last year’s list, for your amusement and for mine: http://thechamberedheart.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-years-resolutions-novel.html
This year, in keeping with Mr. Gaiman’s advice, I’m going to make mistakes. Lots of mistakes. Tons of them. I’m going to make a fool of myself making mistakes. Kinda scary… But that’s going to be my goal: Make messy, amazing mistakes. Be afraid.
With that in mind, here are my goals for 2012:
Personal Resolutions
Travel – We took no major trips in 2011, sad to say. Various factors including the price of gasoline kept us from taking our 12-state road trip last summer, and every other trip we planned got bumped and slashed and back-burnered.
This year, we’ve had to be a bit more aggressive with our savings, but we have managed to secure airfare to London and a lovely flat in Notting Hill for a Spring Break trip to the UK. Great Britain, prepare to be invaded!
Television - Last year, in regards to television viewing, we were doing well until along came American Idol. My hour-and-a-half of TV viewing became two hours until James Durbin exited the stage, and then I foreswore the show forever. That is a promise to which I’ll be sticking. I have no perspective when it comes to reality TV, so it’s best avoided altogether. Katya stuck with her less than 90 minutes of TV goal, so she gets a plus in that category (if we were keeping score; which we totally are). We kept up with Glee each week once AI had run its course…
Then summer hit and we discovered Doctor Who, Sherlock, and Merlin on Netflix. Curse you BBC! Obviously, we have to strike a balance here. Luckily, we’ve watched everything on Netflix. Unluckily, we’re now hooked on three new shows!
Therefore, we will have to use our Telly Time wisely. I’m setting a goal for two hours of TV watching during the week, with the addendum of extra time allowed during the weekend.
Reading Goal – Rocked this one two years in a row. My goal this year was 40 books; I read 42 (Here’s my BookList: http://www.thechamberedheart.com/Book_Lists.html) This year, my goal will again be 40 because that seems both reasonable and enjoyable. I’ll post a Year-In-Review this weekend as well, because I read a lot of good books this year. There will be recommendations. Oh yes.
Health Resolutions
A mixed bag of successes and failures in this category from 2010 to 2011. While I wasn’t as sedentary in 2011 as I was in 2010, I didn’t lose the weight I’d gained (I didn’t gain any either; that’s nice) and my exercise routine is about as gaping as Smeagol’s teeth. I did participate in the Cap10K, but I only ran about half of it. Over the Summer, I used the Couch-2-5K app on my iPod to get up to running 4K without stopping. Then school began and I got sick. Really, really sick. Sick for a month. Then it got cold, then the holidays… blah blah. See above, re: Mixed bag.
This year, I’m going to combine the Couch-2-5K app with yoga at least twice a week to lose the eleven pounds I’ve gained since 2009. I have work-out/diet buddies, too: Matt and Felicia, we are in this together! The Couch-2-5K app is a 9 week program, which means I should complete it by March 8th if I start it now. The Capital 10K is March 25th. This is a good plan. Anyone with me?
As for the diet… I have never felt better health-wise than when I was on the Paleo diet. It’s a challenge to maintain because there are many off-limits foods, but I am again going to try to implement it. The diet allows for three splurges each week, too. I’ve already started my food diary in preparation for the diet disembarkation. Eleven pounds in nine weeks. We shall see.
Career Resolutions
Again, mixed success and failure in this category. I wrote a ton in 2011, but most of it has been on the computer, not in my speckled compositions journals. I still pack one around with me, just in case, but my entire NaNo novel, two short stories, and all 30 Poem-A-Day poems found their home here, on my Lappy. I do have a writing goal, and that is to write 2,000 words each week. Whether that’s on the computer or in a journal, it matters not. What matters is that I continue to write.
Where I failed last year was in submitting work, both mine and Katrina’s. She’s got two more short stories ready to submit; I’ve got a semi-edited novel and a couple of short stories to work on as well. I’m stuck here. Maybe this is where the frightening mistakes can come in?
So, my goal this year is to keep writing 2,000 a week. I have a pet project I’m writing, a romantic comedy about a single mom trying to date. This is a gift for Amber, my cousin, because she is a great person and has a great laugh, and for my roommate and best friend, Matt, who likes the stories I write.
I also wrote a Doctor Who novel in November for NaNoWriMo. I’ll be posting new chapters each week to The Chambered Heart, and the link for that is right here: http://www.thechamberedheart.com/Cosmos01.html
As for Katrina’s writing, I’ll continue searching for a venue for her stories. She’s not old enough for most contemporary magazines, and she’s too old for Stone Soup… Maybe I should launch a magazine for stories written by teens? Hmmm….
In summary, (I feel like I need a chart or animated graphic of some sort):
Travel – Go to London, baby!
TV – Two hours a week during school weeks
Reading – 40 books
Fitness – Lose 11 pounds; complete Couch-2-5K program
Diet – Paleo diet, with three splurges a week
Writing – 2,000 words a week, Poem-A-Day in April, NaNoWriMo in November, continue to post The Cosmos Within, find a venue for Katrina’s stories
Guiding principle: Follow Neil Gaiman’s advice and do scary things that might not work out. Awesome! Happy New Year, everyone. May 2012 be blessed.
