New Year's Resolutions

Since I'm new to blogging, I've been reading a bunch of other blogs to get an idea of how other people are doing things - structuring their thoughts, deciding what's important to say, etc.

Apparently, this is the week to blog about what you resolve to do this coming year.  I don't do resolutions.  Never have.  I think setting goals that you will ultimately fail at is counterproductive at best, and long slow bleed on your self esteem at worst.  And most people lose sight of them within the first few months of the year anyhow.

I do set GOALS for each year.  Concrete tasks, with start and end dates, and specific conditions that define success - eat less of this, do more of that, just doesn't cut it for me.  And since even this system is more likely to fail than succeed, I try to set more than 12 goals.  One for each month, plus a few bonuses to soften the blow of failures.  Here's a small sampling of what I plan to do this year (with the full list coming probably tomorrow):

Run 1200+ miles - Shouldn't be too hard if I stay focused, but last year I wanted to run 1000+ miles and didn't make it.

Cook a crown roast - Watching Food Network tends to make me feel as if I can use the internet to learn to do anything.  I've been meaning to do this for a long time, I think this is the year.

Try every variety of Sam Adams beer - I've been working on this one for a few years now.  It is hard to find certain varieties here in WV, and they keep coming up with new ones to make my list longer.  But I am determined, and will work as long and hard at this goal as is necessary.

Learn sign language - I took the first steps on this one last year, I just need to work consistently at it this time around.


I think you get the picture.  Well defined goals with well defined conditions for success.  I try to avoid anything ongoing, anything that requires constant willpower to accomplish - check out one of my favorite blogs, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, where Ramit Sethi delves into the reasons willpower doesn't work.  I pay meticulous attention to my finances, which has lead me to read many many finance articles and blogs, and Ramit's blog is one of the most useful sites on the internet in this category.