1. Develop a concrete plan for Dana & I to be in the same place by the end of 2010
and
2. Make 2010 a cash-flow positive year, despite buying a car
I accomplished both of these goals, the latter by less than $100, but I was generally pretty happy with the way 2010 went. I therefore was planning to go about 2011 the same way, with a couple of resolutions that I would slowly progress, without much planning and without putting them down on paper. However, a read of Vincci's super-organized goal-setting process and a realization that my goals this year were more incremental than 2010's prompted me to put something down on paper, albeit a month late. I think that will give me more of an incentive to keep to my plan to accomplish these goals and allow me to set more than just the one or two I had in my head. Some of them, as Vincci also noted, will probably carry over to 2012 as multi-year goals. Anyway, here goes:
1. Eat healthier in 2011 than 2010
Obviously this is one of the most popular resolutions around, and one of the hardest ones to keep. I therefore feel that this resolution is better attacked by breaking it down into a number of sub-goals that can be individually tracked and accomplished.
1a. Limit eating of unhealthy snacks (primarily chips/Cheetos/pretzels/popcorn) to one bag per workout. If I average 3 workouts per week, I want to limit myself to three bags of junk food. Specifically exempt from this resolution are small quantities of one-time snacks, like stealing a gummy bear from a friend.
1b. Limit unhealthy meals to 1 time per week. This resolution, like most, has a subjective dividing line, which I will define as precisely as I can to avoid cheating. Therefore, I will define unhealthy meals as: burger chains, fried chicken, westernized Chinese food, pizza, chicken wings and anything else clearly lacking nutritional value. Not included will be meals that are primarily healthy with a small unhealthy element (a mostly healthy breakfast with bacon included) or "tier 2 semi-unhealthy food," such as red meat, high sodium foods, alcohol, or cheese.
1c. Once I have moved to a new place with Dana (June) I will commit to home-cooking at least 3 dinners per week, with at least one new healthy recipe tried per week.
2. Make progress on my bucket list.
Right now, I have seventeen things on my bucket list. Many of them are clearly not achievable in 2011, but my goal is to knock at least one thing off the list, while making progress on others. The one that I will definitely make progress on is "Visit 100 countries," as I have booked trips to visit at least 3, possibly 4, new countries this year.
Others that I could possibly accomplish this year include:
Getting a speeding ticket for running too fast
See Peyton Manning play
Attending a taping of the Colbert Report
Run every day for a month
I could also make progress toward running a marathon or attending the Summer Olympics. I also expect to grow the list, so it is possible I could accomplish something that isn't on the list currently.
3. Crack 20 mins for a 5k.
This was a borderline 2010 resolution, but I did not make it official and did not accomplish it in 2010, so I will make it official for 2011. My current best since graduating from university is just under 21 minutes. I will try to run the Mother's Day run this year, and if that doesn't happen, then I will target the fall for an attempt.
4. Continue simplifying my life and focus on high-quality, multi-use possessions.
This is a tricky one to explain, because I am not talking about rejecting materialism or aggressively reducing the number of possessions that I have. I am merely talking about continuous evaluation of the question "Do I really need this stuff". Additionally, I want to focus on having higher-quality possessions instead of more stuff. I have already started working on this in 2010, with projects like digitizing my DVD collection so that I can get rid of the DVD's, digitizing as many bills/account statements as possible and significantly improving the quality of my wardrobe. I want to specifically exempt books from this equation, as I have many books and believe that they are a collection worth keeping, and adding to.
Areas where I believe I can make progress in 2011 include consolidating toiletries, building an efficient, high quality kitchen in my new place, continuing to digitize information and continuing wardrobe turnover.
5. My fifth and last 2011 resolution is to improve my arm strength. For several years, arm strength has been a weakness of mine because of its lack of applicability to running. While I have developed serviceable upper body strength in my chest and shoulders, my arms still need work. I will progress on this by tacking on at least one arm exercise or superset at the end of runs, when time permits. I may consider trying P90x to improve overall general fitness & strength.
I will try to update progress monthly. I also want to get back to my "22nd Century Economy" post series fairly soon.
