I’ve taken a leaf out of Sarah’s book and decided that New Year’s resolutions are to be decided by the end of the month of January. After all, if you’re really going to commit to something, you should give the idea time to marinate (and Lord knows you don’t have time to let anything marinate between the end of November and the first week of January). By the end of the month, you’ve theoretically weeded out the impulse resolutions and are left with what you really want.
Anyway, here are mine. I tend to make two kinds of goals: specific, SMART objectives (“Concrete” resolutions) and general things I’d like to keep in mind (“Trajectory” resolutions).
Concrete
Stick to the 30-day rule
In general, my finances are under control. I automate saving, pay off credit cards monthly, and track spending categories semi-monthly. However, the next weakness to tackle is my tendency to impulse buy. The 30-day rule is an easy system designed to help curb this. Here it is
- If you have the urge to impulse buy, open up your 30-day doc and write down what you want to buy and the date that you want to buy it
- Don’t buy it right then. Instead, set a reminder (I use iPhone’s tasks synced with my work Outlook) 30-days out to revisit the purchase.
- If you still think it’s a good idea to buy after 30 days, go for it.
It’s that simple. And I’d like to implement it.
Limit book buying
In line with the above resolution, I’d like to limit my book purchasing. Not necessarily my book consumption, just how many I buy. The reason is simple: I have an alarming backlog of books to read (currently 55 paper books, 13 eBooks/PDFs, and 13 audio books, and don’t even get me started on my backlog of professional magazines!). Some of these I bought, others were gifts. Either way, I’d like to read them while still giving myself the freedom to read something that I hear about mid-year that looks really exciting.
So, I will be allowed to buy (or swap) no more than 6 books this year. This rule will be in force until I’ve gone through my book backlog.
Don’t worry, Mom: this stricture doesn’t apply to our book club 🙂
Self-publish one e-book
This resolution is courtesy of my colleague Sy. It’s pretty self-explanatory, and I committed to him (over the sacred altar of Luxe Burger) to do it.
I have some ideas that excite me. The most difficult obstacles are going to be figuring out the technical (how to publish, how to embed video, etc.) and marketing (title, blurb, A/B testing, etc.) aspects. But those’ll come after the writing.
Apropos: alpha and beta reader volunteers are welcome.
Trajectory
Get up early or die trying
(Most likely, Sarah will be the one to facilitate the “die trying” part.)
This is something I’ve struggled with for over a decade. I keep finding myself unable to get up earlier than I absolutely have to (and often even past then).
Here’s what I’ve tried over the years:
- putting the alarm across the room
- setting multiple concurrent alarms, with multiple alarm sounds, on multiple devices
- wearing a wrist band (the Jawbone UP) that vibrates around the time that I want to get up and when I’m in a light sleep cycle
- going to sleep early (like, 9pm)
- mantras to myself as I fall asleep about how I will wake up early
- having my roommates wake me up
- …probably a few others that aren’t coming to mind
Nothing’s worked. Not even a little bit. I still snooze and roll over and flop back into bed until I cut it razor thin to get into work on time. And, if I didn’t have a baby to wake me up, I’d put in an easy 12 hours of sleeping in during the weekends.
Well that ends this year! Or, well, maybe “gets better” this year. It will most certainly help me with several of my resolutions (e-book writing, finishing my degree, and going to the gym).
Give school its due attention
I’m currently finishing a BS in Human Resources Management, and I want to keep it a priority. My goal is to have completed the degree by May of 2015. So this year is pretty critical to making that happen.
So far, I’ve been doing a decent job of reading during the week and completing assignments over the weekend. I’d like to keep that up, and possibly step it up a notch.
Keep up with going to the gym
Thanks to the generosity of Sayah and Gumps, Sarah and I have had a membership to our local YMCA (which is conveniently a block away from our apartment) since January of 2013. We did a decent job of working out last year, oscillating between once and twice a week (and skipping several holiday and vacation-filled months). We also brought Liam to the pool a few times, and Sarah and her mom frequently take advantage of their Sunday morning Gentle Yoga class.
I’m very OK with this. I’d like to keep it up. If I end up doing more (thanks to getting up earlier), more power to me.
Read fewer “depressing” books
This resolution is courtesy of Sarah. I’m a big fan of non-fiction. Roughly half of the 60 books I read last year fell into this category. However, I find myself drawn to books that outline what’s wrong with the world: political corruption, economic inequality, cognitive biases, etc. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, except that I’m particularly prone to absorb negativity. And Sarah has mentioned that this isn’t especially pleasant for those living with me.
So I’m going to try to skew my reading selections more toward the positive. I’ll still take nibbles of non-fiction, but I’ll try to get it down to, say, 25% of my annual reading.
So that’s the plan. Wish me luck and, if you’re feeling spunky, help me stick to it!