January 4, 2011

New Year's resolutions

I don't think I made any specific New Year's resolutions last year, so in that respect I didn't fail to live up to any. In fact I looked back at the blog posts from last January, and it looks like I resolved to procrastinate (Nailed It!) I did decide to move down to San Diego last January, so maybe any goals were tied up under that heading.

But this year I am going to set more specific goals. I was out on a run December 30th when I decided to take on the Dry January goal I had read about a couple days earlier. As I ran, I decided that I would keep this monthly theme throughout the year. Each month I will take on a new challenge. By focusing on one thing at a time, I think I will have a better chance at success. Also, there is a built in ending point so I think it will be easier to wrap my head around the commitment.

January's goal is no alcohol except for the beer garden after the marathon. In February, I plan to work out every day. As I am feeling a little burned out on running, I will either run, bike, swim or go to the gym each day. If I commit to doing it every day, hopefully it will become a habit and I won't need a marathon on the calendar to pressure me to work out.

At this point, I think March's goal will be to write something everyday. I don't know if I will be ready to start another big project, so it may be a variety of things. Other future monthly goals may involve eating a piece of fruit everyday, giving up fast food, continuing not to smoke (OK that one's a cheat).

There are a few more generic things I would like to do in the new year. These include taking the dog to the beach more often, losing weight, tracking expenses more closely, spending less money, calling friends and family regularly, reducing clutter, etc. I am also planning on taking a picture every day. I probably won't post all that many, but just the exercise should put me more in tune with my surroundings.

I hope to accomplish several of the generic goals, but I am interested to take on the monthly challenge this year. I think the structure will help quite a bit, and of course it would be great to carry many of the goals beyond the 31 day limit.

Are there any good ones you are planning to do that I can add to my own list?

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UPDATE

Here is a list of the monthly resolutions I ended up doing in 2011

Jan - no alcohol
Feb - workout every day
Mar - write an hour every day
Apr - no fast food
May - no coffee
June - no tv
July - better food choices/lose 10#
Aug - meat only once a week
Sep - 30 minutes or less online
Oct - become a morning person
Nov - NaNoWriMo
Dec - Publish Share the Road

You can find recaps, struggles, and thoughts about each month here.