At their finest – here’s to hoping that I can keep them this year:
1. Finish with the Finances
On January 1st, 2004 I owed about $17,000 – going into 2005, that number is down to less than $6,000 (not counting my tv). As I’ve already figured out what needs to be done to reach the goal of being completely debt free, my first and most important resolution is to simply carry-on with what I started last year. ‘Nuff said.
2. Lose Weight
Lots of it!!! Obviously this is quite possibly the most famous ill-kept resolution of all-time, but for both asthetic and health reasons, I can’t afford to be a part of that statistic any longer. Instead of losing weight last year, I gainedit – oops! Nonetheless, my steps to reach this goal are as follows:
- Exercise: First of all, work my way up to being able to do so every single day once again. This will include sit-ups in the mornings and evenings, along with a longer program of at least twenty minutes 3x a week. Additionally, at least two days a week will feature a more extensive workout, such as (but not limited to) swimming or racquetball.
- Diet: I will only eat out for lunch a maximum of once per week, and even then I will attempt to do so sparingly. As I progress with my workout routines, I will also strive to make my meals more regular and healthy, the focus of which being a balanced dinner.
- Lifestyle: My number one excuse for not following these ideals in the past has always been a lack of time, so I will make it a point to allow extra time in my schedule for such events, cutting out things that I’d rather do if need be. I will also work to balance my sleep schedule so that I get an even amount both during the week and on weekends, thus hopefully eliminating my desire to sleep well into the afternoon on those days when I don’t have any particular place to go. 🙁
- Ultimatum: If I have not lost at least ten pounds by the end of January, I will make the significant change to my diet of only allowing myself to eat salads for both lunch and dinner until I meet this goal — note that this is not for the dietary benefits, but more or less intended to be a punishment for being lazy! Let’s hope that it doesn’t come to that…3. Get Back into the Writing in a Big Way
For probably the last six or eight months, I’ve really only written stuff for the paper that I could get paid for, which has taken a lot of the fun out of writing for me. I’ve made several attempts to get back into it already, but always seem to find myself so buried under ideas that I’d wanted to do months ago that I can never make any progress going forward. I miss having my writing there for me as a release, not to mention the interaction with readers who actually enjoy what I put down on the page, so I want to get back into that by finally organizing my writing into something that I can not only manage, but will also be able to keep up with on a weekly basis…
- The Plan:Sit down and decide what avenues I’ve already persued, which ones I’d like to continue persuing, and what new things I’d like to try. Factor in which of these have the potential to earn me money, and make sure that fun ones will be included as well.
- The Venue:As attached as I am to the current layout, with all of this in the works now is the time to give comedic-genius.com a facelift. Take this opportunity to enhance my own programming skills by converting my past content into something more database-friendly that will make future upgrades easier, but don’t allow such a task to stand in the way of progress. If need be, create a new site and gradually move over this content as time permits…
- (Dealing with) The Old: I have many ideas from last year that I’d still like to explore, but in the interest of moving forward, not much time to deal with them. I am giving myself the timeframe of one weekto both organize and write any old columns that I’ve had pending on the table that are still time-sensitive to 2004. This does not include larger stories and other projects, but any ideas for columns that are tied to 2004 that I do not finish by January 10th will be discarded.
- The New: My plan will also include developing a reasonable schedule to produce new material, and this also includes site updates, cam postings, and even blogging. I understand that if I am going to include these “extras” on a website that features my writing, they also need to be kept up-to-date to give readers something worth coming back to read week after week. While it may not always be my best work, my goal is to give them something new each and every week.
4. Keep It Clean
Pretty simple for this one – I’ve developed a bad habit over the past year of not cleaning up after myself as quickly as I should, thus resulting in massive cleaning fests every week or so. These “fests” are both disgusting and a waste of my time, so I strive to keep things organized throughout my day as to not have to come back later and play catch-up.
- Problem Area #1 – The Kitchen — I just need to allow myself a little more time so that I won’t feel rushed and so inclined to put things off until later.
5. Go Out and See Places
This is another one that carries over from last year, although now as work is letting up a little, hopefully I’ll have some more time to see to its execution. It took me over a year to get to Disney World after I moved here, and I don’t want another year to go by without my seeing some of the more prestigious sights. By integrating some other things that I like to do – taking photographs, spending time with friends, or maybe even writing about them afterwards – I hope to be able to see more of this place to which I moved some fifteen months ago…
6. Life, Love, and the Pursuit of, Well, Love
It’s no secret that I haven’t seen much of the fairer sex this year, and by much I guess that I mean any. This could be blamed on a number of different factors, but the biggest recurring theme is probably that simply put – I have an extreme lack of self confidence when it comes to dealing with most women. Mind you, this lessens as I get to know them better as individuals, but typically by the time we get to that level, we’re thus considered friends – i.e. relationships are consequently out of the question. I think that part of this can be helped by making progress with my other goals here, but even moreso I think that I just need to learn to take some chances where women are concerned and try some new things every once in a while…taking care not to compromise my own values, of course. I may not meet the woman of my dreams in a local dive bar, but chances are she’s not just going to waltz unexpectingly through my living room during primetime, either…
7. The Great Move, Part Deux
Pending everything else falls together as I have laid out above, I’d like to transcend from renter to home-owner by the end of the year. Of course, this will depend on factors out of my control, including the whole job thing here in a matter of months and what I may qualify for from the bank, but it would really mean a lot to me to be able to decorate a house with lights next Christmas. I may consider a condo or townhouse later on in the year, if everything comes up right, but a yard suitable for owning a dog would just be great!
Seven’s not too big of a number, now is it???
And as this list was inspired by cowkitty from her own post yesterday, I’ve also got to say that I think the idea of the Pay It Forward concept is a great one. Mind you, I’m far enough out of the loop that I had to google the original movie site from five years ago just to find out what it meant, but it was worth it! Definitely something that we all could stand to do just a little more often…