New Year, New Goals

I hate the phrase “New Year’s Resolutions.”  Resolutions sound ephemeral, like something done purely as a mental exercise.  Across the country, in Congress and state legislatures, resolutions are passed regularly that have zero force and zero effect.  Similarly, New Year’s Resolutions are made by people every year and broken before Velentine’s Day.  Forget resolutions: let’s make some goals.  Goals are good.  Goals have gravitas.  And let’s write them down, because, you know, an unwritten goal is merely a wish.  After that, let’s figure out how we’re going to achieve these goals. 

 To start with, let’s review last year’s goals:

1.  Learn to play a complete song on the guitar.  No more riffs and disjointed melodies, learn a complete song and be able to play it from memory.  Don’t sing unless forced at gunpoint, but at least be able to play it.  Song chosen: Landslide by Fleetwood Mac.

Results: Still working on it, although I have learned to play a lot of complete songs on both guitar and drums on Rock Band (yeah, I know, It’s only a video game, but I should get some credit, because the drum parts especially do require a lot of practice).

2.  Run a marathon in under 4 hours.  I have run five marathons but have never broken four hours. 

Results: 2007 was supposed to be the year to accomplish this, but I opted to do the Ragnar Relay instead, which is a 177-mile relay along Utah’s Wasatch Back.  It turned out great, but cannot be compared to a marathon in terms of time.  I plan to run the Wasatch Back again this year, but would still like to break four hours in a marathon.

3.  Publish a piece of fiction.   I have written a number of short stories and poems which I would like to publish.  I had one story published in a literary journal in college, but have not had anything published since then.

Results: I started blogging in 2007 and I have published a number of things here on my blog, and have also become a guest or permanent blogger on a few group blogs.  I am still working on getting published in print.

Ok, so based on the results of last year’s goals, I still have some work to do on them, so I will continue my efforts to complete those goals, but would like to make a couple more for 2008:

1.  Complete a triathlon.  I have done a couple before, but would like to get into them in a serious way.  Doing at least one this year would be a good start.

Plan:  I’ll pick out at least one triathlon from the list in the race schedule and put it on my calendar to work toward.  Then I’ll schedule regular workouts every week so I can make progress toward it. 

2.  Finish my first book.  I have started a children’s book called The Forest Kingdom, and would like to get it finished this year.  My daughter is helping me with it, so hopefully we can both spend some time on it this year.

Plan:  I’ll publish the chapters here on my blog, so I can see the progress I’m making, then I’ll schedule time with my daughter each week so that we can work on it together until it’s finished.

Let me know your thoughts on goals and what you want to accomplish this year.