New Years Resolutions...a little late

This New Years was kind of strange. Maybe it was Times Square that threw my off, but New Years Day came and went and I didn’t make ONE New Years resolution. It didn’t even enter my mind this year to do it. And I usually love to sit down with a glass of wine on New Years day and scribble all the ways that I’m going to be a better person in the new year. Sometimes I stick with them, and sometimes I don’t, but it’s always nice to set a few goals that stretch myself as a person. It’s so easy to drift around life and do the minimum. In fact, my personality lends itself to this laissez-faire approach. I have to engage myself, or I will remain detached. I’m not one of those work-oriented people who just wants to produce, produce, produce. I like relaxing and I like fun. Thus, my love-affair with the New Years resolution. Writing down some goals help steer me in the right direction, even if I abandon a few of them in the first month.

Well today, I’m going to continue the tradition and share with you guys 6 things I want to accomplish in 2009. I think the trick to the good resolution is to be realistic and remember who you are. You are not going to magically change personalities, so be aware of your gifts and limitations.

Anywho, here's the list:

1) Get healthy.
This goal has many little sub goals that I won’t bore you with here. Suffice it to say, I’m changing my attitude towards certain things and re-thinking others. My trip to the doctor was the first step. I now know I have a cholesterol problem which has led me to re-visit complete veganism until my next test (in four months). I joined a gym and am taking yoga, pilates and salsa. I’m also consistently taking calcium/vitamin D and a muli-vitamin.
GOAL: Be consistent with exercise (5 days a week), eat whole grains, lean protein and tons of produce, and take my vitamins every day.
2) Finish the rough draft of my novel.
I’ve known for years I love to write. College sort of sucked that out of me as I was forced to write boring paper after boring paper. Now that I’m out of that environment I’m starting to realize that I’m ready to revisit that part of my life.
GOAL: A chapter (or so) a week. And when I have the money, take some online advanced creative writing classes and a class on how to get published. (http://www.learningexchange.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=1011&CategoryID=5&SubCategoryID=45)
3) Run a 10K.
I hate exercise in general. Unless it’s entertaining, like a dance class or a yoga class, I’m not a huge fan. So why do I want to run a 10K, you ask? Well, because I don’t want to run it. It’s something I will have to push myself to do and that will be good for me.
GOAL: Register and train for a 10K this summer.
4) Be more honest with myself, and others.
Anyone who really knows me knows that sometimes I can be a bull-shitter. If something is bothering me, I don’t generally say anything. I pretend to agree with opinions that I don’t agree with. I agree to do things I don’t have time for and don’t want to do, because I want to be liked to the detriment of things I really care about. This applies to casual friendships more than really deep ones, but it happens quite a bit. Also, I lie to myself ALL the time to rationalize bad decisions. Not a good idea.
GOAL: Stop myself when I feel like I’m saying something or doing something just to get approval.
5) Take more risks.
I freely admit, I like to play it safe. When presented with two options, I will invariably go for the less risky option (although I did invest my 401K in the S&P, so maybe not…) I feel like sometimes you have to gamble big, to win big. OR lose big…but at least you’re doing something BIG. At least you’re doing something worthwhile.
GOAL: Instead of second guessing myself, I’m going to plunge into something I’ve always wanted to do. More on this later.
6) Save.
I’m setting a goal to have $5,000 in the bank at all times. You never know when something unexpected will happen.
GOAL: Save $100 a month for four years. And keep it in the bank! This time next year I should have $1200.

So that’s it! Keep it real, homies…