I hate the term New Years resolution. I don’t know why, maybe because the term has become almost meaningless. It seems that 90% of people make the same ones: lose weight, save money, eat out less. I used to do it to, until one year I just decided to say screw it. It’s not that resolutions are bad, but deciding to set a date for a lifestyle change (which all of these things require) is not a good idea. Last year I decided in March that I wanted to get healthy, on December 1st I had lost 20lbs, overhauled my diet, and was routinely exercising. The holiday season hasn’t helped those things, but I’m already getting back on track this week. This taught me that “big” life changes need to come when your ready and that the New Year is generally not the right time, for me at least.
Of course as I say this, I have a list of things I want to do this year. I’m calling them goals, not resolutions, and sticking with things that can be done in a short amount of time. Here is my list, we’ll see how many I can check of by next December.
- Go on a blind date – I’m not sure why I want to do this, but over the last few months I’ve come to the conclusion that I think this would be fun. I’m confident that even if we obviously were not right for each other, I could still show the girl a great time.
- Look up my relatives – My great-great-grandfather came through Saint Paul on his way to Montana. I want to see if I can find any news clipping about him.
- Win something – I’m the master of losing games of chance. I want to win $5 from a scratch ticket just so I can say I did it once.
- Learn to ice skate – I’m living in Minnesota and feel it’s time to learn the essential part of the state sport. This way if I end up raising a family here I can teach my kids how to skate instead of them teaching me.
- Go on a solo vacation – I want to travel somewhere for a long weekend completely by myself.
- Bike a century – I’ve been biking regularly for the last three summers. Last year I biked 40 miles in a single ride. This year I want to try and push it to 100.
- Finish my 2009 MN to do list – You’ll have to wait until Thursday to see it.
How about you, do you have any New Year Goals?
