I didn’t put this up immediately for two reasons: first, everyone is doing new year’s resolution posts right now and I insist on being “different.” Second, I wanted to put everything down on “paper,” let it sit awhile and then come back and take a another look at it before finalizing the list.
My goals for the year 2011:
1. Submit writing every month to a publicaton – with the implication being that someone somewhere will publish me
2. Develop, outline, draft and write two short stories
3. Participate in NaNoWriMo
4. Review Latin – Poetry and plays might be the best way to do this
5. Learn algebra – I knew this at one point I need to brush up on my math skills
6. Do the Lake Berryessa two mile swim
7. Bike a century
8. Buy as few new things as possible – this is an attempt to reduce, re-use, recycle, and repair more.
9. Do more with my hobbies (besides gaming) – I have a lot of cool stuff lying around that I could be doing things with, this is what this is here for.
10. Jump out of a plane – I needed something to round out the list!
There you have it folks! How will I do? Only 362 days until you find out!
EDIT – I forgot what the real number ten was supposed to be until just now. I suppose it can be number eleven:
11. Meditate everyday – I’m specifically thinking of Zazen.
This post was supposed to go up two weeks ago, but life has a way of driving you 500+ miles away from your home and dropping you in the middle of “the Happiest Place on Earth” during the “Busiest Time of the Year” (more on that later.) In the last post I reviewed my goals for 2010, in this post I will be talking about what I learned from making goals and then trying to spend a year accomplishing them.
1. You have to care about the goal – If you are mentally and emotionally invested in the goal you’ll never meet it. This was the problem with my skydiving and SCUBA license goals. These are two things that would be fun to do but they were really just whims, things I’d like to do but have no real reason or purpose behind doing them.
2. Make goals that can be done with others – Doing things on your own is hard, especially when the task is difficult. Surrounding yourself with other people makes it easier, they can provide encouragement, advice, support, someone to compete with, etc. Humans are naturally social (yes, even nerds need occasional human interaction) and harnessing that in-born desire is a great way to insure you meet your goals. Better yet let those around you know this is a goal and they’ll be sure to provide even more help!
3. Make goals that make sense for tomorrow, not today or yesterday – Do you know where you are going as a person? What are your professional aspirations? What do you do in your spare time? Who are you hanging out with? These might not seem like important questions when it comes to goal making but they are! Two of my goals last year (Painting armies and making a gaming table) didn’t happen because the gaming group I used to spend a great deal of time with split up and my tabletop wargaming came to a dead halt. With no one to game with there wasn’t any incentive to spend my limited free time painting tiny metal soldiers. I knew that before the goal was made, but felt guilty having these things lying around and not using them. That is a perfect example for planning goals for yesterday instead of tomorrow.
4. Make goals that scale – New Year’s resolutions or goals are supposed to be life altering acts of improvement. Not your to-do list for the first month of January. You can make said goals but there isn’t much of a point putting them on a list. A goal to get in shape, while on everyone’s list, is perfect as a year-long goal. It scales nicely and is easily broken down into steps.
And that is it. If your goals/resolutions follow these four guidelines you (and I) should find meeting your goals easier than you thought. It goes without saying that it won’t be easy to change your life, just easier than it would have been before you read this =P
Patrick understands that if you never try, you never fail
I made nine resolutions at the beginning of this year. I didn’t spend too much time thinking about my resolutions. Looking back most of them seem to be things I want to scratch off of my bucket list (which I have never made.) So, it comes as no surprise that I haven’t done very well this year. I’m hoping to take what I learned about resolution making this year (more about that on Wednesday) and apply it to next year’s resolutions. So let’s look at the list:
1. Get my SCUBA diving license – This is just something I’ve always wanted to do and I nearly did get my license back in high school. I made this resolution without thinking about my schedule or where I live… And, despite looking into programs it never happened. I think a big reason for this was because none of my friends are interested in SCUBA nor is my spouse and going through all the effort of getting the license and then not having anyone to enjoy it with made little sense. FAIL
2. Go skydiving – Another thing I’d just like to do sometime. Again, I had trouble finding friends who would want to do this with me and it seemed a lot of money to spend on something I couldn’t enjoy with people. Unlike the SCUBA license I still really want to do this so it might appear on next year’s list. FAIL
3. Become an Oddfellow – I’ve lived in this town for the last six years, four of those years were spent at the University. I was actively involved on campus in various clubs and organizations. Despite that I never felt like part of the community. In an attempt to do just that I investigated a number of the social fraternities, clubs, and organizations in town. Organizations like the Masons, Kiwanis, Rotary Club, etc. The one that was the most active internally and in the community was the Odd Fellows. I attended meetings and got to know the members and what they do in the community and after seeing all the good work they do, and all the fun they have doing it. I successfully petitioned the the Odd Fellows and became a member earlier in the year. WIN
4. Brush up on my Latin by reading Harrius Potter et Philosphi Lapis Fairy Tales in Latin – I’ve read a lot of books this year, at last count I’m at 65, none of them were in Latin though. This resolution came about over my guilt. I have a BA in Classical Civilizations and in earning that degree I took a number of Latin classes. Since college I’ve yet to use any of that knowledge and I’m sure it’s going to rot. I’m definitely doing this next year. FAIL
5. Participate in NaNoWriMoWrite a10,000 word story Write any story – As you can see this resolution went through a number of revisions. Even with all the revisions I failed to complete it. It wasn’t that I did no writing this year, I wrote a number of pieces of poetry and I’ve been updating this site regularly. When it comes to bigger writing projects though I find myself incapable. I have several ideas for stories, but no writing to show for it. This is going to be a resolution next year, along with submitting work for publication (terrifying, I know.) FAIL
6. Complete my Battlefleet Gothic fleet, Horde Army, and Chaos Army – I’ve got a number of metal miniatures. I love the little things. I love putting them all on a table and rolling a bunch of dice to play with them! Sadly, I haven’t had much time for this hobby this year. I didn’t have much time for it last year either which is why this resolution is here. Sadly, I only painted once or twice this year. I was only able to complete of few of the Battlefleet Gothic models. My Hordes miniatures lie untouched and I’ve traded off my Chaos army to someone who has the time and inclination to good use. FAIL
7. Make a Gaming Table – I’ve got the boards and the glue in my garage. My friend has the sand in his. All I need to do is get these things together with a little paint and this will be done. Just not this year. FAIL
8. Climb half-dome – The spouse did this last year with her cousins and I missed out. So, I put this as a resolution and even reserved a camping space. When it came time to go though we couldn’t figure out what to do with the dog, as they’re not allowed in the park… We ended up not going. FAIL
9. Get in great shape – I’ve been working out at least three times a week, every week (barring some holiday and weather related) this year. It’s been swimming three times a week with core, arms, and leg work on the off days. This was the biggest resolution on the entire list and I’m thankful to report that it is a WIN.
TALLY: 2 out of 9
That isn’t a score anyone should be proud of and I’m not. There were a number of resolutions that could have been accomplished in a single day and weren’t. I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about why I failed so badly and I have a few ideas, as well as some ways around them. I’ll share them with you on Wednesday.
If you look back in the archives of the site you’ll find a heated discussion on several posts regarding the California Proposition 8. While I opposed Prop. 8, and still do, and the LDS church’s involvement in it is what ultimately convinced me to have my name taken off their records I still held out the hope that the Church would come around on their LGBT stance, as they did with Blacks in the Church.
It seems that a small step toward fully accepting LGBT into the Church has been taken. The Mormon church still thinks homosexual relationships and acting on homosexual thoughts is still a sin, but they no longer consider thoughts of such activities a matter for confession and therapy. This seems like a tiny, inconsequential step, and in many ways it is. But, it’s also a big shift from what has been standard church policy and not what I expected from a Church run by conservative, old, white men.
I’m hopeful that this is a first step and that as LGBT’s rights are recognized in the United States and across the world the LDS Church will continue to revise its procedures and statements until one day one of their prophets has the revelation that God loves LGBTs just as much as he loves the rest of us. If it doesn’t then the hope and nostalgia I still carry for what was a very large part of my life will die as will my respect for an organization that does a great deal of good work in this world.
I’m hopeful it won’t come to that though. They have taken this step and they’ll eventually take the others and the hateful bigots who hide amongst the many good people in the LDS church will have to find a new way to cover their hate.
You can call me a dreamer, that’s okay I’m in good company.
