found drama

Since last year’s resolutions goals were such a success, I figured that I would do it again this time. Turning these “New Year’s resolutions” into goals and then making them measurable seems to be the way to go. Plus, all that measurability really lets the Inner Geek shine through with all that obsessive tracking and all those pretty graphs. So here goes the list for 2008:

1. Write for at least 2 hours every week. Stick with writing; make it a priority; the #1 priority. I did alright in the writing department during 2007 but I feel like I could do better. This year I will take the focus off of the word count and put it on the number of hours dedicated to writing-type activities. Under this umbrella, it will be easier to include relevant activities like outlining, research & brainstorming, revising, proofreading, and (of course) “writing proper”. That said, I would still like to target an average of 2,000 words per week.
2. Run or walk at least 10 miles every week. In other words: “Keep it up.” We’ll see how this one pans out. If ’08 is anything like ’07, I’ll do real well in the summer but not so well in those cooler winter months. No shame in that though. Not really? If nothing else, I would like to at least have this goal “hit” a minimum of 6 of the 12 months — especially since I only hit it five times in 2007.
3. Hike 10 new trails. An echo from last year’s list. In ’07, I was one shy of the full ten — bummer. I really think I can get in the full 10 during 2008. And to up the ante, I’ll add the following caveat: make at least two of those trails go up mountains that are over 4,000 feet.
4. Go climbing (or bouldering) at least once per week. I signed up for that rock gym membership; now to get my monthly EFT’s worth. I figure that I need to get over there at least three times per month to break even; fit in a few more visits to really make it worth my while. But it’s not about that; it’s about the exercise and the climbing.
5. Read at least 24 new books in 2008. I did so well on this one in 2007; “read 12 new books” was last year’s goal, which I managed to overshoot by more than double. So if “double” is our new baseline, let’s just come right out and start there — 24 new titles in 2008. But let’s add a twist. I tend to read fiction almost exclusively; so to get over that, in 2008 I will pledge to make at least 6 of those 24 target titles non-fiction of some kind.

There… Five goals seems about right. No use going crazy with it and over-committing or anything like that. Any other semi-arbitrary auxiliary or supplementary goals? Learn to brew my own beer? Try ten new restaurants? Limit myself to 2 hours per week of Civ IV? Get ambulothanatophobia formally ¹ recognized?

1. Where by “formally”, I mean “not deleted from Wikipedia”.[↩]

About Rob Friesel

4 Responses to 2008 Goals