“If you say it, you have to do it.” – Lydia Jones, December 2011
I’m not usually one for new years resolutions and certainly not written down and published to the world. However, this year I’ve had a long holiday and we’ve mentioned it a few times so I’ve actually given it some thought and wanted to capture them!
#1 – Print one picture per week
I take tons of photos, especially with my iPhone (and sometimes with my DSLR), but never print them out. I have a big blank wall in my office so I’m going to fill it with one “moment” from each week.
#2 – Read less, write more
I often have streams of thought running around in my head and the process of writing them down really helps solidify them. On the input side thought I’m a knowledge horder and love my 30 minute coffee/twitter/Google Reader hit in the morning (I think its what I miss most from my routine when I’m travelling with work). I might try and curate my list of inputs down a bit and carve out 10-15 mins for writing instead.
#3 – Cook something new every month
This is one Lyd and I have jointly agreed. We’ve got loads of cookery books filled with interesting things we’ve never tried and yet we revert back to the same-old-same-old every week. So, to resolve that we’re both going to cook something new every month leading to 24 new things on our home menu (unless they turn out gross!).
#4 – Do the Freshpak Tri in under 1 hour 25 mins
In 2011 I did my first two triathlons in Clanwilliam and Brandvlei Dams thanks to the encouragement of my friends Werner and Kelvin. I’m hoping to do more again this year and weather permitting I want to knock a massive 10 minutes off my previous time. Given I now know what to expect from the course (and triathlon in general) I hope this is a stretch, but achievable goal. I say weather permitting because if its 35 degrees (which it can be) I’ll be aiming for survival!
#5 – Stop talking, build and launch a new site before April 1st
For the last 6 months I’ve been dabbling on weekends and free evenings with a bit of programming again. This time with Ruby on Rails which is super-easy to prototype with. Its led to a bit of a reawakening of certain parts of my brain which has been fun and a great diversion from work. However, I keep starting stuff and not finishing so now I need change that! I need to sign some paperwork for my employers to make sure they know this is non-competitive and evenings/weekends only then get cracking.
#6 – Read the Bible in a year
The others are all mind and body, this ones for the soul! I once was given a bible by my mother-in-law Jean that had all the readings planned out and divided up with dates to help cover the bible in a year. I did it, just it took about 2 and a half years to finish because I keep missing days on end! I’m going to try and be a bit more disciplined this year as I know every time I pick up my bible I get something from it so it’s ridiculous to not prioritise it!
I think six should be more than enough to get going with, I’ll need to check back at regular intervals for my ability to stick with them!