Published Jan 1, 2005

Another year, another [set descriptor] of [thing meaningful to you]. I actually enjoyed setting goals last year, and it turns out that setting goals makes you more likely to accomplish something than winging it, so let’s make some New Year’s Resolutions again this year.

Last Year’s Resolutions Reviewed

There’s little sense setting goals without looking at previous goals and seeing how those turned out. My resolutions last year were:

  1. Exercise more often
    Did a pretty good job of this, except for the last quarter of school.
  2. Take a Spanish conversation class
    Nope. Must do this before going to Santiago and Rio this summer.
  3. Use my Sur La Table gift card for cooking classes
    Oh yeah, I have that?
  4. Learn Python
    Success! Learned a lot, wrote about 1/3 of a really cool to do-tracking program.
  5. Start a wiki
    Yep, done that.
  6. Blog more regularly
    I’m too lazy to count, but I don’t think I blogged less. As good as could be expected given school.
  7. Get it in writing beforehand
    Yep yep. Best lesson of all.
  8. Doveryay, no proverya
    Nope, I neglected to “verify” again this year and, again, got burnt by somebody I thought I could trust.
  9. Go to Europe
    Nope, decided to hang out at home instead; would have been the right decision if I’d executed it well.
  10. Get friends together for drinks regularly
    That would be nice, huh?
  11. Not speak ill of those who deserve it
    Done.
  12. Network, network, network
    Done, although not any more than last year — I did a lot of networking last year.

Seven out of twelve — if I could bat that well, they’d pay me the big bucks. Not bad for the first resolutions ever.

This Year’s Resolutions

Based on the previous set of resolutions, and drawing on new experiences and hopes, here’s some resolutions for this year:

  1. Set aside specific, scheduled time, several days a week, to exercise. Let’s be more specific than last year, and so hopefully accomplish more.
  2. Get, and stay, on a diet that helps me eat right. One hard thing about school is how often I grab what I can and in what quantities I can. I will get and stay on a diet that works with reality but helps me make the right decisions.
  3. Take a Spanish class. See above.
  4. Update my wiki more often. It’s a tool for me, a place where I can write down stuff I need to keep track of. I need to regularly use it as such. Maybe a daily “wiki time”?
  5. Call my grandmother more often.
  6. Keep better track of my finances. My existing system, which had worked well for several years, just didn’t survive contact with the enemy — b-school is too time-intensive to spend three-quarters of day a month keeping everything up-to-date. I need a better system.
  7. Use my Sur La Table card for cooking classes. I can do this during the school year if I pick the right days!
  8. Set up a monthly drinks or dinner group with my friends. Especially my school friends need to not talk about class all the time.
  9. Set up a monthly or bi-weekly poker game with my friends. I’ve been in this poker game put on by some friends at school but the time is basically impossible for me. I need to start my own at a good time for me.
  10. Doveryay, no proverya. Again, since I did such a bad job this year.
  11. Network. I probably need to set aside time each week to do networking things.

That’s a long list, but I think worth it. Best of all, like any good to-do list, most of the above resolutions are simple and all are specific.

What are your new year’s resolutions?

1 Comment

Author Profile Page TT1128 | January 3, 2005 1:04 PM

I like poker, I also like single biz school guys. Well… with a few exceptions, like ones that are totally in love with my friends and those who were once cheerleaders.