New Years was ten days ago. I’m sure that most of you who are reading this made or at least thought of making the infamous New Year’s Resolution. I’m betting many of you did. In the words of Dr. Phil, “How’s that working out for you?”
Its been my experience that resolutions are a waste of time. They are often open ended, vague, and oral in nature. Ultimately, the lack of attention to detail and the game plan to get there will lead to failure. A prime example is “My New Year’s Resolution is to lose weight this year.” That’s great that you want to lose weight! But how are you going to go about losing it? How much weight do you want to lose? You see the problem here folks? There is nothing quantifiable and its just really a statement. I’d like a million dollars. However, without goals and a detailed game plan to achieve those goals I’m just as likely to get my million dollars as you are going to lose weight. That’s not to say that making resolutions is a bad thing, but it is only the beginning of the process.
With that said, I’m going to share some of my goals with you for this year. I’m not going into all the detail behind them, but putting them in writing is one of the bigger parts of any goal setting process…
Goal 1: Be more positive in everything I do.
I know that seems vague to those on the outside and goes against everything I just criticized several paragraphs before. Honestly, this is more like a resolution, but I’ve made it into a goal. When I was younger, I was an optimist. When I looked at a bad situation, I could find the silver lining or something positive in almost any situation. As I have gotten older, I’ve become more of a realist. It has its pluses and minuses, but I’ve noticed that I to focus too much on the negative, which is often the exception. I’m trying to be more encouraging and positive in everything I do. It just fits me better as a person. I’ll measure the success of this goal by the quality of company I keep. Nobody likes being around a Debbie Downer… except for Depressed Darrell.
Goal 2: Eliminate all unsecured-debt
I had this goal last year and made significant progress against it until some unforeseen circumstances came along… like a week long cruise to the Caribbean that I hadn’t properly planned for. I’m still using the same game plan I’ve had on this one for awhile. I expect my tax return to wipe the last of it out. This will allow me to…
Goal 3: Take another real vacation
If it is one thing I regret I haven’t done more of it is traveling. I’m still working on some ideas for something fun to do and this will be an evolving goal. I expect a good week long summer trip that doesn’t involve the beach. I’d love to get out of the country and go somewhere exotic, like Georgia. Although I do plan to take a week long trip to the beach as well.
Goal 4: Run a half marathon this year
Ah, so here is a very easily measurable goal! It will take some work to get there, but I’ve got the beginning of a game plan. Right now I run anywhere from 4 – 10 miles a week. I’m planning on gradually stepping that up and working it in with my Crossfit even more. That means physical activity 4 – 5 times a week. Building endurance is the name of the game and both activities will benefit each other. I’ve set a November deadline for this activity.
Goal 5: Being Mario Mendoza
Being what?!? Last year I set a goal to get my weight below the “Mendoza Line” or 200 pounds for those of you who don’t understand my baseball rhetoric. I broke it only to recross it over and over again last year. I blame my coach Mark Smith and Trinity Crossfit for that. Where I might not have lost the weight, I definitely lost the fat. My weight has stayed consistently between 200 – 208 range for the past several months. Instead of trying to limbo under that Mendoza Line, I’ve decided to be one with it. However, I still want to tone up some more…
Well these were just some of my goals for 2013, what are yours?
Final Thoughts on a First Impression 