2011 Goals

You need to read another note about New Year’s resolutions about as badly as you need a jab to the eye with a sharp stick.

Which is why this isn’t a note about resolutions. It might appear that way, but that’s only because you seem to be impervious to Jedi mind tricks. Or I’m out of practice.

Honestly, I don’t make resolutions. I find that they end up being vague and grandiose. But I do make goals, and try to focus my energy towards them over the year.

For the past couple of years I’ve taken a couple of days in December to do a bit of reflection over the past year. What went well, what went not-so-well, what didn’t go at all. And then I decide what it is I really want to work on this year. I’d like to share a few of those goals with you to set some background for my writing over the next year.

Goal 1: Twelve Books

This year I want to read twelve books. I don’t have the list together yet, but I’m making a departure from my usually strict diet of non-fiction “make you think” books. I feel that my creative writing abilities have suffered since I stopped reading stories and I’d like that to change. So, this year, more fiction.

Goal 2: Twenty Five Movies

One of my long time goals has been to watch every movie on the American Film Institute Top 100 List. There’s actually two versions of this list – 1997 and 2007. I’m working off the most recent version, and then will backtrack to the original. Really, this is the first half of a two year goal. I think I’ve watched about half of them, mostly by accident or in film school, so I’ve got about a total of fifty left. I’m working from the bottom up to save the best for last.

Goal 3: Run a 5k & 10k

This is a rollover from last year. I ran the 5k, but got distracted and didn’t run the 10k. I know I can run a 10k. I ran the Bolder Boulder i 2006. Assuming my body can hold out, I might shift this to a 10k & half marathon. We’ll see.

Goal 4: Write 50 Posts

Yup, that’s the goal. A post a week for the entire year. Ok, that would be 52, but you get the idea. I’m thinking I should have enough fodder for this one – with over thirty books and movies to talk about, I would sure hope so.

I have far more than four goals, but those are probably the easiest for me to keep you updated on over the next year. I’ll be posting lists of the book and movies sometime in the next week, keeping track of my runs on Nike+, and you can check here for posts every week.

What are your goals for the next year? How are you keeping track of them?

Image: Start Line by Andi Sidwell on Flickr