A Return to New Year's Resolutions
I've poo-pooed New Year's resolutions for most of my adult life, noting that the gyms tend to be full in January and sparse in February - ie, i never had faith that i'd ever have the willpower to actually commit to superficial statements of intended change. But after seeing the powerful effects of slaying a $55,000 debt ogre in only 9 months thanks to a written budget and goals glaring at me from a (digital) page, i'm beginning to realize the true benefits of word-smith'd dreams. What seems so mundane on the surface belies the underlying secret of such exercises, mainly: organization and focus.
Dan Miller, author of "48 Days to the Work You Love", runs a terrific life and career coaching website at www.48days.com. In his latest December newsletter, he has a link to a great outline for 2008 resolutions that models his 7-point wheel factoring all aspects of life balance:
I spent some time filling in the outline via Google Docs and came up with the following goals for 2008 (so far):
1. FINANCIAL Income, Investments
Five-Year Goals
Set up substantial kids' college funds
Be on track to have net worth of $1 million
One-Year Goals
Set up $50,000 emergency fund
Achieve all wishlist budget items
Beginning TODAY!
Budget weekly savings of $200 for wishlist items
Develop better business accountability and profit/loss statements and future plans for real income growth
2. PHYSICAL Health, Appearance, Exercise
Five-Year Goals
Get body fat down to 15%
Be able to bench 200 pounds
One-Year Goals
Lose 5 pounds (get to 140 lbs)
100 pushups daily
100 situps daily
60 pullups daily
5 mile runs 3x per week
Beginning TODAY!
30 minute workouts in the morning
3. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Five-Year Goals
Improve Korean, especially reading
Learn Japanese
Learn German
Learn French
One-Year Goals
Learn about mutual funds and stock market investing
Find wholesome books for inspiration and motivation
Read at least 2 new books per month
Memorize Japanese characters
Learn PureData/GEM
Learn Blender 3D modeling
Beginning TODAY!
Learn 2 new Korean words per day
Maintain list of books read on website
4. FAMILY Relationships (incomplete...still working on this one)
Five-Year Goals
Get closer to family members - be praying for them regularly
One-Year Goals
Closer relationship with Mom and Dad
video interview parents for their history and personal backgrounds
Beginning TODAY!
Teach piano lessons to Eric and Timmy more regularly
Read to boys every day
spend more time talking with Kyungmi
5. SPIRITUAL (incomplete here too...)
Five-Year Goals
Memorize all of Psalm 119
One-Year Goals
Commit 10 psalms to memory
Finish theology books (Thomas Watson, etc.)
Beginning TODAY!
Pray more actively and specifically for church members and missionaries
Begin memorizing select psalms
6. SOCIAL Increased number of friends, Community involvement, etc.
Five-Year Goals
hmmm....
One-Year Goals
Connect personally with network contacts at least once this year
Reconnect with old school alumni
Prepare Christmas cards and messages ahead of time
Keep in touch with family on a regular basis
Beginning TODAY!
Improve responses to emails and phone calls
7. CAREER Ambitions, Dreams, Hopes - REALLY INCOMPLETE
Five-Year Goals
One-Year Goals
Beginning TODAY!
I'll try to update this as soon as i'm able, particularly on the Career section. On the book side, here's a list of what's been read this month:
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Dance with the Dragon by David Hagberg
Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey
48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller
QBQ: The Question Behind the Question by John G. Miller
A lot of personal development literature, as you can probably tell. Several books need finishing, as follows:
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins and Sandra Blakeslee
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. and William D. Danko, Ph.D.
Several more are on the burner as we speak - the list immediately above has been loaded from my Audible library onto my new 8 gig iPod Nano (Kyungmi's Christmas gift to me - thanks, Honey!)
Quite a long list...certainly more than daunting at first glance, but hey - if i can chunk away almost $55K in 9 months, i think i can start attacking this list of resolutions, in much the same way: a little bite at a time. I'll keep y'all updated, and hope you'll keep me accountable in return!
Best wishes for your own New Year's resolutions for 2008!
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