New Year's Resolutions

Since 2011, I’ve posted my New Year’s resolutions at the end of each year.  It’s a good way to do a year-end check-up and see how I did and what I need to recommit to into the New Year.  So without further ado:

1. Body - run 800 miles, swim 80 miles, lift 160 times, bike 800 miles, eat better.

I still have a sweet tooth, and my morning workouts are usually sparked by routine rather than joy.  But I’m doing right by myself.  My workout tallies for 1/1/19-12/1/19: ran 774.7 mi, swam 63.6 mi, lifted 145 times, biked 732.3 mi.  Grade: A.

2. Civic – leverage skill/opportunity for maximum social impact, make a difference on the hard issues.

School Board is way more time on my schedule than all my other boards combined, AND I have to work longer hours at work to make up for business lines I have to forgo due to conflicts of interest.  But the conversations I get to participate in and the chance I have to help effect change more than make up for it.  We have a LONG way to go, but I’m thankful for the chance to make a difference.  Grade: A.

3. Friends and family – quality if not quantity, be there when needed.

Snippets here and there, but this is largely a casualty of an impossible schedule, to my detriment.  I’m fine, but I miss the special people in my life and I wish I could be more available for them.  Grade: C.

4. House – an ounce of prevention, making it a home.

Not much progress on the home front, but buying, fixing up, and renting out a condo (which will be our home in 10 years) has to count for something.  Grade: B.

5. Kids – 1 on 1 times each quarter.

I don’t get to spend a lot of time with Jada, Aaron, and Asher.  But I don’t feel like I cheated them either.  My hours are limited, but I gave them all good ones, so while I wish I had more I don’t feel like I whiffed either.  Grade: B.

6. Marriage – three kid-free trips.

We did alright, between fleeting moments in the midst of all the chaos, a few minutes at the end of some days, and a few kids-free trips sprinkled in throughout the year (Brooklyn, St. Louis, Boston).  Grade: B.

7. Mind – read 50 books, learn Chinese.

Loved my books all throughout the year.  Read a few fewer than previous years, but some were hefty so by page count it was probably about the same (I’ll post titles and ratings tomorrow).  As for Mandarin, this fell by the wayside for large stretches of the year.  Grade: B.

8. Self – three hours per week of uninterrupted me time, three personal day getaways.

I wish.  Learning to make do with little to no recharge, but that doesn’t excuse that I have to book the time somehow.  Grade: C

9. Spiritual – 100 Bible memory verses, time each morning for Bible/prayer.

I did make the time most mornings, and the memory verses get easier since it’s been several years through now.  But not nearly as much quality or quantity as I’d like.  Grade: C

10. Work – ten quality reports.

We track hours maniacally, so I can tell you that relative to past years, I spent more time running the business and bringing in business, and less time on gigs.  But I still love the work.  Enjoyed university studies all over the country, plus other work trips to Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Toronto, and the US Virgin Islands.  Hope for more meaty work this coming year. Grade: B