I am getting a slow start on the resolutions front. It's better to start a little late, I figure, than not to start at all.
Some of what I am working on is the same old stuff: I'm kicking off the year with the Whole 30, hoping for better focus, a more even keel, and the departure of those post-election pounds. I'm planning to use races to keep me focused on the fitness front: April 10K, June triathlon, September half-marathon (probably), November 10K.
This year I am also thinking about my mental health. Over the break I've been thinking about some unresolved baggage that I would prefer to leave behind me this year, so I am planning to seek out counseling to address it. I also want to set up -- and maintain! -- a YNAB account so that we can be more disciplined about money. (And more in tune with each other. You can't make a new year's resolution for anybody else, but Elwood asked me a question about our bank account last month that made me say, "Hm, we need better communication here.") Another logistical kind of task: we need a will that reflects our current family situation.
I have a few specific reading goals: I'm going to read Dance to the Music of Time, Mystery of Edwin Drood, and two Trollope novels. (I'm planning another May Dickens read-along -- almost certainly Pickwick this year -- but that doesn't really require a resolution because I find it so much fun.)
Our house would benefit from some attention and I'd like to seize that particular bull by the horns: our kitchen and downstairs bathroom need some love; I want to get an estimate for some interior painting; once the weather warms up I need to find a mason. (I made a bunch of phone calls last year in search of a mason. A BUNCH. No joy.)
Spiritual input: I want to cultivate the habit of asking daily for St. Joseph's intercession with the specific hope of addressing some long-term frustrations. There's a Greg Popcak book I've been reading f-o-r-e-v-e-r and I am going to finish that up. During the early part of the semester, I would like to be consistent about attending the noon Mass at the Newman Center, though that might need to change once we get to March. And I'm re-reading the Bible and the CCC again this year, though that habit feels pretty solid at this point.
Spiritual output: I'm helping out with Alpha in the early part of the year, and another parish retreat in the fall. I would really like to find a way for our family to get involved with service to the poor and marginalized in Gladlyville, but I'm not quite sure what that looks like. And I am preparing Pete for confirmation at home, so I would like to be systematic about that.
Hm, this post is getting a little mishmashy as I move goals out of my journal and into the text box. I'd like to work on the habit of strength training, with the specific goal of being able to do a pull-up in December. (I am NOWHERE on this goal, my friends. This one is a reach.) And I'd like to be more consistent about volunteering with the music ministry, specifically by limbering up my fingers and playing the flute.
The last area I am thinking about is work, and here I feel a little overwhelmed thinking about goals. I have six papers I want to write at this exact moment, along with two projects that are still in their embryonic stages. And I feel like I need to make plans for the Next Thing-- I have a clear idea but zero direction about how to pursue it. Huh, maybe it's not surprising that I feel overwhelmed. So. I am going to cultivate the habit of getting in at 8 every morning and spending the first 45 minutes of my day on research. I am also going to cultivate the habit of a late-afternoon triage session in which I set priorities for the next day. In this area, at this point, I think habits are likely to be more fruitful than targets. OH AND ALSO: submit an awesome tenure dossier while pushing back relentlessly against impostor syndrome.
I might need more days in this year.
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