New Year’s Goals

Photos from our NYE party, courtesy Bonnie Heath Photography

I’ve been reading a lot of assorted posts, status updates, and comments about resolutions lately. No big surprise – it’s the new year and time for that sort of thing. The things I have been reading range from pretty specific plans down to the simple but lovely idea that the writer is happy with themselves and is just going to continue on their path. I’m caught somewhere in between – I don’t want to change a lot of things about myself, but there are certainly things I want to work towards. I had a small experience on NYE that reminded me of the person I want to be now and the things I want to have and the kinds of decisions I want to make.

With that in mind, I decided that I need to create a plan that works the way I work. My friend Joe pointed out that tacking “every day” to the end of any resolution is a good way to fail fast. Every day is very difficult, especially for a new habit you want to develop. Not to say that your goals shouldn’t require some work – just that setting yourself up to fail isn’t a good way to achieve anything. As much as the state of my kitchen doesn’t reflect it, I’m a perfectionist and incredibly hard on myself when I fail. This leads to a large amount of not trying – if I don’t try, I certainly won’t fail. However, if I don’t try, I certainly won’t anything. It’s very hard for me to go after what I really want because then I have to reveal things about myself to the outside world, and I have to accept public humiliation if I fail in front of others. However, not trying doesn’t really seem to be working out, so it’s time to try a different tactic. Hence, my public list of goals. Some have dates because I do much better with deadlines.

Deadline items:
1. Have a clean and organized craft room by January 31st.
2. Learn how to work sewing machine by Feb 28th. (know how to turn it on, thread it, stitch in a straight line, etc.)
3. Work on cohesive festival setup to be used in spring and going forward by March 31. (This will have to be done in collaboration with other half of Wanderland) Focus on portable, beautiful, sustainable, easy to set up and break down.
4. Learn how to use new camera (i.e. understand all settings) by April 30.
4. Visit friends in SF by June 30th.
5. Create goals for second half of year by July 15th.

Ongoing items:
1. Put 10% of each paycheck in to savings. Adjust based on personal economy. Always put *something* in every check.
2. Take a picture. (This is where hopeful me would tack “every day” at the end of this, but I’ll just start with one. Take a picture.)
3. Continue to work on bringing the things I like best about myself to the forefront, and work on resolving/understanding/repairing the things I don’t.
4. Do not put off cleaning till tomorrow what will take 10 damn minutes today, for goodness sake.

Check back for progress updates! Writing about things here is the way I am going to hold myself accountable.