Goals for the New Year
Many people make new year’s resolutions, intending to improve some aspect of their life. If you do this, good for you. But for me personally, I don’t tend to make new year’s resolutions. I try to be attentive to my shortcomings and areas where I have room for improvement throughout the year. When I need to resolve to do something, I’d rather just go ahead and address that issue. But, if you do your resolutions at the new year, great. If you’ve made any this year, I wish you success in keeping them.
I have, however, been thinking about the state of things now, what might come in the future, and what I want to work towards. I’ve been re-evaluating various things in my life and trying to judge them according to long-term goals. Of course, the only way to reach a long-term goal is through a succession of short-term goals.
So, with that in mind, I’ve made a list of goals for the new year. I wrote these down a couple weeks ago as a way to help me focus. I’m posting them here now as a way to make me accountable. Hopefully I can complete these things and build upon them in the future.
So... my 10 goals for 2010:
1. Pay off debt -- We’ve paid off the credit cards a couple times, then eventually let the balance build up again. This year I want to get them paid off for good. Ideally, I’d like to pay off the credit cards this year and the van next year. So that means managing money better and being more frugal. Good thing I still like Ramen noodles. :)
2. Organize the garage -- About a year and a half ago we remodeled the garage to make it into two rooms: an office and a workshop area. While I’ve been able to use it all this time, it has become very cluttered and unorganized (and was never really organized to start with). That needs to change. So I’m going to try to sell, give away, or trash the things I don’t need (which will be really hard for me, since I’m somewhat of a pack rat). But it needs to be done. I need a filing system that is better than just stacks of papers. I also need a better workspace, particularly in the office, that will be more conducive to productivity.
3. Plant a garden -- We started to do this last year but weren’t able to follow through with it. This year we try again. We need to make a plan of what we want to grow based on what we can & will use. Then we need to find out when in the spring each one will be planted, have a plot tilled, and start gardening. We may or may not try canning this year. It mostly depends on how much our garden produces. But canning will likely be a “next year” project.
4. Get ready for animals -- No, not a dog (sorry, mom). We’ve talked about getting calves, goats, and/or chickens. We’ll probably pick one of those three to start with. Getting an animal/animals will mean fencing, housing, storage. I don’t expect to have all of this ready to go by this spring. So my goal on this is to do all the necessary research and make all the necessary preparations to be able to do this next spring.
5. Build food stockpile -- Just because you never know what might happen (job loss, ice storm, natural disaster, civil war, etc.), it’s a good idea to have a stockpile of food and water. If we buy a little bit each trip to the store, it won’t be so bad. Of course, I’ll also need a place to store this. Another reason to organize & clean out the garage.
6. Bible study -- Three parts to this goal. First, I’m planning to read through the Bible (OT & NT) this year. Second, I’m going to try and have my sermons done before Saturday each week. That means picking a topic (this is always the hard part) & writing the lesson earlier in the week. Third, I’m going to start working on my long-term goal of writing a commentary on the Bible. No writing just yet, but I’m going to start with a chapter a day (5 days a week), outlining, identifying themes, noting questions & difficult passages, etc. After going through the Bible once this way, then the second time around I’ll be able to build off of what I have and make a more detailed outline. The third time through, I’ll start on the rough draft. That’s the tentative plan. If I keep up with the chapter per day schedule, I should be able to start writing the first draft in about 9.5 years. Pretty close to my original target of age 40.
7. Etsy shop -- I’ve learned to do glass etching. So far, the only projects I’ve done have either been for me or as gifts for other people. Eventually I’d like to be able to sell some of the stuff I do. Etsy’s a good place to do it. So I need to decide what kind of products I’d like to sell and set up a shop.
8. Writing -- About a month ago I mentioned that I’ve been wanting to get into fiction writing. I’m making it one of my goals this year to participate in NaNoWriMo in November. I plan on writing some other things, short stories and such, in the meantime, as well as brainstorming, so I can complete that this year.
9. Reading -- I hated assigned reading in high school. I remember reading on my own until they started with the summer reading schedules, then I had to read the school’s hand-picked books all year round. Well, I decided to start reading again. I went to the library before our trip to Arkansas, picked up a book, and read it on the trip (not in the car, I was driving), and enjoyed doing that again. So my goal is to read six new books this year. That may not seem like much to you readers, and I may do that in six months or less, but I wanted to pick a reasonable number, given everything else that’s going on.
10. Redo the kitchen -- This one is for Rachel. She has patiently waited for the kitchen to be redone (walls & cabinets painted, new countertops & sink). We have the new countertops and sink stored in the garage. We just need to get the paint and find the time to do this. Plus, it’s one more piece of clutter that can be gotten out of the garage.
So there we go. Wish me luck. We’ll see how well I did in a year.
I have, however, been thinking about the state of things now, what might come in the future, and what I want to work towards. I’ve been re-evaluating various things in my life and trying to judge them according to long-term goals. Of course, the only way to reach a long-term goal is through a succession of short-term goals.
So, with that in mind, I’ve made a list of goals for the new year. I wrote these down a couple weeks ago as a way to help me focus. I’m posting them here now as a way to make me accountable. Hopefully I can complete these things and build upon them in the future.
So... my 10 goals for 2010:
1. Pay off debt -- We’ve paid off the credit cards a couple times, then eventually let the balance build up again. This year I want to get them paid off for good. Ideally, I’d like to pay off the credit cards this year and the van next year. So that means managing money better and being more frugal. Good thing I still like Ramen noodles. :)
2. Organize the garage -- About a year and a half ago we remodeled the garage to make it into two rooms: an office and a workshop area. While I’ve been able to use it all this time, it has become very cluttered and unorganized (and was never really organized to start with). That needs to change. So I’m going to try to sell, give away, or trash the things I don’t need (which will be really hard for me, since I’m somewhat of a pack rat). But it needs to be done. I need a filing system that is better than just stacks of papers. I also need a better workspace, particularly in the office, that will be more conducive to productivity.
3. Plant a garden -- We started to do this last year but weren’t able to follow through with it. This year we try again. We need to make a plan of what we want to grow based on what we can & will use. Then we need to find out when in the spring each one will be planted, have a plot tilled, and start gardening. We may or may not try canning this year. It mostly depends on how much our garden produces. But canning will likely be a “next year” project.
4. Get ready for animals -- No, not a dog (sorry, mom). We’ve talked about getting calves, goats, and/or chickens. We’ll probably pick one of those three to start with. Getting an animal/animals will mean fencing, housing, storage. I don’t expect to have all of this ready to go by this spring. So my goal on this is to do all the necessary research and make all the necessary preparations to be able to do this next spring.
5. Build food stockpile -- Just because you never know what might happen (job loss, ice storm, natural disaster, civil war, etc.), it’s a good idea to have a stockpile of food and water. If we buy a little bit each trip to the store, it won’t be so bad. Of course, I’ll also need a place to store this. Another reason to organize & clean out the garage.
6. Bible study -- Three parts to this goal. First, I’m planning to read through the Bible (OT & NT) this year. Second, I’m going to try and have my sermons done before Saturday each week. That means picking a topic (this is always the hard part) & writing the lesson earlier in the week. Third, I’m going to start working on my long-term goal of writing a commentary on the Bible. No writing just yet, but I’m going to start with a chapter a day (5 days a week), outlining, identifying themes, noting questions & difficult passages, etc. After going through the Bible once this way, then the second time around I’ll be able to build off of what I have and make a more detailed outline. The third time through, I’ll start on the rough draft. That’s the tentative plan. If I keep up with the chapter per day schedule, I should be able to start writing the first draft in about 9.5 years. Pretty close to my original target of age 40.
7. Etsy shop -- I’ve learned to do glass etching. So far, the only projects I’ve done have either been for me or as gifts for other people. Eventually I’d like to be able to sell some of the stuff I do. Etsy’s a good place to do it. So I need to decide what kind of products I’d like to sell and set up a shop.
8. Writing -- About a month ago I mentioned that I’ve been wanting to get into fiction writing. I’m making it one of my goals this year to participate in NaNoWriMo in November. I plan on writing some other things, short stories and such, in the meantime, as well as brainstorming, so I can complete that this year.
9. Reading -- I hated assigned reading in high school. I remember reading on my own until they started with the summer reading schedules, then I had to read the school’s hand-picked books all year round. Well, I decided to start reading again. I went to the library before our trip to Arkansas, picked up a book, and read it on the trip (not in the car, I was driving), and enjoyed doing that again. So my goal is to read six new books this year. That may not seem like much to you readers, and I may do that in six months or less, but I wanted to pick a reasonable number, given everything else that’s going on.
10. Redo the kitchen -- This one is for Rachel. She has patiently waited for the kitchen to be redone (walls & cabinets painted, new countertops & sink). We have the new countertops and sink stored in the garage. We just need to get the paint and find the time to do this. Plus, it’s one more piece of clutter that can be gotten out of the garage.
So there we go. Wish me luck. We’ll see how well I did in a year.
Your idea of stockpiling food is a good one. Living in hurricane country we do.
Pat and I have lived debt free for years. We've lived in two paid off houses. We set a goal of no retirement with a house payment and had this house paid off a couple of years before I retired.