Goals For 2012

Hard to believe we have another year behind us. While 2011 turned out pretty dull and average, 2012 is setting up to be anything but.

If anything, the 2012 U.S. election will prove to make this year exciting, as well as all the talk of the end of the Mayan Calendar. Most people I talk to believe something big is going to happen this year, but as always, we shall see.

Most years my goals revolve around learning….

Last year for instance my main goal revolved around compiling everything I have learned about personal finance, personal health, and personal development into a book. This was my main project for Insight Writer and I have to say I fell pretty short of the goal.

I ended up compiling most of the ways I have thought about personal finance into 52 posts over the past 5 months. The hard work of making it into a book is still before me.

I planned on making one book, but decided during the course of things to create three books about each topic, then eventually make a 4th book that incorporates everything I have ever written over at Insight Writer.

At the pace I am going, I’ll be lucky to produce two books next year, the personal finance and personal health ones. But that’s ok because Insight Writer has always been a legacy project for me.

I also started another blog called Lokolee.com to focus on local businesses, but after a month or two of serious effort put into my passion for it ran out. Currently, I am deciding on whether or not I want to renew the domain come May, which is when I originally started it. My passion just isn’t there.

This year I stumbled upon the permaculture movement and it has greatly intrigued me. This has rekindled my interest in renewable energy, farming, and simple living. I hope to continue learning a lot more in this area and apply the lessons learned in my life.

Related to this topic is the concept of how we engineer and design our lives. I probably shouldn’t start another blog project, but I think I am going to start an engineering related blog. Studying engineering has greatly interested me for awhile and I think it is time for me to delve a little more into the field.

While some of the above goals came up a little short this year, I pretty much had a grand slam of health and fitness related goals.

I completed the Tough Mudder event in June with three of my good friends. It was an absolute blast training for, and ultimately accomplishing the event! Every weekend we trained in some tough conditions. Running up sheer mountains and jumping into the iciest of rivers. It might just be a guy thing, but it is hard to explain the pride that comes with attaining a certain physical ability.

I also ran two 10k’s this year, shaving 7 minutes off my previous Bolder Boulder 10k run, dropping my time down to 52 minutes. I hope to destroy my best time again and drop it down into the 45 minute range.

I also ran a marathon this year with minimal training (3 weeks to be exact). I had an excellent 13.1 mile time of 2:03 in training, but then failed to get a 4:30 marathon time. This was my 2nd marathon and I doubt I will ever do one again. They are just too tough on the body.

And I have come a long way as a cook this year, mostly inspired by the Paleo Diet movement. I’ve learned the magic of vinegar in cooking meat among other things. I’ve started to master a lot of recipes like Pad Thai and Fish Tacos as well. Nothing like being able to cook better food than the restaurants can.

I also started weight training in September because I lost a lot of weight and probably some muscle mass doing all the endurance training. I planned to add 10 pounds of muscle and added 5.3 pounds of muscle along with 7 pounds of fat (yeah, ate just too many calories). I bought a year membership at Better Bodies which is only 10 dollars a month and is a pretty large gym so I will spend the rest of the year trying to add as much muscle mass as I can.

Since I plan on writing the health book this coming year, I figured I better really fine tune all the things it takes to be in good health. Exercise routines, eating habits, etc.

This year I plan to pay off my school loan, finish the last few projects on my house, and make more money than I have ever made before. And probably save more money than I ever have before. Basically make more money, and spend the same or less than I have been spending.

One thing I plan on doing is only drinking tea or water this year as an experiment. To save money and be in good health. No coffee, no soda, or any other caffeinated products. No alcohol. No fruit juice. No drink with any calories whatsoever. While each of the things listed above may have some benefits, I think the cons slightly edge them out.

I really want to dial in my diet. Basically by eating the least expensive whole foods I can. Save my money and my health. For instance, I plan on staying away from processed meats. More on that later…

Basically this seems to be a year where I plan on increasing my money and my health, both topics I plan on writing books on this year.

So as usual, this year will be a lot about learning, and a lot of growing.

And perhaps always in practice, but seldom mentioned up front. I want to learn more how to love and respect people for who they are. Sometimes it is hard to remember that there are more good people than bad in this world, but I truly believe it. I want to practice the remembrance of this idea daily. Perhaps my hardest goal, and perhaps my most worthy goal in the new year.

Happy New Year To ALL and To ALL a Wonderful, AMAZING, Great Night!!!