Resolutions - Late

I've been overly busy since the beginning of the year, between work, JPME and deployment preparations. Despite that I'm going to make a resolution post anyway.

Here's my list from last year:

Finish the first draft of my first novel.  (Deadline February 6th- in time for the next Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award submission; whether or not I submit, it should be done by then).

Not done. For 2011 I've taken time to start this and I'm about 10% of the way done (about a week start on it).

Now that I'm done running, put on 15lbs of muscle.

Done. I average about 150 now, and it's mostly lean muscle mass.

Take a trip to Hawaii, Italy and somewhere else new this year.

Done. Went to Maui in October.

Write the final book to my trilogy.

Done. I can't say it is really finished, but I got to 55k. I was much better organized than Book 2, which I'll have to completely rework.

Draw, ink and color 2 complete short stories.  I love to draw, but I never put goals for my artwork.  I will this time. [Minimum 1 complete; also fill a sketchbook with drawings]

Partially done. Filled a sketchbook plus some, but never finished a story.

Take formalized art classes.

Done. I wish I could take more, but NYU doesn't offer much more in the way of digital painting.

Blog at a minimum of three times per week for this year.  More is better; facebook and twitter updates do not count.

Not done. Ouch. I didn't even come close to this one.

Make Lieutenant Commander in the Navy Reserves.  (I hope this will be a done deal; I'm already in zone and must promote status).

Done. I was promoted in October.

Streamline my time management work processes (so I can get more done, find things easier, and keep tabs on those little items that slip through everyone else's cracks but mine).

 Done. I've found a great time management program that fits my style. Basecamp. If you haven't tried it, take a look. If you manage a lot of projects, or there are a lot of aspects to your job that you have to manage, this is a great way to collect all those things in one place. There's always room for improvment, but I have eeked out efficiency.

Have more fun this year (no, really, THIS year).

 Done. I can say I had a lot more fun this year. Though I can't say the same of this upcoming year.

That was a lot of resolutions, actually. And I've achieved my 7.5 of 9 goals. That's pretty good, in my estimation. On top of these, I've applied to and have been accepted into the JPME program and NYU Stern EMBA program.

I'm going to codify my goals a bit more this year. Major goals vs. Minor goals. It'll tell me what's important this year, and what can be easily achieved. And I'll stretch to 10 goals.

2011 Goals:

-Leave my job and state of affairs in good order before I deploy. This is a minor goal.

-Complete all the projects I have given myself to do this year. This is a major goal.

-Project 1: First draft of Book 1. This is a major goal.

-Project 2: iPad project beta version complete. This is a major goal.

-Project 3: An art project. Since the previous projects are well-defined for me, I'm going to leave this one open ended. This is a minor goal.

-Complete JPME. This is a minor goal.

-Blog at a minimum of three times per week for this year.  Let's put down 52 weeks x 3 blog entries/week = 156 blogs for 2011 (this will make up for being 2.5 months behind in my blogging). More is better; facebook and twitter updates do not count. Since this is a carryover from last year, it is a major goal. I hope access to internet will allow me to do this later this year.

-Manage to complete nanowrimo this year, despite being deployed. I'm not sure what my demands will be, but I'm going to try. This is a minor goal.

-Maintain physical fitness. Train to run sub 10 minute 1.5 mile while maintaining strength training weight. 9 min would be better, but consistent sub 10 is good for now. This is a minor goal.

-Visit friends, see family and take one foreign country trip before I leave for deployment. This is a major goal.

So there I have it. 5 Major goals and 5 minor goals. That means I should easily achieve 50% by doing the minor goals. We'll see how many of the major goals I do achieve. I've left off reading, as I do that normally and my JPME has been taking up the bulk of my reading time. I'd like to put in a goal that's altruistic, but it would feel like I'd have to do something rather than want.