2004 is finally here. Yikes. Resolution Time.
So last year I made a set of resolutions about this time. Mike and Alex encouraged me to grade myself. At first I thought it would be very depressing (gee, I didn't accomplish ANYTHING) but then I realized that I didn't do as badly as I thought, and I think I learned what was missing that would have made those old resolutions more compelling.
| Cash-Flow Positive | A+ I didn't lose my job. I managed to take on side projects which increased my revenue. I didn't hemorage money. Didn't really have one of those, "Oh crap" months where the bills looked like they wouldn't get paid. Pretty good year. |
| Budget | D- I think I did manage to eek out some money-saving deals, and I did maintain a "budget" so to speak (i.e. I scratched out something in excel last January). However, the budget wasn't really a document that I revisited frequently enough to make it matter. And I don't think I ever asked myself before making a purchase: "Does this fit in my budget?" Didn't check my credit situation, although my debt is getting paid off (see below) |
| Loans & debt | A+ Aggressively paying them down. |
| Wardrobe | C Did buy a few new items I really enjoy wearing. Did give away a stack of clothes I didn't need anymore. Still not quite there with enough "good stuff" to avoid wearing the same things over and over, hoping people don't notice. I also realize this is a very shallow resolution. |
| Meals | F Geez. I ate out way more than I should... especially fast food. I gained ten pounds last year. 'nuff said. |
| Cardiovascular Training | F+ While I did get outside to exercise now and then, nothing consistent at all! I DID start getting on my bicycle on a friend's constant encouragement and mentorship, but that happened very late in the year and even then, not really consistent or result-producing. |
| Weight Training | F I didn't darken the door of a gym even ONCE. |
| Get Complete Physical exam | F Nope. |
| Serious Writing | C Poked around with a few ideas. Got a few things on paper, but not much really crafted. |
| "Misadventure" Stories on blog | F Did I write ANY misadventure stories last year? I don't remember. |
| Read More | ? What does "more" mean, anyway? It feels like lots of books were digested last year, but I honestly have no idea if I met this resolution or not (which foreshadows the problems with last year's resolutions) |
| Release Early, Release Often with The Project | F Have YOU seen any sign of my robots? (even though I have drawings and functional parts, etc, etc) |
| Underpromise, Overdeliver | D Heh. Still trying to deliver the world and only producing a continent. However, at work, at least, I've focused my activity a little more so that it's less on the table (meaning I can do those things with better than expected results). |
| Top 3 things at work | B Yeah. Doing better. I have more than 3 things, but I've managed to define my job pretty well (and awfully narrowly). This happened late in the year, as well, though, and I'm not so sure how "gracefully" the chaff is dying. |
| Show My Art | F |
| Codify My Work | F |
| Shed the Ballast | F+ I still am drowning in Junk, but I've developed a healthier attitude and am now in a place where junk is easier to shed. |
| Reflect More | ? What does that even mean? |
| Build relationships with current friends and family | D I definitely put friends and family after work and projects. I have to (and this'll sound cold and callous, but it'd actually be a really nice thing) better systematize my relationship building. I used to keep a tickler file for my friends to help me know when to give them a "how ya' doin'?" call, but that's fallen by the wayside. I need to tend to my personal mailing list and, God forbid, actually use it. |
| Create Art for Friends | F With the exception of something that got lost in the mail and a few belated Christmas gifts, I didn't make any art for friends. |
| Publish Children's Books | F |
| Learn how to tell stories vocally | F |
| Sing More | A+ Boy, you should hear me belt them out on the long commute to work... |
| Telecommute | C+ Worked from home a lot this past year, but could definitely stand to do that more (and to be more productive at home... hence the home office rennovation) |
| Feel good about putting myself before work | ? Hmmm.. not sure how to measure this one. I was having a blast working on my projects and side deals, but I didn't take the "me time" very often.... but when I did, I was all about the "me." |
| Engage more conversations | ? Again... too ambiguous. |
| Stress Relief | F I felt burnt out way too often last year and I didn't do anything about it (exercising would have helped dramatically) |
| tell friends and family what they mean to me | F No real Hallmark moments in davidnunez land last year. |
| Do Bold and Outrageous thing every day | C I took quite a few risks and leaps of faith all over the place. I should have taken more. I'm getting better at letting the opportunities show themselves and creating them where necessary. A bold thing EVERY day? hmm.. way too many days slipped by in mediocrity. |
So what have we learned? It's clear I didn't make my goals "SMART" (specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic, timed). I didn't spend enough time thinking through what a success would actually look like, and that meant there was no way to extrapolate useful workplans from the goals. Without a workplan, I couldn't snip off bite-sized mini-accomplishments every day to make slow and steady progress to the ultimate goals.
I’ll make the comment that everyone else makes:
2003 went by way too fast.
It’s
not like the year was ACTUALLY perceptually shorter than any others
I’ve experienced, but the spinning of the plates routine I’ve been
developing sure does make those hours and days and months fly by.
So
last year I made a set of resolutions about this time. Mike and Alex
encouraged me to grade myself. At first I thought it would be very
depressing (gee, I didn’t accomplish ANYTHING) but then I realized that
I didn’t do as badly as I thought, and I think I learned what was
missing that would have made those old resolutions more compelling.
<!–break–>
| Cash-Flow Positive | A+ I didn’t lose my job. I managed to take on side projects which increased my revenue. I didn’t hemorage money. Didn’t really have one of those, "Oh crap" months where the bills looked like they wouldn’t get paid. Pretty good year. |
| Budget | D- I think I did manage to eek out some money-saving deals, and I did maintain a "budget" so to speak (i.e. I scratched out something in excel last January). However, the budget wasn’t really a document that I revisited frequently enough to make it matter. And I don’t think I ever asked myself before making a purchase: "Does this fit in my budget?" Didn’t check my credit situation, although my debt is getting paid off (see below) |
| Loans & debt | A+ Aggressively paying them down. |
| Wardrobe | C Did buy a few new items I really enjoy wearing. Did give away a stack of clothes I didn’t need anymore. Still not quite there with enough "good stuff" to avoid wearing the same things over and over, hoping people don’t notice. I also realize this is a very shallow resolution. |
| Meals | F Geez. I ate out way more than I should… especially fast food. I gained ten pounds last year. ’nuff said. |
| Cardiovascular Training | F+ While I did get outside to exercise now and then, nothing consistent at all! I DID start getting on my bicycle on a friend’s constant encouragement and mentorship, but that happened very late in the year and even then, not really consistent or result-producing. |
| Weight Training | F I didn’t darken the door of a gym even ONCE. |
| Get Complete Physical exam | F Nope. |
| Serious Writing | C Poked around with a few ideas. Got a few things on paper, but not much really crafted. |
| "Misadventure" Stories on blog | F Did I write ANY misadventure stories last year? I don’t remember. |
| Read More | ? What does "more" mean, anyway? It feels like lots of books were digested last year, but I honestly have no idea if I met this resolution or not (which foreshadows the problems with last year’s resolutions) |
| Release Early, Release Often with The Project | F Have YOU seen any sign of my robots? (even though I have drawings and functional parts, etc, etc) |
| Underpromise, Overdeliver | D Heh. Still trying to deliver the world and only producing a continent. However, at work, at least, I’ve focused my activity a little more so that it’s less on the table (meaning I can do those things with better than expected results). |
| Top 3 things at work | B Yeah. Doing better. I have more than 3 things, but I’ve managed to define my job pretty well (and awfully narrowly). This happened late in the year, as well, though, and I’m not so sure how "gracefully" the chaff is dying. |
| Show My Art | F |
| Codify My Work | F |
| Shed the Ballast | F+ I still am drowning in Junk, but I’ve developed a healthier attitude and am now in a place where junk is easier to shed. |
| Reflect More | ? What does that even mean? |
| Build relationships with current friends and family | D I definitely put friends and family after work and projects. I have to (and this’ll sound cold and callous, but it’d actually be a really nice thing) better systematize my relationship building. I used to keep a tickler file for my friends to help me know when to give them a "how ya’ doin’?" call, but that’s fallen by the wayside. I need to tend to my personal mailing list and, God forbid, actually use it. |
| Create Art for Friends | F With the exception of something that got lost in the mail and a few belated Christmas gifts, I didn’t make any art for friends. |
| Publish Children’s Books | F |
| Learn how to tell stories vocally | F |
| Sing More | A+ Boy, you should hear me belt them out on the long commute to work… |
| Telecommute | C+ Worked from home a lot this past year, but could definitely stand to do that more (and to be more productive at home… hence the home office rennovation) |
| Feel good about putting myself before work | ? Hmmm.. not sure how to measure this one. I was having a blast working on my projects and side deals, but I didn’t take the "me time" very often…. but when I did, I was all about the "me." |
| Engage more conversations | ? Again… too ambiguous. |
| Stress Relief | F I felt burnt out way too often last year and I didn’t do anything about it (exercising would have helped dramatically) |
| tell friends and family what they mean to me | F No real Hallmark moments in davidnunez land last year. |
| Do Bold and Outrageous thing every day | C I took quite a few risks and leaps of faith all over the place. I should have taken more. I’m getting better at letting the opportunities show themselves and creating them where necessary. A bold thing EVERY day? hmm.. way too many days slipped by in mediocrity. |
So what have we learned? It’s clear I didn’t make my goals "SMART" (specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic, timed). I didn’t spend enough time thinking through what a success would actually look like, and that meant there was no way to extrapolate useful workplans from the goals. Without a workplan, I couldn’t snip off bite-sized mini-accomplishments every day to make slow and steady progress to the ultimate goals.
I also never really revisted these goals throughout the year, so I could never see how I was doing… in fact I lost any connection with the resolutions very early in the year and only managed to get a few successes by accident and not really as part of The Plan.
So I need a plan. I’m working on a plan.
Stay tuned.
