Tis the season for reflection. As the end of yet another year comes to a close, many of us use this time to reflect on the past year. Our highs. Our lows. Our goals accomplished. And when we’ve finished reflecting, we look forward to the fresh start of another year as we wonder what fate has in store for us.
That brings us to the whole concept of New Year’s Resolutions, our lists of goals that we vow to accomplish within the next 365 days. I had every intention of compiling a list of 2012 resolutions, which was on schedule to be my top 10 list today. But when I went back to my Top 10 List of New Year’s Resolutions for 2011 and calculated my success rate, I had a change of heart.
So instead of new resolutions, here is a…
Year in Review: My Top 10 List of 2011 New Year’s Resolutions
10) KEEP UP MY BLOG: SUCCESS!
Woo hoo, I managed to stick to this one. But barely. Once school started up in September and I went back to work, I was lucky to bust out blog posts twice a week.
9) PLAY MORE GAMES: FAIL
I had such good intentions with this one. But somehow Friday Night Game Night never materialized, and all of our family board games are still collecting dust on the shelf in Big C’s closet.
8) WATCH/READ THE NEWS MORE: FAIL
Is it pathetic that I learn most of our world’s current events on Facebook? Again, good intentions. But my Sunday newspapers still end up in the recycling bin usually unopened and my Daily Beast Cheat Sheet emails still end up getting eaten by my delete button.
7) READ AT LEAST ONE BOOK PER MONTH: FAIL
Hmmm, let’s see. The last book I read took 2 weeks start to finish. But I had the whole Thanksgiving break and 12 hours in a car to read. The book before that? Three months. Three months to read a 200 page book. I think my 7-year-old son read more than that.
6) GET BACK INTO THE RACE: SUCCESS!
I think running has been the most consistent aspect of my year. And it’s the first time I’ve ever participated in one of every length race I set out to do: One 5k, one 10k, one 10 miler, and one half marathon. Next year’s goal? (Not a resolution, a goal! Yes, there’s a difference.) Two of each length. And quite possible a full marathon added to the mix.
5) SUBMIT MY CHILDREN’S BOOK MANUSCRIPT (AGAIN): FAIL
I wrote the book over 6 years ago. I already have a stack of rejection letters. Guess I wasn’t ready to turn over that mental block.
4) TRY NOT TO STRESS ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE OUT OF MY CONTROL: FAIL
I’m a military spouse. I always stress about things that are out of my control. I think I set myself up for failure on this one.
3) EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE FOR AT LEAST ONE THING EVERY DAY: FAIL
At the beginning of last year I started my own Project Gratitude in which I took some time out of every day to think about what I was thankful for, sometimes posting my thankful thoughts on my blog. But somewhere around May, Project Gratitude disappeared and never resurfaced.
2) ESTABLISH A WORKOUT ROUTINE: FAIL, SUCCESS, THEN FAIL AGAIN
A year ago I vowed to establish a routine to squeeze my workouts in after work. By the time the school year ended in June, no routine existed. Fail. But then I was out of school for the summer, and I was working out almost every day. Success! And then school started again in September, and I was back to grumbling about being too tired to go to the gym after work. Fail. I better try again though because that half marathon I signed up for in March is going to be really ugly if I keep making excuses.
1) START WRITING THE NOVEL THAT’S COMPLETELY WRITTEN IN MY HEAD: THE ULTIMATE EPIC FAIL
This is what I wrote about this resolution last year: “Realistically, I probably won’t start on this resolution until June when I start my summer vacation, but it’s a resolution that’s been on my list for the last decade. This is my year.” Ok, so I didn’t write a single word. Not. One. Word. 2011 clearly wasn’t my year of the novel. Here’s to hoping for a more prolific 2012.
Conclusion?
2011 New Year’s Resolutions Success Rate = 20.3%
I am a big fat failure in the resolution department.
I think I’ll pass on the 2012 resolutions.
I think I’ll pass on the 2012 resolutions.
How did you score on your 2011 New Year’s Resolutions? Are you making any resolutions for 2012?
haha I get ALL of my news from Twitter/Facebook, too! It's pretty sad, actually. I "scored" a 100% on my resolutions from last year, but I really only had 3. This year, I have 6 🙂
http://melosaurrn.blogspot.com/2011/12/resolutions-and-year-in-review-2011.html