January 8, 2009 | Filed under: I Run Therefore I Am, Is She Still Talking?

Eight days into the new year — high time to get myself some New Year’s resolutions. I’m not sure how much resolve I have, so let’s call these goals targets to shoot for pipe dreams.

If there’s one thing I learned in grad school, it’s that goals must be CLEAR and MEASURABLE. That means none of this namby-pamby “be more patient” sort of resolution. (I feel OK giving up on that particular resolution. Ten years running and it hasn’t worked yet.)

Therefore, here are some of my goals for the year. I’m sure it’s not an exhaustive list, but I’m too exhuasted to try to come up with the rest of them.

• Run 800 miles. Now, before you go thinking this sounds batshit insane, please note that 800 miles is approximately 15 miles per week, or three 5-mile runs each week. This is a totally manageable goal which will only become unmanageable if I don’t work out three times a week. And if I don’t work out three times a week, a lot of other bad things will happen, not least of which is becoming batshit insane.
• Blog at least once a week.
• Do not stress out.
• Add weekend days onto work trips so as to do something fun while in other places, rather than the fly in/fly out routine from last year.
• Finish furnishing the house.
• Do not stress out.
• Bike. Like, ever. Buying a bike might be a good first step.
• Send real Christmas cards. Before Christmas.
• Do not stress out.

Did you make resolutions? Have you blown any of them already? It’s OK, we won’t tell.

1. chrystal says:
   

   Not that I don’t have complete faith in you or anything, but…I’m thinking you need to revise one of your goals. (Or rather, the one goal you listed three times.) Maybe instead of “do not stress out,” it could be, “do not stress out more than one time per day.” You’re right that goals have to be clear and measurable, but they also need to be semi-realistic. Just a thought…

   January 8th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
2. lisa says:
   

   I tried the whole biking thing one year. I even bought a nice, used bike. I rode a few times and then after one spectaculary embarrassing fall I ceased being a cyclist and resumed my normal life as a total quitter and I sold the bike at my garage sale.

   This should not discourage you in your own cycling ambitions for two reasons.

   1) Unlike me, you possess a little thing called coordination.
   2) Unlike me, you are not a quitter.

   January 9th, 2009 at 8:35 am
3. Superfantastic says:
   

   Do not stress out. Right.

   I am resolving to begin querying agents for my novel by June. Saying that here is less scary than putting it on my own blog. Then again, maybe I should do that so as to get myself a little more internet accountability. We shall see.

   January 10th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
4. clk says:
   

   clear and measureable? A consultant (his title, not what I like to call him) told me recently, “‘SMART’ is B-school bull*#$& people use to write checklists for tasks they can complete in their sleep not real work…’stretch goals’ are the real key. Striving for things you know you can’t actually achieve is how you measure true performance”. Hehehe. (Yes, you would have loved how that statement prodded me to torture him for two hours. I couldn’t resist.)

   January 20th, 2009 at 11:34 pm