New Year’s Resolutions

The new year is coming up and I am keen to commit to some new year’s resolutions! I’m going to try to be more disciplined, healthier and more productive. I know a lot of people think new year’s resolutions are a bit silly but they’re a nice excuse to try and improve myself and there’s something to be said for the mutual support you get by participating in this annual ritual.

One thing I won’t do is keep what an acquaintance of mine called the streak mentality. If you go on a diet, are good for 2 weeks and then break that diet, don’t feel like you’ve failed. You succeeded for 2 weeks! Get back on, those 2 weeks still have value. Celebrate that success. If you continue with a resolution after you’ve broken it, you’re not starting from square one, you’re building on your accomplishment.

On that note, I am once again trying a diet, of which I’m on day 5. Diet rules are as follows. No Sweets, by that I mean no sugary soda, no cookies, ice cream, etc. I will still eat pancakes with sugar free syrup and I won’t be looking at everything I buy to see if it has added sugar. No crackers, chips, cereal, or milk. These are snack foods that I over-snack on. I’m also going to try to manage portions better and eat healthier, but I’m not going to worry overmuch about portions.

I’m going try to cook and/or prepare my own food as much as possible. Failed on monday, but pizza is what happens when I get marinated frozen salmon instead of fresh un-marinated salmon. Whoops. Truthfully I was only going to help My Love prepare that particular meal on Monday, not cook it myself. But I came home on Tuesday and my love had already made it. It was an African Salmon dish and it was awesome! We had a tasty Ethiopian dish yesterday and I’m going to try and cook a new Vietnamese recipe this weekend. I think a way of making cooking more fun is to experiment with more recipes , not to stick with what I know, which can be a bit boring. I shouldn’t be afraid of failure, I can always go get restaurant food if that happens, and I will become a better cook even when I don’t succeed.

I am going to go to the gym, stretch, do sit-ups and push-ups, and exercise for 30 minutes everyday. I am going to sleep at least 7 hours a night. I’ve been doing this since sunday and I feel better! I will meditate 10 minutes every day; I haven’t been able to make time for this but I think I might have enough time in the morning just before I leave for work. I’ve meditated regularly in the past, it makes me more relaxed and aware.

I will clean the whole house and keep it clean. I’ll clean as I go, wash dishes as soon as I’m done with them, pick up things that are on the floor when I see them, etc. My room, although not totally clean and tidy yet, is cleaner than it’s ever been since I moved here in 2007.

The above takes priority. As Patrick Mclean has said, if you sleep 8 hours or more a day you get a tremendous competitive advantage. I’m just going for 7 a night and I’m already feeling the difference. I’m more aware, more awake during the day and my body can better handle sitting in an office chair for 8 hours. If I don’t get my other resolutions done because I’m taking care of myself, I’m fine with that. In fact, I’ve not done much work this week on my creative projects at all.

I am going to do or read about Math, Arithmetic, puzzles, programming or logic 15 minutes every day.  I want to keep in practice since I’m not taking a math class this semester. (I’m taking art instead.) I’ve been doing this between and sometimes during calls at work.

I’m going to keep a 3 blog buffer for the Action Steve blog and a 3 comic buffer on the upcoming Action Steve comic. I’ve got that right now. I’ve just got to maintain it. I’m going to spend a regular amount of time working on hand drawn animation; Whether that means some few minutes every week or some small time every day I’m not sure yet.

I know I’m already pushing it but I’d also like to add other projects, finishing a web page I keep meaning to do, learning to sew, learning electricity again, making a podcast, etc. But these are low priority, only to be done when I’ve taken care of other stuff.

I hardly need to make these next resolutions because I’ve been doing these for many months, but I want to keep sketching in my sketchbook and playing my Ukulele every day.

I also will connect more with other creators and reach out to potential fans. I want to network with more people but I am wary about being an asshole about it, perhaps overmuch. More on this in a later blog.

I want to go exploring more. I really like being a homebody. Everything I need is inside my house and I enjoy being there with My Love, but I think I’m missing out by not getting out more. I live in the bay area, there are cool shops, restaurants, museums, and all kinds of stuff I should be checking out. I also want to try to expand my social horizons, meet people outside of work and go on social outings.

Finally I’m going to blog about my progress, and  include some information and tutorials about what I’ve learned, and include pictures, photos, and links to my completed projects.

I know this is quite a lot and much of it may be unrealistic. Maybe the whole thing is. But I really want to try this. I’m full of hopeful energy and really feel like I can do it this time. Wish me luck.