A year in review and a look ahead.

I love New Years’. My full-time job is in the personal development industry, so I look at this as the holiday of goal-setting. It is amazing to see what you can do in the year by doing (or not doing) little things each day at a time. A year is a great span of time to measure how you are developing as a human being. With that in mind here is what I set out to do in 2013 and how I did.

2013 Wrap up

Buy no T-Shirts in 2013 (accepting gifts okay)

This goal was all about not wasting money on frivolous things. I didn’t purchase any t-shirts and spent that money on an awesome iMac.

Eat no meat in 2013 (fish and eggs ok)

I did great at this. Really there was no temptation to eat meat except on Thanksgiving but my mom and brother made some awesome meatless dishes so I didn’t even know what I was missing. My sense of smell got better and I noticed pretty much everyone that talks to me from less than 3 feet away has bad breath. If you drink coffee, I can tell.

While I gave myself the permission for fish and eggs I ended up eating them sparingly. Maybe once or twice a month.

Special thanks to Misty for joining me in a meat-free year.

Drink no alcohol in 2013

This was easier than I expected. I would whine about it but it was mainly a joke. At our work Christmas party, after dancing, I went back to our table and saw a glass of what I presumed to be ice water where my wife had been sitting. I took a sip, realized it was vodka, and spit it out.

Don’t go on Facebook (unless work-related) or Comicbookmovie.com for 2013

I did end up getting on Facebook for purposes other than work. My brother was in Costa Rica and it seemed to be the only way he would respond was messaging through Facebook. The main point of this goal was to cut out things in my life that was really a waste of time. I would get online and spend time looking at these sites that didn’t really benefit my life. It wouldn’t be that much time either (5-30 minutes) but that adds up.

I did allocate this “found” time into learning more web development on Tree House and was able to read 404 books (mostly graphic novels).

While I had set these goals I really didn’t accomplish them:

Be able to run 3 miles by end of the year
Work on drawing more
Create 5 ebooks
Write Book

But I think I am better for having set these goals. Due to my running goal, I was walking up to 4 miles a day until it got cold. My goal to write a book needed to be a little more hashed out. I wasn’t writing at all so I came up with making a better writing goal for this year.

Challenges for 2014

I will not say a negative thing about another human being.

If need be, I can talk about an event and if you know who is responsible you can make your own assumptions. But the spirit of this challenge is to be a more positive person and counteract a little of the negativity I have polluted my mind and this world with over the years.

Most people I have talked to say that I am such a positive person and ask why I would do this. My wife on the other hand might have a different story. Most of this stems from the glazed look that comes over her eyes on some days when I complain about people and work and the inefficient, poorly thought through, or unprofessional things they do. Complaining to her doesn’t help with the problem and my venting doesn’t help our relationship.

Write 52 Blog Posts

Submit a post before midnight every Wednesday or pay the price by bringing baked goods on Friday morning. This is a joint venture with my accountabilibuddies from work. Starts today.

Read the Bible

Read the Old Testament in NIV. New Testament in ESV. My good friend Nathan and I are tackling this one together.

Cut out Negativity

Unsubscribe from all “Save the Environment” Newsletters. Don’t listen to NPR (except maybe Think at lunch and Prairie Home Companion on the weekends).

Draw

30 minutes a day. Whatever medium. I purchased a Wacom Tablet yesterday.

Eat no Wheat

No bread, tortillas, donuts, battered fried foods, soy sauce, Twizzlers, or any products that contain wheat.

This is a part of last year’s goal to eliminate things in my diet that should not be there. I am ever so slowly working my way live with the principles discussed in The 80/10/10 Diet.

I feel like having this goal will help me lose weight. People are always bringing donuts to work and the foods that contain wheat are usually my favorite. According to this book, I am reading, Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth? it will be doing a little bit of good for the environment too.