I pulled out a huge stack of journals I've been keeping since 1988 from the drawer this week. I may not write every day, but for some reason I seem to never miss writing down a list of resolutions for the year.
I'm happy to see that some of the resolutions are resolutions I've met:
"Find a school closer to home," and
"Read in the evenings instead of watching tv," and
"Write a review of every book I read," and
"Try to read a book every week."
Some I've come close to meeting:
"Exercise twice a week," and
"Breathe," though I'm pretty sure I wasn't just talking about respiration.
And then there are those resolutions that I will probably never meet, but that I can keep working on:
"Become fluent in Spanish," and
"Read more slowly," and
"Write every day," and
"Read all of the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up."
Most daunting of all is my vow, almost every year since 1990, to
"Talk less; listen more." Almost impossible, I'm afraid.
Let's not even think about how long I've been resolving to "Write my book." Oh dear.
I read in Brain Pickings this morning a little about Jeremy Dean's book, Making Habits, Breaking Habits. The old saw that it takes 21 days to create a new habit is apparently only true if you are trying to establish an easy habit like drinking a glass of water after breakfast.
Perhaps I should send a little note to Mr. Jeremy Dean and provide him with a little real long-term data about the difficulty of achieving establishing some habits.
I'm happy to see that some of the resolutions are resolutions I've met:
"Find a school closer to home," and
"Read in the evenings instead of watching tv," and
"Write a review of every book I read," and
"Try to read a book every week."
Some I've come close to meeting:
"Exercise twice a week," and
"Breathe," though I'm pretty sure I wasn't just talking about respiration.
And then there are those resolutions that I will probably never meet, but that I can keep working on:
"Become fluent in Spanish," and
"Read more slowly," and
"Write every day," and
"Read all of the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up."
Most daunting of all is my vow, almost every year since 1990, to
"Talk less; listen more." Almost impossible, I'm afraid.
Let's not even think about how long I've been resolving to "Write my book." Oh dear.
I read in Brain Pickings this morning a little about Jeremy Dean's book, Making Habits, Breaking Habits. The old saw that it takes 21 days to create a new habit is apparently only true if you are trying to establish an easy habit like drinking a glass of water after breakfast.
Perhaps I should send a little note to Mr. Jeremy Dean and provide him with a little real long-term data about the difficulty of achieving establishing some habits.
In any case, these are my book-ish goals for 2014:
1. Read a book every week.
2. Review (almost) every book I read.
3. Slow down (in reading, in everything).
4. Read at least one 1001 Children's Book each month.
5. Write (something) every day.
6. Exercise twice a week.
7. Practice my Spanish.
8. Real food.
9. Say yes.
And, what the hey...10. Talk less; listen more.
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I am surprised you haven't written your own book by now, but reading does take time away from (distract) from other things -- especially chores!
ReplyDeleteI don't usually meet my goals (they aren't difficult - out of reach goals either) & can be very frustrating each year to look back.
Congrats on meeting so many of your previous goals! That's fantastic!
ReplyDeleteAnd even if Talk Less; listen more is super duper hard - it's still a great goal and provides some solid inner focus! GO YOU!
Haha I loved this post! I'm with you on the difficulty of "finish writing my book" and "breathe" - those are two things I'm working on too. Good luck with the rest of your resolutions!
ReplyDeleteI'm a new GFC follower :)
- Kritika @ Snowflakes & Spider Silk
I have been working on my book so long that it should be written!
ReplyDelete"Listen more; talk less" is a worthy goal, I think, even if it is (almost) impossible for me.
ReplyDeleteIf I could just breathe, I could probably do everything else I need to do.
ReplyDeleteI love that you were able to connect these to resolutions you made in years past! Good luck on these, they seem reasonable and attainable.
ReplyDeleteI loved the pictures from your old journals! I'm in total agreement about talking less and listening more. It seems like I resolve to do that every year too, but it never seems to happen. Maybe this will be our year! Good luck with your list -- they're all great goals!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was fun to look through the old resolutions!
ReplyDeleteLet's see how we do, Lindsay!
ReplyDelete