I have a hard time with the idea of New Year's Resolutions. I feel like they are an excuse for people to make goals that wouldn't have made them otherwise. I guess it's a good thing though... shows that people are trying? What I don't understand is why people don't just make their big goals as the ideas come to them. Why wait for some day on a calendar in the middle of the winter? If you want to lose weight, lose weight now. If you want to read that book, read it now. We could all be progressing at a much faster rate in life if we would just continually set big goals and not wait for once a year. None-the-less, I have decided not to boycott the social norm of goal making this year. However, all goals that I have decided to set go above and beyond the typical, "get good grades", "exercise more"... nonsense that most people use as a goal setting cop-out. I have even broken my large goals up into four different categories (adopted from the categories of connection I feel are important in relationships). Mind, body, heart, and soul.
MIND
This category would include anything that I feel is associated with intelligence, stimulating the mind, or educational growth. Therefore my goal in this area is to read four books of classical literature. This would include works from authors like Dickens, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Steinbeck, etc.
BODY
Body includes all physical goals. This year my goals are to participate in five triathlons and set a new PR for my 5K time.
HEART
The heart category would be for things that I enjoy. One must not simply set practical goals, fun goals are just as important if succeeding is the mission. My goal for this area could probably fall under the "body" category, however it is something that I enjoy. I want to try an new healthy recipe every month and do better at logging my eating on my fitness tracker.
SOUL
Soul would be the equivalent of a spiritual category. For this one I would like to do more than just focus on reading my scriptures daily, although this is most likely what everyone else would do for their spiritual goal. I would actually like to take it in a different direction. I want to read books that deal with spirituality and not simply religion. For example, I want to read a book by the Dalai Lama and his view of life. I want to read "Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis. Vicktor Frankl's book "Man's Search for Meaning" is also on my list.
So.... I'm hoping that the act of publicity announcing my resolutions for the year will be more of a motivating factor to work harder at them since now I have other people that are aware of what I'm trying for than just myself. What are some of your resolutions for the 2012 year?