I’m never really sure how I feel about New Year’s resolutions. Many years I’ve set unrealistic goals, vague, nonspecific ones or none at all. This year there are a few things I’m determined to accomplish, so I’m going to make a more focused effort.
I’ve failed at:
- Organizing 23 years of family photos. An overwhelming task, as we have more than 100 photos of our 21-year-old’s first week of life. It only gets worse from there.
- Fitting into a pair of size ?? jeans. You didn’t really think I was going to say what size, did you?
- Cleaning out 23 years of clutter. My husband used to keep those little black plastic cylindrical cases that held rolls of film. Remember film?
- Never using a word I wouldn’t publish in a church bulletin. I work with computers. Enough said?
- Watch less TV. Really?
Any expert will tell you goals must be specific, realistic and measurable. I think it helps if there are milestones along the way. So this is what I’m trying for this year.
| Goal | Starting Point | Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| Build a WordPress theme from scratch |
Redesign this site with customized existing theme |
Continue WordPress tutorials and build basic files for complete theme |
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| Define business and career goals | Update resume, enjoy new whiteboard in office |
Complete redesign and editorial calendar for this site |
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| Get house in shape | Declutter: one room at a time, beginning with office |
Host graduation lunch in much-less-crappy house |
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| Complete half marathon | Complete Couch-to-5K program, culminating in 5K run in March |
Memphis St. Jude Half Marathon in December 2010 |
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| Organize family (print) photos and convert to digital format |
Sort prints by year | Scan photos: one month’s worth of photos each month |
I’ve put it in writing not because it’s fascinating to read, but for the sake of accountability and the hope that it will force me to focus more intently. I’m going to allow myself a relaxing New Year’s holiday, then it’s get-serious time on Monday, January 4.
What are your resolutions and how do you plan to keep them?
I'm made fun of too! All the time. Especially when they get to be teenagers and everything you do is lame. I remind them that, although they do complain at the time, they also later ask for the picture.
After a while, they stop complaining and just accept it as a fact of life with me.
And there is never I picture I've taken that I regret. It's easy to delete, but you can never go back and capture the moment.
Some of the most precious shots I have are just random ones I took while they were just hanging out.
Keep snapping. They will thank you one day.
Being pregnant and hormonial, it's only obvious I just teared up while reading this post. My favorite part is :
“Take a million pictures, even when it seems silly. You’ll be glad when you look back at them and you won’t remember how much they complained.”
I'm made fun of for how many photos I take of Chloe, but I don't care. I want to remember her in ever stage of development!