2013 new years resolutions

Okay - this year I'm going to list these in January so I can't cheat...

Good progress at work, balanced personal life with lots of time with H & S, general good health, happiness etc goes without saying.

Top 5:

1.      Go to Australia to see Alan, Maggie and the boys, and Sally, Keith and the boys

2.      Beat my 2011 marathon time of 4:16:49 by finishing Auckland Marathon 2013 in under four hours

3.      (Write/) Finish & send a completed novel to >1 agent

4.      Scan in my grandfather’s WWII letters (again)

5.      Achieve something else major that I didn’t expect/plan

Other resolutions:

6.      Achieve Associate Emergency Manager certification through the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM)

7.      Do a post-graduate level paper/course

8.      Complete the November 2013 ‘Nanowrimo’

9.      Get another tattoo (been an annual resolution but really have to figure out what the hell I'd want)

10.  Take 100 quality photos in a 24 hour period

11.  Cook my way through one cookbook

12.  Write >10 quality blog entries (aim for monthly)

13.  Measure my baseline track mile time in January and improve this by 1 minute by end of December

14.  Paint the bathroom, washhouse, dining room and beams in lounge & master bedroom

15.  Take a sea kayaking course and go out in the kayak >5 times

16.  Do the Auckland Ironman 70.3 half-IM in January 2014 (yeah 2014 I know.. but it’s still a 2013 resolution)

17.  Build a shed

18.  Write and send a paper to a professional journal

19.  Learn to juggle 4 balls

20.  Join >2 clubs (doesn’t matter what the club is)

2012 new years resolutions – Judgement Day

I didn't post this at the start of 2012, but here's me facing up to the 2012 new year resolutions I set in January:

1.      Beat my 2011 marathon time of 4:16:49 by finishing Auckland Marathon 2012 in under four hours.

 100% – bad sprain/tear in my ankle put me out of action for this, but I’m calling it a pass because of the amazing experience running with Shelley for her first ever ½ marathon, and trusting my fitness & state of my ankle for the run.

2.      Finish my novel ‘Sideswipe’ and send to >1 agent.

50%, I finished my first novel this year – in first draft so yet to send to an agent.

3.      Get at least one credible job offer from an international organisation.

N/A - went fishing half-heartedly for options at start of the year but did not follow through once we decided to stay in NZ.

4.      Buy $1,000 in shares.

0%

5.      Achieve Associate Emergency Manager certification through the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM).

0%

6.      Do 100 press-ups in a row.

0% - Hate to think how many I can do in a row but lets just say it's no improvement from January!

7.      Go to Malaysia for my brother’s wedding in April.

100% - Had an amazing time!

8.      Sell our house.

100% - And bought an amazing house!

9.      Complete the November 2012 ‘Nanowrimo’

100% - And 100% harder than 2011 but got through it!

10.  Get another tattoo

0% - still can’t decide what I’d get

11.  Run 20 new routes

100% - loving the Blockhouse bay road/trail/beach running!

12.  Take 100 quality photos in 24 hours

0% - fail

13.  Cook my way through one cookbook

30% - was right on track with this and having fun, but stopped for no particular reason

14.  Change my ‘look’ five times

80% - changed things up, even grew a beard for a while.  Not a total change but had fun.

15.  Write 10 quality blog entries and post (& Twitter) them.

100% - Bottom dropped out of this by mid-year but had fun with some posts at start of year. http://stasisremoved.blogspot.co.nz/

16.  Read 26 books

50% - halfway there?

17.  Learn jujitsu

0% - fail.  Where did that resolution come from?!  I think I was drunk

18.  Scan in my grandfather’s WWII letters (again)

0% - did not get around to this.

19.  Learn A-Z in sign language

0% - fail

20.  Improve my mile time by 1 minute (tested myself on the track on 3^rd January 2012 at 7 mins 19 secs)

N/A – ankle injury

So… 45% for this year for a very random list of resolutions, but out of the actually important resolutions (1, 7, 8, 9 and 18), I got 80%!

Also... wrote my first ever full (first draft) novel, got my first ever short story published - from a competition too, and managed to balance work and family life - spending lots of time with Shelley and Hayley..

Go me.