the resolutions

I warned you I'd be writing about my new years resolutions sometime soon, and that time has come. Admitting resolutions in a public forum is not something I love to do, but it's certainly one way to keep yourself accountable. You never know who you'll run into six months from now asking about the exercise regimen you set (and hopefully kept). You may be asking yourself right about now (and aptly so), why am I blogging on this topic now? It's January 24, isn't that a bit belated? Perhaps for some. But me, I like to sink back into my routine first, get into the new year, and then decide what I'd like to change about it. It's all too much for me to actually commit to changing things while the holidays are still going and before I've regained some normalcy in my everyday life. I end up falling off the bandwagon almost immediately and becoming discouraged. Additionally, Sean and I were on vacation for the first part of the month, and starting new discipline on holiday just seems like a drag.

So, that brings us up to date.

Before I share my resolutions, I want to share a few resources. This year I've kept my list short and sweet: 6 items. I have personal and professional goals, some vague and some more concrete. I knew generally what I wanted: learn a new thing, move a project forward, better myself. I tried to choose some semi-concrete goals that embody those general ideas and that I knew where totally possible. At the same time, I didn't want them to be so hum drum that they weren't challenging. Here are a couple things I read that helped:
Read on for those resources, resolutions and more after the jump!

Useful Advice from Miranda July

I'm in the middle of a pretty sizable graphic design project right now. My goal is to finish it by the end of the week, but I feel like I'm stuck in molasses trying to run. I feel extremely privileged and excited to be working with this organization because I love their cause and I've wanted to volunteer time with them for years. I've really enjoyed developing the project, too. It's only that graphic design is a little more difficult for me so I move a little slower doing it. It just makes for a more deliberate process. Thus it has been incredibly important for me to flee all distractions this week because I can be a marvelous procrastinator. I ran across this video from Miranda July and thought it very apt:

Obviously I can't physically trap my laptop for this particular task, but I can still put restrictions on other computer-related distractions. Anti-Social is a smart little app I read about in a Michael Hyatt blog a couple months ago. It allows you to use your computer but it blocks all social aspects of the internet, i.e. Facebook, Twitter and the like. You have to restart your computer to get rid of it. Maybe a good metaphysical version of the hostage situation in the video above. Do you have any good advice for how to stay on task? -hil