New Years' Resolutions

I don't like making these, it's a fun tradition, right? Key word: fun. This means I won't stress over these too much. These are more like... guidelines!

I get the sense that 2011 will be a good year, whether or not I adhere to these. I have always liked odd-numbered years more than even.

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Before we get to 2011, let's talk 2010. Here's what I wanted to accomplish:

"2010 will be yet another busy year, and an important one at that. My main goals... are pretty obvious: progress in school and career... Other things I want to do are to keep racing, read more non-management books, become more aware of the world, watch less "junk TV," cook more, and take better care of my health. These are all things I had been doing in 2009 and just want to intensify in the upcoming year."

How did I do? Well, I took the loosey-goosey route last year, so I can't cross off items (which is why I did it differently for 2011). But...

- school: Wrapped up some classes and passed my prelim orals.

- career: Started a new gig in the company I hope to remain.

- racing: Had a successful year in spite of injuries and conservatism.

- reading/awareness: I haven't been doing as well with this as I should, but I will note that I do read more newspaper media, news stories, and I've even become more aware of sports.

- TV: While I have definitely been watching more, it's been (mostly) for my cooking or athletic edification.

- cooking: Definitively accomplished (see my Cooking tag). I am fairly confident in my ability to cook with or without recipes in different genres. While I have a lot to learn, I've been surprised by my own skills!

- health: I got sick once this year, after running LA Marathon and was in a funk with my running for another month after that. But I know I fought off a couple of other things and credit that to paying closer attention to my intake and listening to myself when I'm feeling run-down. I've also been eating more organic food.

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Now onto 2011...

1. PR. I make this resolution every year and have not yet disappointed. However, this gets harder each year, obviously (see right-hand navigation for my current PRs).
   
2. Finish dissertation. This could happen "on time" (by May) or "by the end of the year" (December). Not sure right now, but it better happen in 2011!
   
3. Start budgeting. I spend money by gut/eyeballing, and while this hasn't put me in a bad situation, I would like to start getting a sense of how much I can really spend on "extras." To keep me accountable, I will be taking a full tally of my finances prior to Jan. 1 so I can start monitoring immediately.
   
4. On the same note as #3, pay down debt. I actually did a little this past year, making it seem less scary. Since I haven't budgeted, I don't know how much I want to put toward this specifically, but hopefully more than this past year (especially if I end up graduating).
   
5. Employment. I make this resolution every year. While I make decent wages, I would like to gain some stability... finally.
   
6. Related to 3-5, I would like to start thinking about my retirement. I have some pension set aside, though I don't monitor it closely enough. I might decide to pull it out and re-invest it myself, or just start something separate. Maybe even just as part of my savings. But I'm going to turn 26 in 2011 (if you know me and my existential mindset, I had not been planning life beyond 30), and I thought I'd be much better off in this realm than I am!
   

I'll keep it at those, since too many goals would be unattainable. Truly, I just want to get my life together in 2011 -- regain some of the control of my life that I've lost in these previous years and come out of it a better person.