Ground Hog Resolutions 2016

Ground Hog Resolutions 2016

This is my sixth year attempt at creating resolutions for myself and then holding myself accountable by checking in on the following months.

Why Groundhog’s Day and not New Year’s Day?

Because we are still recovering from the stress of the busy holiday season in December. We are not in a right frame of mind to make conscience, applicable goals and hope to stick with them.

So, I take the month of January off to reflect on the past year and the upcoming year. I let my digestive system recuperate from the holiday dinners too.

I begin the resolutions on February 2nd (2/2) and then every month on the corresponding day such as March 3rd (3/3), April 4th (4/4), etc.

I want to tweak the format a bit too for better results. By breaking goals up as a monthly focus I should get maximum benefits. I’ll go into specifics within the next couple of days but here’s some focus areas. 

Spiritual– I’ve moved away from God and not kept the faith. Since then, I’ve paid a price for it with my spiritual health. I’m not the same person I was and I don’t like it. Bitterness and cynicism has set in. Ill need to find a church that has a group of like minded people to share with. Read more scriptures, serve people from my heart not obligation. 

Financial– Time to make a realistic budget and stick with it. Become more aware of how to make my money work for me and pay off some debts. Be more frugal and appreciate the value of low/no cost activities to enjoy.

Physical– This one is obvious: eat better, exercise more, right? Wrong. Eat clean and train dirty. Nutrition has always been my downfall. Fast food, sodas, late night snacks have wrecked every attempt. A family member recently kicked the diet soda habit so I should be able to. Cutting fast food has multiple benefits like saving money, eating better and if lucky, a social occasion by preparing and sharing meals.  

Mental– I love to read and haven’t kept it up. My favorite authors have died and haven’t yet found anything to interest me. Time to discover new talent I suppose. Self discipline is a huge problem for me. Got to ficus on that. Speaking of focus, I want to do more relaxation and meditation. Mindfulness of what I am doing or not doing and make course adjustments. 

Social– I have got to get back out there. Being around smart and fun people just make me a better person. I feed off that and used to project it as well. With a promotion at work I am around more people and that has helped. For a few years I was so isolated and am grateful that has changed. I’ve signed up for a few groups from Meetup and haven’t’ made the opportunities to go. Shame on me. 

Leftovers from Years Gone By–

Digital Asset Management (DAM). This is a multi-year challenge to organize my decades worth of film and digital photos from multiple devices, multi-backups. Why is this so hard? Organize, archive, back-up and present it on a photo server for easy access.

Software- First up is DAM, second is Linux administration and even get certified. Boost my MS Office skills for work.

Travel- I hit my 2015 goals and I’m ready for more this year. Las Vegas coming up in a few weeks but my priority is Marfa, Big Bend and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks out in west Texas and NM.

Conclusion For Now

I’ll check in and review on March 3rd to go over which items I am tackling first.

Here’s hoping you can make similar commitments.