(totally not related to new year's) resolutions

I'm not really much for new year's resolutions, mostly because I don't like setting myself up to feel guilty. I feel guilty about silly things enough of the time that I don't like setting myself up for more. I also think it's kind of silly (for me) to use one-and-only-one day per year to set goals.

However (*laughs*) I've spent most of my day making lists of goals. I keep stubbornly telling myself that it's totally not because it's new year's, it just happens to be new year's when I do this. I'm probably not fooling anyone, but I keep insisting.

I enjoy making lists, in general. Not for the 'pleasure of crossing things off the list,' as I've heard is the reason many people like to make lists. No, I like to make lists because I have an fairly useless memory when it comes to things I'd like to remember to do (mind like a steel sieve, we say).

The keys to this resolution list are specitivity (as opposed to my life goals or conceptual resolutions) and positivity. It's a lot easier for me to follow something like a "walk the dog at least once per day" resolution than it is to follow a "see my family more" or "don't eat fast food" goal.

Without further ado, and in no particular order:

1. read at least two non-fiction books per month

Five of the last nine books I've read have been young adult paranormal romance novels. This shit has got to stop.

2. read at least one book per month about a subject or in a genre I've never read before

One of my only goals of the past year was to read only books I'd never read before, which exposed me to many new authors, but I ended up reading a lot of science fiction, fantasy and young adult. I'd like to expand even more this year.

3. write at least one blog post per week

Not really for the purposes of sharing with the world, but because a blog is a convenient place to keep things I've written and be able to find them later.

4. write at least one paper letter per week

Covering the dual goals of doing a better job of keeping in touch with people and cultivating a sense of physical correspondence. I tried to do the 'keeping in touch with people through letters' thing before, but it never really got off the ground, sadly. And now people's addresses have probably changed since the last time they gave them to me.

5. write at least one philosophical essay-type blog post per month

To keep up my mad philosophising skills.

6. spend at least 15 minutes per day on metaphysical exercise

This will probably be mostly meditation at first.

7. spend at least 15 minutes per day on writing exercise

Poetry or fictional prose. This is the kind of thing I don't blog about or even really share with anyone (anymore) but is still a skill I'd like to (re-)cultivate.

8. spend at least one hour per week on academic-type study

Current plans include brushing up on Latin and maths.

9. at least three times per week, spend a half-hour doing physical exercise

The challenge here is going to be finding things to do when I'm limited by the weather and by my back thingie. I actually really, really enjoy going to the gym, but I can't afford a membership right now.

10. try at least one new recipe/food-making activity per week

Cheese! Yogurt! Kefir! Different Meads! Different breads! Not desserts!

11. spend at least one hour per week searching for a new job

Pretty self-explanatory.

(cross-posted)