2021 New Year's Resolutions

This post is coming disappointingly late. It's almost a month since the change of the new year, and I'm only now stating my goals.

Last year, I resolved to publish at least 40 blog updates. I achieved 45, and with the five updates I put to Gryphood, and the three I put on Gryphon's Gallery, I arguably achieved 53. This year, I'll resolve to update at least 50 times. It might look like I'm off to a bad start with only three updates in January, but if you include the two updates on Gryphood, I'm actually doing alright.

I also resolved to become more health-conscious, which certainly doesn't align with the SMART goal system (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound). Worked decently for the last three letters, not so much for the first two.

Obviously the pandemic was a huge change in lifestyle, and that will reflect health. At first, while I was using my 'burst energy' (my computer won't let me do double quote marks right now for some reason) and in crisis-mode, I was pretty good. I was only eating staple foods, I was specifically trying to boost my immune system and physical resilience so that f I caught the virus I'd have a better chance of fighting it off. I got back into my body weight workout routine, I was running laps and skipping rope in the backyard regularly.

But then of course, the addrenaline wore off and I fell back into a more sedantary lifestyle, in large part because I no longer needed to travel for work and because of the lack of vitamin D. Wound up gaining back the weight I'd lost and then some.

Since then however, I moved out of my old place and in with Lee-Anne, and I've lost some weight again just by regulating my eating habits, keeping more to a schedule, and planning meals ahead of time. So it's been a roller coaster of a year and I don't know if I should count it all as a success or failure. We'll just call it a failure to be safe.

This year I resolve to walk an average of at least 25 km per week. That sounds like a low number. This might sound lame, but Pokemon Go has a movement calculator to show how much you've walked in a week. Back while I was working, I would always walk over 50 km per week, didn't even have to try. It's just because I don't drive, and and getting around required a lot of foot travel. Now, I really have to go out of my way to get to 25 km. So my new resolution is a step back from 2019, but a step ahead of 2020. My idea was to use the Pokemon Go movement tracker to determine how much I'd walked in a week, record each week and at the end of the year figure out what my weekly average was. This way, I would concretely know whether or not I'd accomplished my goal. Unfortunately, I've been really bad about recording my progress, so I don't know what to do with that.

Of course, this resolution is sort of dependant the condition of the pandemic. If everyone's vaccinated by September, maybe I'll get a ton of steps in during the last quarter of the year. Maybe there will be even harsher lockdown restrictions and I won't be able to leave house at all. Who knows?

I kind of want to include at least two body weight workouts per week, but I kind of think it's a bit much to start now when I'm getting used to my other resolutions. I kind of want to resolve to start doing this by like, mid-way into 2021. So like, June.

Me and Lee-Anne have been talking a lot about having a meat-free day per week. I don't want to resolve to do that right away, and I feel bad resolving it at all when it feels like we're still in the brain-storming process, but I'll resolve to refrain from eating meat one day per week, implemented before the end of the year. I know that sounds like a low ball, and I know that's still too much meat, but c'mon. Let me learn some vegetarian recipes before I expand my goals.

I want to start using my dream journal again. I've been recording my dreams irregularly for awhile, but I want to make more of a habit of it. Hard to make a specific goal when it's really difficult to predict when you'll be able to remember them.

I want to read more. I used to read obsessively, but in recent years I guess I've decided to become the lowest common denominator and just wath Youtube videos in my spare time constantly. It's not a big number, but I resolve to read a minimum of 6 books in 2021. So, one non-work related book (important distinction) every two months. I'm off to a good start, because I just finished Terry Pratchet's The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents.

So to reiterate, in 2021, I resolve to:

• Make 50 blog updates
• Walk an average of 25 km or more per week
• Start a body weight workout routine, minimum twice a week, starting June or earlier
• Have a weekly vegetarian day, implemented before the end of the year
• Read at least 6 books
• Update my dream journal more regularly

So there you have it. I wonder if making resolutions that you don't start right away will be an effective way of going about it. I guess we'll find out.

By the way, I've been absolutely crushing it the past three years in terms of life development. In 2018 I got my job at WALES, in 2019 I started dating Lee-Anne and adopted Kieran, and in 2020 I moved in with Lee-Anne. I wonder if I'll have any major accomplishments in 2021. Can't imagine what they might be. Maybe I'll lose momentum. Still, despite the turbulent times, I feel I've really made strides these past three years.