Another year, another list of things I’d like to achieve. Thanks again to Dan for being such an inspiring dude in general, but specifically here in the context of yearly personal reviews and goal making (goal zero: hang out with Dan more!). Same as before, New Year’s resolutions are kinda bullshit, just change (or at least begin making effort towards change) when you figure out what you want to do, but the compartmentalizing of “a year” is too much to resist so here we go…
1. Equity & Management - purposely vague for a few reasons, but there is something pretty huge and life altering in the works. While at this point in the process I have little ability to alter the course of things, my life focus right now is on making this happen. If it does, I promise it will be impossible to not hear about it. (especially if you lurk me enough to be reading this). On the flip side, if it doesn’t work out, I need to keep perspective on life and just roll with it and onto the next thing.
2. Complete the Tough Mudder in May - 10-12 mile obstacle course up and down Mt. Snow in VT. I organized a team for it and we’ve been training together. In the next month or two things are gonna get real serious. I’m stoked to put myself to the test.
3. Fight More - I want to be doing Krav at least a couple times a week. I don’t think that will happen, but one way or the other, I need to hit stuff and get better at it.
4. Read at least 1 book a month for personal pleasure - This is a pretty low goal but thinking back on the past year, I didn’t even come close. I love reading but don’t do it near enough.
5. Play every game I own and have never played - It’s a weird state of affairs where you own games still in shrink wrap. Either you’re getting traded/sold or you’re getting played (and then likely traded or sold cause you suck).
6. Be more aggressive in paring down material possessions - I love stuff. I have shelves and shelves full of stuff and still want more and more of it. However, I also have lots of stuff that would be far better served elsewhere. Some of it is stuff that I used well but no longer have need of (books about teaching social studies!), some of it is stuff I once loved but don’t ever enjoy anymore, some of it is stuff I got aspirationally and need to accept that it won’t see use, some of it is just stuff. No matter the reason for it, there is a lot of stuff I’d much rather turn into other stuff. All the better if the new “stuff” is mostly just great memories.
7. Write more personal reflective pieces – falls into the whole “write more” plan I have for my entire adult life, but writing the last bit I realized that I have a lot I’d like to say about materialism and it’s place in my life. I have great discussions about most of these things, but I’d like to be putting it down in a less ethereal form.
8. Have more inspiring philosophical discussions with awesome people – I’m on a roll with these items, leading one into the next, but yeah, I love talking and thinking and being challenged. I should do more of it.
9. Do what I want – Such a simple idea, such a difficult practice. I’ve been making serious effort on this front but it’s a constant struggle in a culture/society where the opposite is drilled into your mind from birth.
10. Get a hot tub – shit was getting a little too heavy. If number 1 works out, opulent adult life priority #1 is getting a hot tub. I don’t actually see it happening this year, but that’s a hell of a carrot to work towards.
11. Make the most of all the amazing people I’ve manged to surround myself with – I’ve gotten to know some awesome people, the more they are in my life, the better my life is. So why the fuck aren’t these interpersonal relationships as much of a priority as they should be? See #9… Also, keep on cutting out the people that suck, I got no room for people who don’t get that my love is a two way street despite the fact that I have a limitless supply.
12. Go somewhere I’ve never been – hopefully it’s not just a gas station on a different route through Virginia
13. Do more awesome BIG stuff with Trish – Our lives with each other generally rule and really, I think it’s the little things that make a relationship; eating breakfast together every morning, going grocery shopping, pre-sleep bed chats. But thinking about the past year, most of my BIG memories are events that Trish, for a variety of perfectly fine reasons, wasn’t a part of. I’d like to change that. Mostly this means adding some new awesome activity/adventures cause my drunken gaming/nerd/convention rampages around the country aren’t something she’s too keen on being a part of anyway haha. Money makes it harder too since travel is is big thing in this regard but we can’t really afford to do much of it these days.
14. Make enough money that I don’t NEED to think about how much money it’s costing us when someone forgets to turn off a light – but just cause I can stop thinking about it, doesn’t mean I ever will!
15. Find Amy a new home - sucks that this is still a thing but it is and it REALLY needs to change.
16. Have more fun – I have a lot of it, but I can certainly have more! Sometimes it takes some effort, but it’s pretty much always worth it in the end and I need to remember that sometimes.
17. Deadlift 450 pounds – carry over from last year. Still really want it to be a thing I do. Hopefully injuries and motivation issues stay out of the way.
18. Don’t stress - about anything on this list or anything else in general. I’m gonna die and nothing matters anyway beyond the value we each individually impart to it, might as well make the most of everything and everyone.
19. Listen to more music – I think an easy practice to fall back into is turning on the stereo whenever I’m home and not watching/listening to something else. I love music and no reason it shouldn’t be in my life even more.
20. Do a band again - maybe this year it will happen?
21. More event gaming – money is a huge factor here, but I’d like to get to even more gaming/nerdery events this year than I did last year.Might be working more big cons this year through a new connection. (I suppose it’s actually a really old connection, just new in this context)
22. Drink more good Scotch – thanks a lot Aymii, now I’m into a thing that’s for rich adults and I’m neither! Trish got me the big deal book about Scotch for Christmas and I’ve already checked off a few great ones. I’d like to see my copy getting really marked up in the coming years despite my nonexistent budget for swanky liquor.
23. LOVE LIFE!
Totally forgot about finishing my writing for the History MA. Guess that says a lot about how much of a shit I give about it (not so much!) but I do really need to do it cause it’s really really dumb to have come this far with it and not finish it up when all that’s holding me back is writing some bullshit that will get read once and then never again.
You can always rent video games from game rental services. $16 a month and play unlimited games. Or, do like I do which is play games two years behind everyone else so that it’s new to you and half the price. And if you’re talking board games, Battlestar Galactica the board game has kept me occupied all year, as well as Zombies and Betrayal at the House on the HIll.
I did GameFly for a while but found I couldn’t keep up enough for it to be worth it, especially as most games get stupidly cheaper pretty quickly. This is mostly about boardgames though. Halfassedly being in the industry and deep in the community, I end up with a lot of games. With over 500 games in the house right now, it gets hard to give most of them the time they deserve haha
You’d b amazed at how much money is sleeping in goal #6. Even if you just make few bucks, it’s basically someone paying YOU to move shit you don’t want/need out of your house. I’m speaking from experience, when I say that you’d be amazed at the shit people are willing to buy off of craigslist.