I Resolve To...

I resolve to be resolute in carrying out my resolutions this year. Let me tell you something, it really takes a lot of attention and energy to actually follow through with goals. This New York Times article talks a little bit about why New Year's Resolutions often fail, and includes this excerpt:

In a season of change, in a year of change, most people who embark on a journey of self-renewal can expect anything but. Research shows that about 80 percent of people who make resolutions on Jan. 1 fall off the wagon by Valentine’s Day, according to Marti Hope Gonzales, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota.

I think that part of the problem with New Year's resolutions is that we decide we're going to change something because of this somewhat arbitrary point in time without the real impetus for the desired change being the driving force. It's the date that makes it happen, not the fact that it's necessarily what we desire to have happen most. When I figured out that I was a fatload back in 2005, I didn't wait until the New Year to decide that I was going to drop my weight. Or when I decided I was going to run a marathon it was because of the fact that I wanted to do that more than anything else at that point in time, not because I hit a date in the calendar or a specific age and decided that I had to reevaluate my life and figure out what was missing. Get what I'm saying? The change needs to come from within, not just because a point in time has arrived. I feel like this paragraph is kind of crappy, but I'm not sure quite how else to express these thoughts.

That's not to say that it is not good to periodically take inventory of what is deficient in our lives, but maybe too often the focus is that we feel more impelled to seek change just for the sake of doing so, rather than actually wanting that resolution to occur out of its own merit. In fact, sometimes those dates (or new starting points?) are just the things we need to take that opportunity and reevaluate what it is that needs to happen. I'm just speculating.

In the gospel, I think we have all those new beginnings for a purpose - repentance. Not in the sense that there is some grave error that needs correction (although that could be the case), but simply for the sake of perfecting ourselves. We have a new morning to figuratively resurrect each day and start over. It can happen each day, week, month, or year. We have tons of opportunities to try and change. Anyway, this is a really long diatribe to get to the real reason for my post - my own resolutions.

In no specific order, here they are:

• Gospel Behaviors - I started off writing a huge explanation about this one, and realized that there are probably only one or two people who would actually be interested. I'm not always sure when to include those or not. Anyway, the main thrust of this one is that I want to study the scriptures everyday this entire year, and attend the temple at least twice a month. I feel like if I can have the discipline to do those things, then that should translate into the discipline I need to do a number of other things, while also allowing me greater access to the spirit.
• Thesis - this is one of my big ones, and I still need to break this down. I need to have a draft to my professor this next week, and I think by the beginning of April I should be able to have a defense of my prospectus in place. That will allow me to carry out my experiment in the spring term, and I can write over the summer. Have a full draft by the fall, and be ready to defend my thesis next winter. This is a big one for me. My whole year is really going to be planned around getting this done.
  
• Exercise - so I ran a marathon last year. Woo! What now? I'd like to someday qualify for the Boston. I think I can do it, although 3:10 is absurdly fast. That's a 7:15 mile. Anyway, I'm not sure how dedicated I can be to doing that because it would take a lot of effort to do speed training/tempo runs and I'm not sure if I'm up for that right now. However, while at home I kind of thought that it would be cool if over the course of the entire year it would be cool to say that I ran over 1000 miles. That's just kind of cool to be able to say, I think. Cool to say cool. Cool COOL cOOl. Cool. cool. And to do that would only require me running about 20 miles a week. There will be peaks and valleys I'm sure, but I plan on doing another marathon this year, and probably a couple half-marathons sprinkled in there, so I think it's within the realm of possibility. Just need to make sure I'm healthy this year, and that means training right and eating right.
• Travel - As I reflected with my brother about his life over the break, I realized that I need to get out and see more of the world. So this one is pretty easy to measure - I need to travel to at least one place internationally. If you've got any ideas or future plans, clue me in. I need to figure something out. I can't have my only excursion abroad internationally be where I served my mission and touristy areas in Mexico.
• Budgeting - this might make the travel resolution tough. But I need to be more specific about the credits and debits that are going on with my bank accounts. Rather, I need to be more consistent in employing those habits. I'll be doing great for several months and then when a time comes where I know that I'm going to want to spend more money and I conveniently stop monitoring my spending, e.g. end of summer, Chicago, Christmas. This one is always so hard.

That's it. I have a couple of more abstract ones. I'd like to make my interactions with people more personal. More face-to-face contact, phone calls, etc. I was reading Reader's Digest at Dave's over the break and it had this article about a guy who decided that he was just going to say hi to people all the time. I don't think I'll ever be that outgoing, but for instance, I think I can do much more in the way of treating a person as a person rather than just a cash register. You ever notice that? Sometimes I realize that I never took the time to look my waiter/waitress (server, I suppose, is the appropriate word, but I hate all the genderless terminology) in the eye, or when walking on campus I'll make more of an effort to pretend that no one is around, rather than just looking up and smiling at someone or just saying hi. How hard is that?

The other one is maximize my use of time. I want to start wearing a watch, not because I don't have a cellphone with a clock, but I just want to be more aware of how I'm using my time. I think it's a good visible symbol that can serve as a constant reminder. I don't want to be lazy, or frivolous with my time. I'm 28. I shouldn't be spending most days or nights just watching tv, playing videogames, or surfing the internet. I can do better.

Anyway...so I'm on track with scripture study, and I'll be going to the temple Tuesday. I've run 22 miles in 2009. I was uber-lazy with school this week, though. So here goes.

I'll leave you with a couple of quotes about goals:

President Benson:

When we set goals, we are in command. Clearly understood goals bring our life into focus, just as a magnifying glass focus a beam of light into a burning point. Without goals, our efforts may be scattered and unproductive.

President Hinckley, one of my favorites:

So many of us begin strong and the flatten out. So many of us climb to a plateau and then drift. Cut out the rotten excuse that we are only human, that we are entitled to some daily quota of error or indifference. Only human? That is the ultimate insult to the God that created us. Remember, man's greatness does not lie in perfection, but in striving for it.

And one more from him:

The major work of the world is not done by geniuses. It is done by ordinary people, with balance in their lives, who have learned to work in an extraordinary manner.

I think those last two counterbalance each other well. Good luck to all of us!