The Jump Off

It's resolutions time. I've never made resolutions before, aside from general ones, but this is the year to start. Since I have no job, I decided I should be approaching my life like a job. Long and short term goals, accountability, reporting, and slacking off when the boss ain't looking. To that end, I looked up this "Free Tools to Manage New Year's Resolutions" thing and it said to use the S.M.A.R.T. method of setting goals and objectives. SMART means be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.

Basically I'm avoiding the broad resolutions in favor of really small ones. I'm aiming for a high score here, maybe even an A. There's nothing I like better than having an application to track my progress so I'll be using Joe's Goals, which is still in beta but seems easy to use and display. Except apparently, right now, when I'm trying to set it up. Day one and I've already failed. Computer error. That figures.

Forget it, I'm moving on to 43things. Maybe I'll use Joe's Goals for the ones that require daily tracking and then 43things for the biggies. Or I could do a spreadsheet. I fear that I'll be bogged down by the organizational aspect of resolutions and do nothing. Never, I'm strong of mind and full of willpower -- or shit.

I think the big mistake in making New Year's resolutions is that people make them for the entire year. That's very hard to do. Life can change so fast that in a few months, weeks even, your goals may no longer be the same at all. What I've resolved to do is just set down some goals for the next three months, from January through March. After that my life will probably be totally different, I'll be super accomplished, and then I can make a new list of a dozen or so things.

After looking through my list, most of my objectives center around my potential career as a writer. I want to be either writing, practicing writing, or doing something to prep for EC to launch. Build a website, figure out some grassroots marketing to do, hold fan club elections, that sort of thing. I should also try to lay some groundwork for future books and freelance pieces. So those are on the list too.

The writing daily thing is huge too. Currently if I'm not working on a book (Book 3 ideas are submitted but they've yet to get back to me) I'm not really writing at all. I should be doing something, or going through a grammar or style book, but I'm not. Gotta get on that.

The other thing I really want to focus on is the performative aspect of being a writer. I've been watching a lot of TED talks recently (they are money on the iPhone) and I'm so impressed at how eloquent and humorous the speakers are. It would add some nice versatility to my repertoire if I could perform like that, and not just in a totally informal setting like job training or blogging workshops. Authors and writers need to multi-task these days, I think. I can't be afraid of being in front of people, of being interviewed, or of standing up and engagingly and clearly talking about my book(s). I was reading the first few pages of EC to someone the other night and I was appalled at how much I stumbled and muttered. I can't even read right right now. Putting a fix on that is priority quickness.

I don't have much of a performer in me but it would be challenging and potentially fun to do something like a Mortified, a poetry piece, anything that might allow me to get away from the computer and out in front of real people. Thus the memorizing thing. I can't memorize for shit right now and I need to work on it. Related to that is taking an acting class. My friend told me she takes this acting class and it's been revealing to have to open up like that. I hate/fear acting but this is something I think I should do, even if it's one drop-in class where I sit glued to my chair until it's my turn to play the quiet Asian. I'll call that a success.

The other short term goals include doing something physical on a regular basis (swim if I'm at home near my pool, ball anywhere else) and being a better friend. The last one is nebulous and ongoing but I think I need to learn to show people my appreciation more. Be it tokens, thoughts, words, white doves, something.

So there it is, my Jan-Mar 2009 resolutions. Bring it on.

Oh, I had been talking about having a resolutions accountability partner but so far there doesn't seem to be a likely candidate -- plus my goals are so tiny that I should be able to get a handle on it. I don't want to have someone trying to check in on if I did my writing homework or something every day. They'd get bored really quick. I think I will be able to find someone on some of the writing goals (D, you hear me?) and she's amazing motivation already.