Despite my past defeats in the realm of resolutions and goals I’m going to give it another go this year with some hopefully better results. I’m hoping that by setting just a few goals/intentions instead of a whole list worth I’ll have more success.
This blog – should it stay, or should it go? Along with resolutions, January also brings the renewal bills for keeping this blog up and running. It’s pretty expensive, and while there are a few ads running on the page, they don’t even cover 10% of the cost of keeping this blog up (and since I haven’t met the payment threshold I’ve actually received no money). So my intention for this year is to decide once and for all if I should keep it, or delete it.
When I first started blogging I really enjoyed it – I enjoyed sharing what I was doing, and getting feedback from readers, but over the years blogging as an medium has changed. Blogging used to be about sharing with the world because you’re proud of your craft or DIY, or because you really enjoyed the work of someone else.Now, in some cases, it’s all about the $$ and the lack of ethics on the part of some bloggers/sites has left me wondering if I really want to revive my blog. I didn’t write a single post in 2016 - time will tell if this is my sole post in 2017, and if it is I’ll have my answer.
Reading 40 books in 2017. I travel part of the way to work each day via the subway and, like a lot of people, I spend most of the time underground staring at my phone. Unlike some others though, I don’t play the newest addictive game, I read. Ebooks are a genius invention.
My goal for 2017 is the read 40 books. Originally it was 100, but then I did the math and realised that would be almost two books a week. While I love reading, I don’t love it above eating and sleeping and all the other things that take up some of my time. I pondered reading 50 books – a nice, round number I thought manageable given the speed I can finish a book (normally approx. one a week), but finally settled on 40 in case there are some books that are a bit of a slog to get through (we’re nearing the end of January and I’m starting to wonder if 40 was even a bit ambitious – I’ve only managed two books so far). The rules for this goal are simple – the books can be new, or ones I’ve read before, in any genre, but I have to read the whole thing. If you have any books to recommend please let me know – I need some ideas as my hold list at the library is currently empty.
Running a 10K in under an hour. I always seem to make resolutions about running, and they’re usually not successful.
This year I’m making a pretty audacious goal – I hope to finish a 10k race in under an hour. This is big. HUGE. Did I mention that I’m not a fast runner? My best ever 10k time was about 1 hour and 4 minutes. That was 12 years ago. Twelve. Paul Martin was the Prime Minister of Canada, GW Bush was the President of the USA, and I was more than a decade younger. Yikes.
To put this a bit more in perspective, last year I ran one 10K race and finished it with a chip time of 1:19:47. Oy – now that I’ve actually written that out I’m freaking out a bit – I basically have to cut 20 minutes of my most recent time to meet this goal. That’s a lot. Send help in the form of a personal masseuse, and maybe a truckload of anti-inflammatories. Also, a pry-bar to peel me off my couch and out to actually train might be helpful as well.
Try new things and put myself out there more. I’m a bit (ahem – a lot) of an introvert. I find it hard to put myself out there and meet new people. This year I’m aiming to try to fight that. I know I won’t be able to change my inherent nature, but my goal is to attend and participate in a few different things.
This goal has already netted some results – I attended the Woman’s March in Toronto on Jan 21st by myself, and I’ve signed up to take an ‘Intro to everything’ course at the Art Gallery of Ontario – again by myself. Hopefully I can find a few more things this year to attend to help expand my horizons a bit, meet some new people, and learn some new things.
Renovate my Bathroom. I had actually hoped to do this last year but I’m completely intimidated by the idea and to be perfectly honest I got lazy. But it NEEDS to be done, so it’s on the list for this year (and by NEEDS I’m not exaggerating – the grout if falling out in my shower so God only knows how much moisture has seeped into the walls – it has to be fixed).
This goal might be tough too as I’m still completely intimidated by the idea. Where the heck do I start? What do I do when I’m renovating given I live in a one-bathroom apartment? How do I find a contractor? HELP!! Any good tips on where to start? Have the name of a great contractor in the GTA? Please share them. Please.
So, there we have it – my intentions or goals for 2017. Only time will tell if I have any success. Here’s hoping I do.
