I still haven’t completely abandoned my 2012 resolutions! Here is a long overdue update.
- Join and attend Toastmasters.
- Done. I’ve joined and already have given a few impromptu “table topics” speeches. They were horrible, but that’s what I’m there to improve!
- I gave my first speech, which wasn’t so shabby.
- A long string of bad scheduling luck prevented me from attending a lot of recent meetings. I hope to get back on track and deliver my 2nd speech soon.
- Come up with and follow weekly meal plans.
- This was not abandoned as far as the idea is concerned, but put off for sure. I think I’ve been over-complicating the process. I just need to DO it. Start simple. Just start with 1 or 2 planned meals a week at least.
- Set up and adhere to a household budget.
- I haven’t set spending limits per so, but I feel the exercise helped me to get a real solid handle on where our money is going. We don’t spend too frivolously, which is good. All in all we’re in decent financial shape, so I don’t see a need to really go overboard with limits. Just knowing where our money is going and where we can cut back if needed is an accomplishment enough.
- Start up an IRA.
- No change since last time: I at least called Fidelity. I think I need to speak with an accountant or financial planner first.
- Finish one thing a week.
- A lot of new stuff got in the way, but that’s really just an excuse. I need to re-prioritize the list and try to squeeze things in during the week rather than only the weekends. I need to finish out the year strong.
- Identify and eliminate distractions and replace them with something productive and report.
- I’ve definitely spent a lot of energy and effort in this area. I gained a lot of momentum at the beginning of the year, but slacked off in the summer. I’m back on track now. At least getting off track serves as a learning lesson as to the value of time an how it can be wasted on utterly meaningless things (instead of productive things). I’m even going to try to steer my mind from unproductive thoughts and daydreaming. There are downsteam consequences / garbage in garbage out, which I wrote about in my Mind, Body, Spirit and Accidental Creative posts.
- Develop skills needed for all above.
- This is definitely ongoing. Sometimes I feel I need to do more DOING than information gathering. I’m also going to sprinkle in some fun stuff too, like getting better at chess, poker, and even expand my limited Spanish vocabulary.
- I also have to remember to keep in mind my strengths. Constantly focusing on improvement areas can prevent you from realizing and asserting strengths.
I’ve also re-dedicated myself to do brain training exercises. I recently joined lumosity.com. I believe in the theories, but although I’m playing along I’m not sure if there are any games that are truly backed by successful clinical results. Some of the games do require quite a bit of concentration and focus, so I think they help in those areas. I’m not sure if there is a placebo effect, but I do feel I have a stronger ability to stay focused lately.
I’m already starting to think of my 2013 resolutions!