All The Things I Said: Goals For 2012

2011 was the first year that I set specific goals for me to accomplish over the course of the year. I started the year strong and was well above and beyond most of my goals by June. The last six months of the year were much slower, and I actually ended 2011 with two of my eight goals unfinished, but well underway.

I have rolled up a new set of goals for 2012, although unlike last year's goals, these goals are a bit more vague and much harder to break into measurable chunks.

Find Creative Inspiration

The fundamental source of my creative writing problems in the last four years boils down to one problem: nothing inspires me. While I do have a random burst of creativity from time to time, I generally do not have enough motivation or creative drive to work on my fiction. This is a huge shame, because throughout high school and college I had hundreds of short story ideas that I wanted to tackle but never wrote down in any capacity.

I attribute my former creativity to a lifestyle filled with constant change. The drive of college, the crunch of fitting in school, work, my friends, and alone time, spring breaks, summer breaks - my life was always on the move and I was constantly exposed to new sources of inspiration. While I have been enormously successfully financially and professionally since college, I have otherwise let my mind grow comfortable in a relatively stale routine. In 2012 I am going to find new ways to stimulate my imagination. This most immediately boils down to putting myself in new places with short road trips, lots of hiking, and eventually, a true summer vacation that will see me leaving the country, if everything goes according to plan.

Be Exponentially More Social

While I have made a priority of my job, related studies, and personal projects, I have given up plenty of time with my friends in the last year. In 2012 I will make a very focused effort to spend more time with my immediate friends, old friends, and hopefully all the new friends I intend to make as I travel about to different tech conferences, gatherings, and hiking trips.

Follow Weekly and Monthly Routines

My life is at its best when it is organized, and this applies even more so when I am on some sort of schedule or routine. I plan to follow a somewhat pre-planned weekly schedule as well as an overall monthly schedule that balances the time I spent programming, writing, gaming, and seeing my friends.

Write On a Regular Basis

My first goal (way above) and my previous goal (directly above) are really catalyst for this one: I want to return to writing on a regular basis in 2012. While I do not have overly grand ambitions, I do plan on writing fiction or creative nonfiction several times a week with the intent to build up to a short story or two.

As I said before, my 2012 goals are few in number but very important to me. I plan to get started on these goals right after next week's orgasm that is CodeMash.

B3 out.