New Year’s resolutions and I don’t really get on. The problem with resolving to do something every day, forever, is that a) it’s quite daunting, and b) as soon as you break the resolution, which, let’s face it, is going to happen sooner or later, you throw in the towel completely since the possibility of perfection no longer exists.
Oh well! Better luck next year!
Which is why I set New Year’s goals instead (far be it from me to excuse myself entirely from culturally mandated planning!). These are mine:
1. Plan less, do more. [Note: No, the irony here is not lost one me.]
2. Get a job somewhere in the world outside our personal home.
3. Get my UK driver’s license. [Fun fact: I can legally drive in Ireland, but not in Northern Ireland.]
4. Write a book.
5. Implement personal graphic design education.
6. Take some printmaking classes.
7. Two semi-secret design projects for these two people that I know.
8. Sell enough stuff to unsuspecting strangers on the Internet to cover our food expenses.
9. Finish the books on the 101 Books list that I can access here (somewhere between 28 and 66) and watch 97 movies on my official movies list.
10. More regular blogging type stuff.
And perhaps most importantly:
Be Conscious
That is: replace typical resolutions with actual thought about what I’m doing and why. Revolutionary, I know.
Should I be reading about other people doing stuff, or should I actually be doing stuff? Should I watch another hour of television just because it’s on, or should I do something that contributes to my awesomeness as a person? Should I take my contacts out, ever, as per the suggestion of every eye care professional I’ve ever met, or should I just let my oxygen-deprived eyeballs fall out when they may?
[Correct answers: the latter, the latter, the former.]
The beauty of this is that while, yes, sometimes you really do need to eat half of a chocolate cake in one go, you’re not breaking any personal covenant to do it. Just do better next time.
And as someone with a sense of guilt bordering on Catholic, this approach is just fine by me.
