A New Year: 2011

I know I'm early, but this is the first time in my adult life where I can look back on the past years resolutions and see how I did, and as I've been thinking about it a lot I intend to do just that, right now.

First, last years resolutions may be found here

I broke last years resolutions into three broad categories, my personal, professional, and economic goals. While I intend to do the same this year I hope to delve into more detail then a bulleted list.

2010 Personal Goals:

• I will loose weight, with a goal weight of 250lbs.
  
• I will achieve a 300lb squat and dead lift, and a 200lb bench press for reps, 5x5.
  
• I will get the apartment clean, and keep it clean.
  
• I will compete in at least 2 Judo tournaments outside of my club.
  
• I will attain my Judo green belt, and blue belt if possible.

Results:

• I lost weight, with my lowest, current, weight at 280lbs. Half way to my goal of 250lbs.
• I came nowhere close to either of my weight lifting goals, I chose to abandon heavy weightlifting in favor of cardiovascular exercise in an attempt to loose weight faster. I don't consider this to have been a wise decision.
• I competed in one, semi-formal competition. Finances, and a lack of confidence kept me out of any additional competitions. I, at this point, have quit Judo and am considering not returning.
• I am still an orange belt, with little chance of attaining my green, or any higher Judo rank.

2010 Professional Goals:

• I will write, market, and sell a software product written wholly by me.
  
• I will move towards attaining my Microsoft Professional Developer Certification.
  
• I will decide on a masters program, and if necessary take the GREs

Results:

• I did not complete a stand-alone software product, though I did complete several websites for clients, bringing in roughly $2,000
• I have made no progress on my MPDC, I am debating if this is a direction I wish to go in.
• While I want to go back to grad school, finances, and my wife's need to finish school have put my desire on hold for the time being.

2010 Economic Goals:

• I will save $2,500
• I will pay off at least $7000 of my personal loan.

Results:

• Over the course of the year I'm sure I saved roughly $2,500 though at no point did I have $2,500 in the bank, I consider this a failed objective.
• I have paid off just over $6,000 of my personal loan, while I don't consider this a success I am proud the fact that I got so much paid off in so short a time.

As I'm looking at this list I can't help but realize I did not accomplish a single goal I set for myself. Yet I can't help but also see that some of these goals were counter to other goals, and some were simply unobtainable. I also can take heart in the accomplishments that I could not have foreseen. I bought a house, I adopted a third cat, I saw my one year wedding anniversary come, and go. These, and dozens of other smaller victories I have to take comfort in, and I have to work harder next year. And so...

New Years Resolutions 2011!

Note: I'm breaking up Professional (my 9-5) and Business (my side-work) into seperate catagories for 2011.

Personal Goals for 2011:

• I will loose weight, with a goal weight of 250lbs. This is a carry-over from last year, but I'm determined to see it through. I'm no longer pre-diabetic, I ran the Corporate Challenge and posted a respectable time, and I aim to do better this year.
• I will choose to either return to Judo, or to another exercise program.

Professional Goals for 2011:

• I will deliver a 40hr+ AR, on time, under budget, with no bugs.
• I will deliver every AR, on time, with no more then 3 PRs requiring a code fix.
• I will find a niche, and fill it, to the best of my ability.
• I will study one segment of the product, per month, with the end goal of being comfortable in a large swatch of the the products code.

Business Goals for 2011:

• I will bring in $4,000 in side-work/web work
• I will track every client, every payment, every hosting sale, and will know exactly how much I made in 2011.
• I will build, and market a web product, to a customer, that generates recurring revenue.

Economic Goals for 2011:

• I will pay off at least $6,000 of my personal loan.
• I will acquire, and maintain a $1,000 savings balance for at least half the year.

Educational Goals for 2011:

• I will read an educational non-fiction book a month.
• I will spend 10+ percent of my "allowance" per pay-period on books or other educational materials, either for personal or professional growth.

It's a good list, and this year I've kept an eye on avoiding goals that contradict each other. I'm hoping that with a higher degree of granularity that I can better meet my goals. I will also look at these goals quarterly to asses my progress. First in March, then June, then September and lastly in December.

I feel I have chosen an attainable list, I hope that in a years time I will have better results then this year.