My 2019 non-resolution New Year’s resolutions

THIS. I want more of this in 2019 :)

I don’t really believe in New Year’s resolutions. I mean, I believe they exist, I just don’t think they’re the best way to think about goals for the upcoming year. Quite frankly, there might be no other ideal that is broken more consistently than one’s New Year’s resolutions.

#Amiright?

That said, I do always like to set a few goals for upcoming year. For instance, last year I set a goal of reading 52 books (a book a week) and I truly believe the only reason I accomplished that goal was because I publicly announced it, thus creating accountability for myself with, well, you guys.

So here are my main goals for 2019:

Read 53 books. For no other reason that it’s one better than last year. I thought about not having a goal and just reading a lot, but knowing that I had a number I was trying to hit throughout 2018 helped me continue to prioritize reading time.

Run a marathon. This is happening, barring an injury <pause while I knock on some wood….> on January 13th. I’m running the Disney World Marathon in Orlando which goes through the four Disney parks. Cannot wait!

Publish my first book. I wanted this to happen in 2018, but decided to spend the first half of the year looking for a publisher. The book should be out in the wild in early February, and I hope you’ll consider buying a copy or three ;)

The most important thing for me to accomplish in 2019 is a two-fer. I need to optimize my time better so I can spend more time with my wife.

Optimizing my time has been, and will continue to be, something that I spend a great deal of energy on. I need to continue being better about what I say ‘no’ to and where I spend my time. My non-negotiables (barring few exceptions) with my time are:

• Be home on weekdays by 5pm to be with my family
• Get eight hours of sleep. Because of this book.
• Run at least three times a week (two 6-8 mile runs during the week, and a 10-14 mile run on the weekend)

In 2018, while focusing on optimizing my time, I ended up going to sleep by 9pm (at the latest) most nights. This allowed me to get up by 5am and attack the day. But what I failed to realize was that going to bed early stopped me from being able to spend quality time with my wife, catching up on the day after the kids went to bed and maybe watching a TV show or two. I unintentionally de-prioritized that time, which is unfortunate because she’s the most important thing in my life!

So I’m going to start the year by sleeping from 9:30/10pm to 6am, allowing myself to hang out with my wife at night again. This will mean I’ll have to be even more protective with my time, delegate more, and be as productive as possible during the day.

So that’s me, what are YOUR New Year’s Resolutions…or non-resolutions ;)