Goals? Don’t you mean resolutions?
No. Resolutions are almost always phrased as the kind of absolute that is impossible to achieve—I will never do such and such, or I will lose all the weight. Goals are about setting achievable and realistic plans for the coming year.
Last Year’s Goals
Last year I had three goals and I achieved them all. They were to get married, run a half marathon, and read 20 Hugo-winning novels. My goals for 2012 are more numerous and broader. I am trying to challenge myself more this year.
Reading
- Read more difficult literature. This is the year when I will finally get around to some of those 19th century Russian novels I’ve been planning to read. Since “more” is pretty vague, let’s define this as six difficult literary works.
- Finish the Hugo winners. I have read 40; I have 21 to go.
- Read all the nominees for the Hugo this year. I read most of them last year, but couldn’t bring myself to jump into Bujold’s Vorkosigan series at book 20 (or whatever Cryoburn is).
Writing
- I’ve never thought of myself as a very good writer. I’d like to get a lot better. In 2012 I’m going to write at least 48000 words, not counting things written for work.
Running
- In 2011 I conquered the half marathon. I’m not ready for a full marathon yet, but I think by the end of the year I will be able to handle 20 miles in a single run.
- I’m going to work up to running 30 miles per week.
- I’m going to run over 1000 miles this year.
Game Development
- I’m going to ship at least two games for iOS this year.
- I’m going to my first GDC.
Life Milestones
- I’m going to move to a new city in 2012—twice.
