Sunday, January 15, 2006

New Years Goals, Two Weeks Late

As the term “resolution” seems too lofty and unobtainable, I prefer the word “goals“ for those things everyone makes for themselves at the start of the year. This is also how I feel about the word “diet” and all of its negative associations. With the latter, I prefer the phrase “modifications in behavior,“ or simply “lifestyle changes” which, though more verbose, is not nearly as offensive a term for the mechanism for weight loss. So today I’m going to prattle on a bit about a few goals I’ve set for the coming year.

1. Financial Details. This is an important goal as I all too frequently “nickel and dime” myself to death. By no means am I wealthy, but given my income versus monthly expenses, I should be able to put a respectable amount into savings each month. This rarely happens. A few dollars here and there may not seem like much at the time, but when considered across the course of several months, it’s rather alarming just how much money I waste on this and that. This past week I started a home budget book in which I track all of my expenses, particularly those incidentals that will add up over the long term. Already I’m not liking what I’m seeing and will implement some “behavior modifications” in the very near future, such as…

2. Smoking. At the moment, I’m running between a pack and a half to two packs a day. Certainly not on track to live very long this way, but when I attach the monetary price tag to this…well, it really hits home. Cigarettes now cost about $3.85 a pack and if you do the math at two packs a day, that’s just over $2,800 a year. This is practically what I paid for the trips to Thailand and Honduras combined (including air fare, per diem, and other incidentals like gifts). I have two boxes of nicotine patches at home, and when the time is right, I’ll begin the smoking cessation process. I suspect this will occur in the not too distant future as I‘m quite over the filthy novelty.

3. Buy a condo or small house. Once I have a better grasp on financial outflow and make the necessary modifications, I’m going to seriously consider buying my own home later in the year. My current lease isn’t up until the end of August, so now is a good time to begin exploring the process. What I pay now in rent is essentially a mortgage payment so why not make the transition to owning my own home. If it doesn’t happen this year, next year is a certainty. Either way, good time to start learning the process.

4. Find a hobby. Over the last couple of years, work and the masters degree have occupied too much of my time, leaving little room for any distraction (e.g., “hobby“) necessary to preserve my sanity save for the occasional trip. With the acquisition of a new digital camera back in December, photography might be a good candidate for a hobby. It doesn’t require a lot of time and provides a nice creative outlet (not that I’m all that creative of a person) when the mood strikes. Joining a gym or fitness center would also be a good distraction, but given my dislike of this, I’m not going to add it to the list. (If I join one and actually GO on a regular basis, so be it, but I’m not going to hold my breath).

5. Be less of a hermit. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I can be very much a recluse when the mood strikes, which seems to occur on a more regular basis than in times past. While I value my own time to read or whatever, it certainly won’t hurt to socialize more. This will require some effort.

6. Learn a foreign language. After several years of vacillation as to what language I should study, I’m going to finally pick one up and stick with it. I explored the possibility of learning Thai last year, but it’s simply not practical. The same goes with Mandarin Chinese. Would love to learn that simply for the challenge it provides. Spanish is the most practical due to the changing demographics of this area and the likelihood of a forthcoming public health project in Central America later this year. I haven’t had any Spanish since high school, but was heartened during the two weeks in Honduras by what actually came back to me even though I haven’t studied it in 17 years. My current employment is reason enough to learn Spanish as no one else in my bureau can speak it despite the ever-increasing need for second language ability in the public health field.

At any rate, these are just some goals for the forthcoming year. Will I accomplish them? Well… we’ll see. The most important (for obvious reason) will be smoking cessation and the financial tracking. I’ll also give the second language a high priority as well due to work implications.

No comments: