I am not one for making New Year Resolutions. I feel that one should constantly try to better him or herself all year round. Goal setting should not be relegated to the beginning of the year.
I have been working on reaching many goals as of late. For example, I have been trying to wean my husband off of eating meat and poultry as much as he does. It is not that I think meat and poultry are all that bad - in fact, in moderation they can be quite good for you - but, I worry about the sustainability of healthy meat options. It is much easier to grow organic vegetables than it is to raise organic livestock.
Another goal that I have been working on is integrating more technology into my classes. Yes, I know, I already use a lot of technology. But, I feel that if I want my subject matter to be relevant to incoming students, I have to present the subject in their language. And, the reality is that technology is the language of the younger generations. So, I have been working on creating valuable ways to incorporate more technology into my curriculum. Using technology simply for the sake of saying I use computers in class is not my concern. I want to use technology to truly improve and enhance my educational practices.
A new goal - and when I say new I mean within the last week - that I have set is to read all of Pat Conroy's works. Although I have been familiar with Conroy's name for quite some time, I have never read one of his pieces until recently. Over break I read My Reading Life and found myself savoring the work, only reading short snippets every day so that I could keep engrossing myself in the words of this most insightful writer. As I read about Conroy's love affair with his favorite writers I found myself beginning a new love affair with Conroy himself. After I finished the piece I actually felt wronged that I had never read any other Conroy works. I plan to right that wrong as soon as possible.
I could continue to go on and on about what I want to accomplish. I have never been the type of person to sit back and watch life pass by without wanting to jump in. I always seem to have something going on, even if I don't consciously make plans to do so...
What do you want to accomplish?
21 comments:
It was very interesting to here your side on New Year Resolutions. For the most part, it actually makes a whole lot of sense. Why should we just set goal once a year, every New Year? That doesn't make any sense, we should be making goals, like you said, all year round. If you restrict your goals only to the New Year, it seems as if you won't accomplish nearly as much as you could if you made many goals throughout that year and the rest of your life. One thing I admire, is a person that can continuously set new goals and work their hardest to always accomplish these dreams of theirs. That is something that I find to be extremely important.
For this reason, I will not share my New Years Resolutions, but instead I will talk about some goals that I have been wanting to accomplish overtime and recently. One thing is that I have been working very hard lately to get an A in math. THis is by fare my least favorite subject and for that reason it is the subject a struggle most with. However, I am confident that if I keep trying as hard as I can, and put my mind to it, I can get the A I deserve in my math class. Another goal that I have set is to continue working out everyday to stay in the best shape possible. I am also playing Rugby and I hope that our season is successful as it was last year. One other goal of mine that is to find the subject that I am most interested in to study in college. This is extremely important because I want to be happy with my career choice as an adult. These are some things that a hope to accomplish in the near future.
Personally, a new year symbolizes change, as it does to much of society, and that is why I have devised several New Year's Resolutions.
1. Get in better shape
2. Consider practicing a religion more intensely
3. Volunteer a lot more
I have recognized that I share similar resolutions with many people, but I am taking them very seriously. In fact, I have already been to church this year, and I have received a membership to the Y for Christmas. So far, I have worked out there twice. Hopefully, I will be able to remain determined and eventually accomplish my goals.
Every New Years I decided that I am going to make some kind of change in my life. I always try my best to keep up with my promises and often do. But some times I tend to slip off track and forget what my goal was.
This year I would like to become an all around better person. It seems kinda corny but I really would like to do this. I want to be a more generous, caring and loving person. I think that by doing this I can build stronger friendships and relationships with others. This is the main goal that I plan on accomplishing for this year.
Something I would like to accomplish is to learn how to fly for cheerleading. This is a new goal but it’s not because of the New Year, I found out that if I make the cheer team in a college then I automatically make it into the college. It found this out the end of December so I told my parents I wasn’t to lose weight and take lessons so my parents are now helping me out. Even though I have the advantage of being a highly skilled tumbler, I feel that someone as short as me should be able to fly. I won’t be able to pick up people and be the base in college so my goal is to learn to fly so that I can have another advantage to make the team and the school that I am interested in.
I remember I used to make New Years resolutions in middle school, but that was only because I was forced to, not because I chose to. At that time I didn't quite understand what the purpose of a New Years resolution was, so I dind't pay much attention to it. I just wrote down what my other classmates wrote, get straight A's, manage time wisely and be friendly with everyone. To be honest up to this point I still don't know how writing the goals you want to accomplish down on a piece of paper can help you realize them. I guess it's become more of a tradition throughout the years, because this is something a lot of people do regardless of their willingness to make these goals a reality. I also think that people write a New Years resolution because it makes them feel good to see that they have their goals "set" for the year and ready to be realized throughout the year.
“Now and then I have a hope that if I lived and am good, God would permit me to be a pirate”
-Mark Twain, Life in the Mississippi… sort of.
I totally agree with you about New Years Resolutions. I don't believe that just because it's New Years, you will force yourself to accomplish something. I feel that if you truly want to do something that will make a difference in your life, you will do so whenever you want. You have to follow up with this accomplishment and not give up all of a sudden. Try until you succeed. One of my main goals that i hope to accomplish is to get into an awesome nursing school and read a few books that i just got.
I never have made new years resolutions because I feel as if I will give up after a little while. This year though I would like to improve better scores on my SAT to eventually be able to be considered for UF. Also, I want to accomplish more advanced dance moves in class, which will take practice and time to happen. I think that this year I will be able to accomplish them.
Goal setting is something I take great pride and entertainment in. Goal setting makes me feel the notion of being able to achieve something greater. I want to achieve greatness academically, musically, and socially. I believe all my goals should be balanced and not lenient on one area of my life.
One thing I want to accomplish is that before next school year I want to have everything ready for college and be prepared for anything. I also want to save my money for the car I want without my parents helping me with any of the payments.
I read somewhere that only about 25% of people stick to their resolutions until June. Creating resolutions for a new year, I think, gives people more of a push to do something. With a new year, a person is able to reflect on his previous year and decide what he wants to improve about his life. I agree, we should be setting goals all year round. However, I think a new year's resolution lets people feel as if they have a clean slate. New year, new beginnings.
There's probably over 100 activities I want to do before 2011 ends, and I am determined to do as most of them as I can. Every time I accomplish something I had my sights on, I feel like a champion. I figured since you told us you're "author book affair" story, I'd list some things I want to get done this year.
The top 10:
10. Scuba dive
9. Hunt deer
8. Cobra charm a Cobra
7. Write a song
6. make over $5,000
5. Partake in a long-distance relationship
4. Try 3-minute dating
2. Travel to 10 different U.S. states
1. GET ACCEPTED TO GEORGETOWN!
I would like to accomplish actually studying for my Latin class every night instead of leaving it for the last minute. At this point I don’t feel like I’m retaining any of this information so I won’t do well on the AP test unless I make a change. I always tell myself that I don’t have time to study everyday but it doesn’t really take much time and it would make a huge difference in my grade and my ability to feel confident going into the test.
I understand your point of view, as I am also constantly doing things to change. For example, I saw the tapes of my last soccer tournament and am trying to better myself by correcting some things. To avoid getting too into my story, I'll also like to say that I've been trying to play the harmonica. I play and own a lot of instruments, and bought the harmonica for fun. Now, I want to really learn how to play!
I think that it’s ok for people to make New Year’s resolutions it tests the individuals willingness to succeed. I am one to make lists for myself. I have many "things to do lists" but I also have one master list of high priority objectives. For instance, at the beginning of winter break I made a list of things that I hadn't gotten around to doing yet. Things like buying guitar hangers to place them on my wall, buying a woofer and a tweeter from Ebay to make my own speaker cabinet, buying new jeans, use a gift card that has been in my wallet for literally a year, go skate in Naples with my friend, clean garage, go to the gym, have band practice, and make a new song. That’s pretty much the kind of goals I set for myself that I can think of off the top of my head.
There is definitely a number of things I want to accomplish this year, but the ones that are gripping mostly at me right now are to receive a higher belt in karate this year, which is called a "First Dan" also I would like to publish a second noble maybe and hopefully a third, I would also like to try more at everything, well, my dad calls me an extremist because anything I set out to do I always end up over doing it. This year is also big because in may i turn 18 and it will also mark the beginning of my weightlifting exercises. Ever since I was 12 i have only done push-ups and pull-ups so I guess it going to be a big change. I think change is good and bad, I think it's just how we decide to approached it. Oh, and I also want to be your program because I always wanted to be a surgeon and having to be in a class that I would shadow one would be the best new year resolution.
I can completely agree with you here when you share that you don't wait for the new year's to set a new goal, I don't agree that simply because its the new year we should make a change now. I believe changes should happen when they need to happen, whenever that matter can be, on Dec 31 or on April 9th, what's the difference? A goal I would like to accomplish would be improving in my favorite sport 'Water Polo'and taking the Cypress Water Polo team towards the State tournament. Another goal I am striving towards is eating less sweets, throughout my life I have always had a pretty big sweet tooth, this is something that needs to change because it is detrimental to my health.
I want to accomplish a lot, but the thing I want to accomplish the most is invent something that everyone would love to use. From this I would wanna become famous not like red carpet famous, but rich and well known. One invention that I have which I am not sure if it has been created yet would be making something that would make it easy for you to go straight to the water temperature you want to take a shower in so that you dont have to waste your time trying to find the temperature you like. Although this seems like a lazy invention it is something that I believe a lot of people would buy. If I were an inventor I would feel like I am accomplished!
I TOTALLY AGREE!!! I know that you think that I disagree with everything, but I do agree with your idea that people should be constantly setting goals and not just on New Years. I may be a culprit of putting off my goals temporarily, but I do try and accomplish my goals.
For example, I set a goal recently that I would get in great shape to tryout for our schools football team. I am currently working with a trainer to help with correct form and technique. I will be putting in arduous work in hopes of playing under the Friday night lights.
This year i want to accomplish the most important thing for me right now, which is getting into UF. This year I want to give it my best in trying hard to get good grades. Even though its esay to say it, it wont be that easy to accomplish but with determination and dedication I'm sure I will.
I'd like to stop procrastinating and I'd also like to try on not having such a negative aspect on life. I also want to become more organized with my things, I feel like my heads a jumble most of the time.
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