Hard Reboot

Starting in 2015 and all the way through 2016 I was very diligent about writing for my blog. Not because there were people reading it (thanks to both of you who did read it) but because it was a fun place for me to write. It was also an outlet for me to keep up with my desire to get healthy and my desire to share with the world. Once we got into 2017 the regularity went out the window. I wrote periodically but not on a regular basis. I know I didn’t disappoint anyone but myself but something I want to do is get back into it and there is no better time than the beginning of the year.

The beginning of the year is that special time when everyone has a chance for a hard reboot (don’t you just love those movie moments when a character says the title of the movie?). It is the magical moment where we can all pretend we aren’t going to give up on our resolutions in three weeks. Were we all make declarations of losing weight or working out or, even more vaguely, spending more time working on “me”, only to forget the resolution almost immediately upon the statement.

Even though we almost always neglect our resolutions we almost always continue to make resolutions. Because, really, what alternative do we have? We can either continue to make, and break, our resolutions or we can completely give up on life and slowly commit suicide via tobacco, alcohol, or outlandishly rich handmade ice cream from the farmer’s market (that shit is good). So, with that in mind, I present the beginning of 2018 with my New Year’s Resolutions.

Monthly Blogging:  When I was really in the swing of things for the Green Bean Conspiracy I was posting a blog at least once a week. Many times I would write two blogs, one during the week about a random topic and one at the end of the week to report on weight loss progress. Then, life started to get in the way. This wasn’t a bad thing but starting a business leaves less time for writing and more time for working.

I remember writing in order to avoid doing work since I didn’t like my job. Now I’m enjoying going to work so I don’t make the time to write. My first resolution is to change that so I can post at least a blog once a month. That shouldn’t be too much to ask, right? A few hundred words every 30 days should be a doable goal. That isn’t to say I won’t blog more if something interesting strikes my fancy (like finally finishing that TV pilot script that is about 70% done) but I resolve to post at least once a month.

Diet Dedication:  One of the major reasons I kept up with my blog so consistently was to keep track of my weight loss progress. That has more than fallen by the wayside. I won’t go so far to say that I’ve completely fallen off the wagon. I still work out at least four times a week. I’ve run my fastest 5K time and I’m working towards running my first 10K. Sure, I’ve packed on 10-15 pounds from my lowest point but I haven’t stopped exercising. I’ve just been less diligent about watching what I eat.

That also isn’t to say that I’m going out of control. I’m not sitting around eating potato chips or pizza for every meal. What I’ve stopped doing is measuring my food. What I’ve stopped doing is tracking all my snacks. What I’ve stopped doing is paying close attention to everything I consume which has resulted in a little bit of a weight uptick.

So, I’m going to make it a New Year’s resolution to get back to watching my diet. Hopefully by the end of 2018 I’ll be able to lose the 15 extra pounds I added back plus another 15 and actually spend some time below the Mendoza line.

Me Time:  I know, I know, I know, this sounds like the cheesiest line of all time. All these stressed out Mom’s and Dad’s walking around hoping to make more time for “me”. Well, believe it or not, this is a very important part of life. It is easy to get caught up in the fast paced world of modern life. When I first decided to work for myself I thought that I would be able to have a lot more “me” time. This is quite the opposite for two reasons: (1) when you work for yourself you have to do everything, including all the administrative work that you don’t realize had been taken care of by others and (2) if you start actually enjoying your job it is easy to keep working because you actually enjoy it.

Even if you enjoy working and your job it is still important to take a break from work if for no other reason than to recharge your batteries. No matter how much you enjoy working you can lose focus if you don’t take a break. So my goal this year is to take at least 15 minutes a day for myself. Those 15 minutes can include writing, reading, sorting through baseball cards, listening to records, or just watching the birds. Those 15 minutes cannot include anything to do with the internet (except writing as I keep my stuff in the cloud) because social media sites, online shopping, or diving deep into IMDB do not clear my mind but just make them more muddled. So, if you are looking for me between 6:15am and 6:30am I’ll probably be typing away on a blog post or have my nose in a book.

That’s it. Those are my resolutions. They may seem pretty basic but they are what are important to me today. Will I stick to them? I hope so but if I don’t I only hope I don’t because things that are important to me shift not because I was just lazy.

What are you New Year’s resolutions? How do you hope to keep them?