Goals and circumstance.
It's difficult to make goals. Goals and desires I think change a lot depending on the circumstances. After all, nothing ever really goes according to plan. I could list off a number of things that I would like to purchase in 2011, but material goals like that don't exactly lead to fulfillment, do they? Anyhow, here are some goals I'm considering for 2011, and their complications.
I would like to continue to live independently of my parents.
This is probably number one. If I can no longer do that, barring catastrophe, then it means somewhere along the line I failed at managing my money. At least, unless I can come up with another excuse later (i.e. bowling alley burns down, can't find a new full-time job, can't pay rent).
I would like to start a new full-time job in 2011.
But does that make the year a success? It is fairly reasonable to suggest that I could take a new full-time job and the job could suck for an unforeseen reason. I don't think it will, because my present employment situation allows me to be a bit picky about what I get myself involved in beyond what I'm already doing, but it could happen.
I would like to be in a fulfilling relationship at the end of 2011.
But you can't force these things. Also, this could be complicated by the job goal. Suppose I have a great Seattle relationship but find a new job in another city that I think will be fulfilling, challenging, and help my bottom line. In general I think it would be fairly silly of me to throw myself headlong into a serious relationship until the job goal is resolved. That said, I'm trying to date around a little bit and see what happens.
I would like to purchase a nice new laptop in 2011.
This is probably the simplest of the goals I've got. There isn't much to complicate this one. Maybe I don't buy a laptop because my car breaks down completely and I decide that I'm through with buying used cars that die and I manage to swing a new vehicle. If something like that happened, I think that would be an acceptable change in goal, but that seems unlikely.
I would like to become stronger in 2011.
Well, this goal is similar to the laptop goal. There's not a lot to complicate this with the exception of being "too busy," which I think is a bit of a cop out, or physical injury. If I happen to get hurt doing something this year like a car accident or playing baseball, I'll probably put about zero weight on this one.
I would like to continue to improve at bowling in 2011.
Bowling well has been one of the really nice things to end 2010 on, actually. We are halfway through the season and I'm averaging 213.2; all I have to do to maintain a 200 average is to shoot above 189 the rest of the way. To maintain a 210 average, I need to shoot just better than 207 for the rest of the year.
Perhaps beyond all of these, I want to enjoy my life as much as possible. I can name you a bunch of good things and a bunch of bad things that happened in 2010, and maybe the good things even outweigh the bad things, but I had less fun last year. I don't know if I would say that I struggled with attitude problems, but when I think "2010" in my head, I feel annoyed and frustrated. When I think "2004" or "2009" in my head, I mostly feel accomplished. Ultimately, I want more of the latter feeling than the former when it becomes 2012.
I would like to continue to live independently of my parents.
This is probably number one. If I can no longer do that, barring catastrophe, then it means somewhere along the line I failed at managing my money. At least, unless I can come up with another excuse later (i.e. bowling alley burns down, can't find a new full-time job, can't pay rent).
I would like to start a new full-time job in 2011.
But does that make the year a success? It is fairly reasonable to suggest that I could take a new full-time job and the job could suck for an unforeseen reason. I don't think it will, because my present employment situation allows me to be a bit picky about what I get myself involved in beyond what I'm already doing, but it could happen.
I would like to be in a fulfilling relationship at the end of 2011.
But you can't force these things. Also, this could be complicated by the job goal. Suppose I have a great Seattle relationship but find a new job in another city that I think will be fulfilling, challenging, and help my bottom line. In general I think it would be fairly silly of me to throw myself headlong into a serious relationship until the job goal is resolved. That said, I'm trying to date around a little bit and see what happens.
I would like to purchase a nice new laptop in 2011.
This is probably the simplest of the goals I've got. There isn't much to complicate this one. Maybe I don't buy a laptop because my car breaks down completely and I decide that I'm through with buying used cars that die and I manage to swing a new vehicle. If something like that happened, I think that would be an acceptable change in goal, but that seems unlikely.
I would like to become stronger in 2011.
Well, this goal is similar to the laptop goal. There's not a lot to complicate this with the exception of being "too busy," which I think is a bit of a cop out, or physical injury. If I happen to get hurt doing something this year like a car accident or playing baseball, I'll probably put about zero weight on this one.
I would like to continue to improve at bowling in 2011.
Bowling well has been one of the really nice things to end 2010 on, actually. We are halfway through the season and I'm averaging 213.2; all I have to do to maintain a 200 average is to shoot above 189 the rest of the way. To maintain a 210 average, I need to shoot just better than 207 for the rest of the year.
Perhaps beyond all of these, I want to enjoy my life as much as possible. I can name you a bunch of good things and a bunch of bad things that happened in 2010, and maybe the good things even outweigh the bad things, but I had less fun last year. I don't know if I would say that I struggled with attitude problems, but when I think "2010" in my head, I feel annoyed and frustrated. When I think "2004" or "2009" in my head, I mostly feel accomplished. Ultimately, I want more of the latter feeling than the former when it becomes 2012.