Goals 2016: First Update
So I wrote up resolutions for 2016 on the first of the year. How are they going 77 days later?
1. Commit Not Particularly Random Acts of Communicative Kindness.
Through March 22, 59 of my friends (counting Facebook and select people off the grid) have had birthdays. I chose not to send cards to eight of those people, mostly relatives or the two Cleveland quasi-celebrities I know. For five of them, I was not aware of their birthdays and didn't found out about it until it happened. I chose not to send belated cards to those people. Eight more did not respond when I asked for their address. I wasn't quite offended by that, but give that five of those people were fraternity brothers and one was a former radio co-host, it did seem odd to me.
The remaining 38 people all got a card. Each card had a substantial handwritten note and was mailed nicely in advance of the recipient's birthday. I've sent cards to Japan and Australia, with Germany coming up shortly. I've also spent a lot of money at the card store, and that doesn't even include postage.
Leaving aside a few cousins, everyone I know on Facebook is someone I would feel slightly guilty about not visiting if I was in their city, or who I see reasonably often in Cleveland. Given that, why do I usually feel incredibly awkward asking my friends for their address? There were a few people (less than 5) where I just outright unfriended them when I realized I didn't care enough to even ask them for that, but except for a few of my very closest friends, it felt a little strange making that request. I've started using the phrase "can I have your address for nefarious card related reasons" and that seems to get a better response rate.
As it happens, birthday cards are one of the few things I enjoy shopping for, and I'm rather enjoying writing the cards up. A few people have told me they got the card and enjoyed it. Since I'm not completely sure why I'm doing this, other than possibly to test out Dale Carnegie, I guess that counts as winning.
2. Stop eating junk food at work.
I said I would donate $25 to charity for each time I ate something at work I did not bring with me or buy, with a hard cap of $50 that could be spent at the on-site dinner for the year before penalties kicked in. Thus far in 2016, I have not eaten a single thing at work I did not bring with me. I ate lunch out once with my team for the annual meeting, which I specifically called out as permissible.
So if I put in a financial incentive, I respond well. How stereotypical Jewish, right? But there's more to the story. I was eating in junk part because I was hungry and ate all the of the substantial lunch I packed as well as the extra pieces of fruit. Therefore, I decided to start packing yogurt with every lunch. Protein is filling, and although there is some added sugar it's far less than the amount of sugar I was eating previously.
Lacking a control, I don't know to what extent I've stopped snacking at work because of the extra caloric intake or because of the financial incentive. I imagine there's some of both; certainly it's working thus far. I've shattered my previous record of five weeks without snacking. I've turned down free beer, delicious homemade desserts, donuts from Jack Frost, venison sausage and all manner of other wonderful treats.
Even more interesting, for the first time that I can recall I'm having occasional sugar cravings, usually in the evening after I get home. Hopefully this is a sign that my blood sugar is dropping, since that's the main point of the exercise.
3. Stop Chewing My Nails.
As promised, by the end of January I'd bought a jar of disgusting nail polish designed to help break the habit. I started painting my nails with it two or three times a week. So far it has worked. Most of my nails are longer now than they've ever been in my adult life, and the two that aren't are because I ripped them off instead of chewing them off, which is progress of a sort.
The polish tastes very unpleasant. Even worse (or better, given the intent), it stays in your mouth for a long time. Even a good drink of water doesn't wash out the taste, it sort of has to wear off. I've also found that if I eat something juicy with my hands (say, a piece of fruit) it's possible for the taste to get in my mouth even if my nails don't go in my mouth. That makes eating less than fun. I can imagine that if I cooked something with a very mild taste that involved a lot of chopping or touching ingredients it might wear off there, although thankfully that hasn't happened.
In any event, success thus far. If this keeps up I may have to learn how to take care of my nails. I wonder if my vaunted immunity to sickness will be weakened without my nails conveying germs to my mouth as often?
4. Super Secret Resolution.
I'm not listing it here because I want it to be a surprise. I haven't started this yet.
5. Cook for People.
I've had a few people over for dinner, but nobody outside my usual rotation. I did invite some friends over for dinner. They never responded. Ouch. I need to try again.
6. Active Decluttering.
I made a small start on decluttering my basement, but I'm far off the "once per month" target.
7. Maybe: Bike MS: Buckeye Breakaway (formerly Pedal to the Point).
Unusually, the dates for our BWCA trip are not nailed down yet, so I can't commit to this. I did read Just Ride, which made me wonder why I wanted to do it in the first place beyond "it was there," so I'm leaning toward cancelling this goal.
Scorecard:
3 successful thus far.
1 not started.
2 behind.
1 TBD.
I've done worse.
On a side note, if my 2015 goals still applied, I've donated platelets four times, read two plays by Shakespeare and have at work by 9:30 every day except one, which was Tuesday when I voted. Two of the other goals were moved to the 2016 list, and I've dialed back Facebook some, although not to the extent described. In short, it's not enough to make a goal and then forget it.
1. Commit Not Particularly Random Acts of Communicative Kindness.
Through March 22, 59 of my friends (counting Facebook and select people off the grid) have had birthdays. I chose not to send cards to eight of those people, mostly relatives or the two Cleveland quasi-celebrities I know. For five of them, I was not aware of their birthdays and didn't found out about it until it happened. I chose not to send belated cards to those people. Eight more did not respond when I asked for their address. I wasn't quite offended by that, but give that five of those people were fraternity brothers and one was a former radio co-host, it did seem odd to me.
The remaining 38 people all got a card. Each card had a substantial handwritten note and was mailed nicely in advance of the recipient's birthday. I've sent cards to Japan and Australia, with Germany coming up shortly. I've also spent a lot of money at the card store, and that doesn't even include postage.
Leaving aside a few cousins, everyone I know on Facebook is someone I would feel slightly guilty about not visiting if I was in their city, or who I see reasonably often in Cleveland. Given that, why do I usually feel incredibly awkward asking my friends for their address? There were a few people (less than 5) where I just outright unfriended them when I realized I didn't care enough to even ask them for that, but except for a few of my very closest friends, it felt a little strange making that request. I've started using the phrase "can I have your address for nefarious card related reasons" and that seems to get a better response rate.
As it happens, birthday cards are one of the few things I enjoy shopping for, and I'm rather enjoying writing the cards up. A few people have told me they got the card and enjoyed it. Since I'm not completely sure why I'm doing this, other than possibly to test out Dale Carnegie, I guess that counts as winning.
2. Stop eating junk food at work.
I said I would donate $25 to charity for each time I ate something at work I did not bring with me or buy, with a hard cap of $50 that could be spent at the on-site dinner for the year before penalties kicked in. Thus far in 2016, I have not eaten a single thing at work I did not bring with me. I ate lunch out once with my team for the annual meeting, which I specifically called out as permissible.
So if I put in a financial incentive, I respond well. How stereotypical Jewish, right? But there's more to the story. I was eating in junk part because I was hungry and ate all the of the substantial lunch I packed as well as the extra pieces of fruit. Therefore, I decided to start packing yogurt with every lunch. Protein is filling, and although there is some added sugar it's far less than the amount of sugar I was eating previously.
Lacking a control, I don't know to what extent I've stopped snacking at work because of the extra caloric intake or because of the financial incentive. I imagine there's some of both; certainly it's working thus far. I've shattered my previous record of five weeks without snacking. I've turned down free beer, delicious homemade desserts, donuts from Jack Frost, venison sausage and all manner of other wonderful treats.
Even more interesting, for the first time that I can recall I'm having occasional sugar cravings, usually in the evening after I get home. Hopefully this is a sign that my blood sugar is dropping, since that's the main point of the exercise.
3. Stop Chewing My Nails.
As promised, by the end of January I'd bought a jar of disgusting nail polish designed to help break the habit. I started painting my nails with it two or three times a week. So far it has worked. Most of my nails are longer now than they've ever been in my adult life, and the two that aren't are because I ripped them off instead of chewing them off, which is progress of a sort.
The polish tastes very unpleasant. Even worse (or better, given the intent), it stays in your mouth for a long time. Even a good drink of water doesn't wash out the taste, it sort of has to wear off. I've also found that if I eat something juicy with my hands (say, a piece of fruit) it's possible for the taste to get in my mouth even if my nails don't go in my mouth. That makes eating less than fun. I can imagine that if I cooked something with a very mild taste that involved a lot of chopping or touching ingredients it might wear off there, although thankfully that hasn't happened.
In any event, success thus far. If this keeps up I may have to learn how to take care of my nails. I wonder if my vaunted immunity to sickness will be weakened without my nails conveying germs to my mouth as often?
4. Super Secret Resolution.
I'm not listing it here because I want it to be a surprise. I haven't started this yet.
5. Cook for People.
I've had a few people over for dinner, but nobody outside my usual rotation. I did invite some friends over for dinner. They never responded. Ouch. I need to try again.
6. Active Decluttering.
I made a small start on decluttering my basement, but I'm far off the "once per month" target.
7. Maybe: Bike MS: Buckeye Breakaway (formerly Pedal to the Point).
Unusually, the dates for our BWCA trip are not nailed down yet, so I can't commit to this. I did read Just Ride, which made me wonder why I wanted to do it in the first place beyond "it was there," so I'm leaning toward cancelling this goal.
Scorecard:
3 successful thus far.
1 not started.
2 behind.
1 TBD.
I've done worse.
On a side note, if my 2015 goals still applied, I've donated platelets four times, read two plays by Shakespeare and have at work by 9:30 every day except one, which was Tuesday when I voted. Two of the other goals were moved to the 2016 list, and I've dialed back Facebook some, although not to the extent described. In short, it's not enough to make a goal and then forget it.