New years resolutions really resonate with me. Sometimes, I can make them stick, and keep better habits; other times, I break my New Year’s Resolutions, and learn plenty from them.

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Resolutions seem to have fallen out of style, despite evidence suggesting that new habits stick better when you start them on important days, and besides, I still find them an important and rewarding annual exercise.

New Years Day is a time when one can examine the life one wants to live, and plan habits that support the ideal lifestyle.

Funny-new-years-resolutions-calvin-and-hobbsFor the past few years, I have made my resolutions public on my blog, and the public declaration helps my inner sense of accountability.

In additions to making New Years Resolutions, I have also begun the practice of an Annual Review, an annual exercise favored by Chris Guillebeau and the WDS community. It was very refreshing to examine my past year, the good and the bad, but I also require the planning and goal setting that resolutions can give.

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In no particular order, here are my resolutions for this year:

  • Weekly Review – every week
  • No drinking on weekdays
  • Pranayama for ten minutes before bed
  • Keep to a morning routine
  • Blog more regularly with less intensity
  • Blog about the good stuff
  • Break a sweat every day
  • 3 exercise classes / training sessions per week
  • Eat on the paleo diet for at least a month
  • Weekly roundup meeting with every client and every project
  • Join a mastermind group
  • Define my next big direction – the branding saddle on which I will ride

My word for the year:

Delegate

 I can only do so much by myself. Now that I have others on a team that I can work with, I need to habituate the delegation of tasks, instead of prizing the accomplishment of tasks.

My big goal for the year:

Backflips off of bike racks.

I’m closer to 40 than to 30. My body is still athletic, but I won’t have the ability to backflip indefinitely.

portland-bike-racks-blue-staples

Most people see storage. I see playtime.

As I run through the city practicing my parkour, I often pass these tempting bike racks, big sturdy blue staples that invite me to leap on top of them.

Just asking for it, right?

Just asking for it, right?

I often land on them in a crouch, and I pause, wishing I had the technique and the confidence to backflip off the bike rack, land on the concrete, and keep running.

I’ve wanted to do this for years, and with a few months of training, I’m sure I can do it by this summer.

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My backflips circa 2010

I’ve got a great movement training journal and access to facilities where I can perfect my backflips.

Yes, I also have big career goals and personal family goals, but this is the one that has me excited. Backflips off of bike racks by Summer 2015 – keeping the resolutions above will help to make that happen.

UPDATE: I failed. This is why.