2011 Resolutions Reveal

I don’t normally publicize my specific resolutions. Some are personal. A few may not even be realistic. And I’m not fond of setting myself up for failure.

On the other hand, I do need to hold myself accountable. Writing my resolutions for public consumption does just that, and by promising to report on my progress throughout the year, I am forced to look at my goals on a regular basis.

First, I want to touch on my goals for this blog. As I scanned the 2010 posts, I noted a solid start but a distinct fade later in the year, especially over the past few months when my career ventured into the unknown. I also discovered a significant lack of focus, a jumbled mess that often fell into the category of “purpose” but hardly touched on poker or politics. Instead of changing the name of the blog entirely going forward, I’d like to refocus and bring the posts back into line with my original intentions for the blog. And I want to do it more regularly.

Thus, there will be regular entries here on the following topics:

Politics: Weekly posts regarding important political developments, likely accompanied by an opinion piece

Poker: Updates on my constantly changing relationship with poker, primarily with regard to work in the industry

Travel: Monthly travel report, as I intend to travel somewhere - even a short road trip - each month

Music: Updates on my forays into the worlds of classical and jazz music

I will also be writing about my experiments in the world of food and wine, though that will be done on a new blog spot with the occasional links here. That Blogger site will launch in the next day or so.

Second, I wrote a list of personal goals for 2011. Looking back on 2010, I realize that I put many of my wants and ambitions on hold for…well…self-pity and a generally confused state of being. I’m ready to give this a fresh try:

• Lose weight. I’m heavier than I have ever been and want to change that.
• Exercise each day at home and walk outside at least once per week.
• Travel somewhere new each month, whether by car or plane, no matter how near or far.
• Dedicate solid time each week to one of three languages: French, Italian, and Japanese.
• Read more books, ideally one or more per week.
• Stay in better touch with my sister and nieces, aunt and cousins, as well as my close friend in St. Louis and my Vegas friends.
• Enter some writing contests.
• Query at least one major media outlet each week in order to expand my writing portfolio.
• Finish writing my mystery novel.
• Write my feature film script.
• Complete my television comedy show pilot episode and series treatment.
• Actively search for an agent for all of my writing projects.
• Write at least one new short story (not necessarily for publication) each week.
• Make a serious effort to launch my new small business.
• Experiment with new recipes and wines on a weekly basis, and report results for the new blog.

 And there it is. My official list of promises to me. Time to get started!