This Year's Goals Revisited

As you may know, every year I’ve been releasing a yearly goal list. Last year, I went too far and tried to reach a whooping goal of 22 goals. Some of them were a mistake. Some of them were just a reminder of what I should keep in mind. I’m going to go over each one and tell you which ones failed and which ones actually succeeded.

1. Retain some other English accent
   Yup, failed this one. But I have a good reference point if I actually want to do this one. I was watching Rocketboom, and they interviewed Amy Stoller, which motivates me to get a coach or deconstruct dialects by myself.
2. Take an Art or Photography class
   Strange this one goes on my list with no explanation. I’ve taken an art class before, so this shouldn’t really be a goal. I think the take-away goal here is that I should learn more of art or photography techniques. Failed this one, if we talk only about this year.
3. Participate in a Marathon and train for it
   To be quite honest, I don’t think running is for me. However, I’ve been running a few times a week, though it’s the holidays, and it’s too cold outside. The treadmill is kind of my worst enemy. Maybe next year. Failed.
4. 52-Week Book Project.
   One book a week. I only recently rediscovered a passion for reading this summer, and I’ve been going at two books a month or so. This one is surely to catch up with me next year. Failed.
5. Finish a collection of short stories
   It’s changed to being a novel now, which I’m currently working on. Failed.
6. Make a 365 Photo-Blog.
   I’ve started with Day 1 on this blog already. I should have the blog up by next Monday. The goal is to post a picture a day. Okay, this one needs no explanation. Failed.
7. Watch and take notes on every Ted Talks
   Too many. I have a copy of each one, I just have to stop being lazy. Failed.
8. Watch 1 Movie a Week
   I’ve never seen before that’s been recommended to me.
   I’ll start this on the first complete week of 2010. I would’ve never guessed this one I succeeded in. As of this writing, I’ve watched one more than I actually needed to, though I think it’s a misrepresentation because I forgot to record two whole months of movies, so I tried my best to recall which movies I watched in March and April.
9. Finish an Art piece and sell it.
   Nope, failed.
10. Write a song, possibly a whole EP, record it, and play it live.
    Again, failed.
11. Keep a dream journal and experiment with lucid dreaming
    I have been doing this, funny enough. It’s been almost two months now since the first entry in my journal.
12. Participate in NaNoWriMo
    I’ve replaced this goal with the short stories one and changed the time to the last three weeks of December due to time constraints. Failed.
13. Continue blogging here
    I have to admit that I haven’t been as active on my blog, but I’m still updating. Yea, success.
14. Study history of pop music
    done best by listening to 2 or 3 albums a week Well, it’s a win-lose situation. I’ve broadened my spectrum of listening to the history of hip-hop and metal so far. Albums, no. Pop music, I think I get enough of it as it is. Failed.
15. Tweet everyday with a new vocab word (Probably for artwiculate)
    Again, no need for an explanation. I’ll try some other form of this in the future. Thanks to this goal, I have been put in a strange twitter list. Failed.
16. Write a screenplay for a short film or web-series
    Ha, I think I actually remember writing this, then regretting it. Failed.
17. Write a proposal to pitch to VCs (or other people) of a live broadcast studio at low costs on the internet
    Well, I’ve learned a lot about VCs this summer. Funny that, but this idea has completely morphed into a new idea with plans in the future. I hope to tell more as the idea manifests itself. For now, it’s a failed project.
18. Reach goal of 100 podcast reviews (I’m around about 60 now)
    The blog is defunct, and people still chyme in to write me requests. It is still up in the air whether or not this will ever happen. Failed.
19. Read David Allen’s Getting Things Done and implement it in my daily routine
    It took me forever to reach this one, but somehow I got to it in October.
20. Master a different language
    Not just yet. I’m going to be working with German for a study abroad trip next year. I’m going to try my best to deconstruct and attain some fluency or at least conversational level German. Failed.
21. Make a home-brewed electronic device
    Overlooked this one. I think it’s time to reconsider this one next year. Failed.
22. Pass my GWR
    Yup, passed this one. I forgot this was even a goal.

Final verdict:

• Success = 5 (22.7% Success rate)
• Failed = 17 (77.3% Failure rate)
• Goals that have changed = 5 (Same as successes)
• Goals I no longer hold interest in = 6

I guess this year has taught me there’s not enough days to do everything I want. Plus, with reading more, I’ve discovered something in myself; I need to diversify myself and gain some sort of creative engine again. This new idea of mine really comes from this blog post I read from Elizabeth King. It’s going to be a theme for next year, as I wrap up this blog post. Happy holidays, and keep checking for holiday updates.

Original Post