Stuff to Do: 2019 Edition & the Forever List

2019 is well underway now. I was pleased overall with how things went last year regarding my goals.  In past years, I’ve tended to get overly ambitious regarding my goals.  This year I’ve decided that I will focus on finishing the stuff I left incomplete last year.  Do less, and do it better.

2019 Edition of Stuff

1. Finish my Rosetta Stone Arabic Course. I didn’t finish the course last year, this is the year to get it done.  I’m doing other things to learn Arabic as well, but for now, it’s time to finish the course.
2. Lose Weight! Weigh 81kg or less before 2019 2020. I’ve been doing physiotherapy for the last year. Due to the quadriceps tear I suffered in 2016, I still don’t have confidence in my leg for jogging or biking. However, I can still swim, and I can actually get my heart rate up by walking on the treadmill with the incline maxed out.  It’s time I started making trips to the gym a habit.
3.  Submit one of my MA papers to at least one journal for publication. I made zero progress on getting published last year.  Time to fix that.  I’ve also changed the wording.  Whether or not I get published will be up to the journal to decide.  For my part though, I can at least make the submission.
4. Become an investor – Invest $xxx this year! Start 2020 debt-free. Gotta crawl before I walk.  I’ve already set up automated payments to make this happen. I spoke with RS on this one as well, since it’s going to require that I travel less in the coming year. Luckily, I’ve got her support.  Investing will be a 2020 goal.
5. Get a project management certification in the first half of 2018. I’m already signed up for the course. The key this year will be managing my time better to ensure it gets done.

To get these things done, I plan to set aside specific times of day and to make a habit of working on them at these times.  Once the routine kicks in, the process will be automatic and much easier to maintain.

This year I decided to make a Forever List to go with the goals.  The idea here is simple. Rather than setting out to do something for a year or get something done within a year, these are the things I plan to keep doing.  Rules to live by I suppose.

The Forever List

1. Blog at least once a month, and at least 15 times overall for the year.  I almost succeeded here last year.  I only missed one month.  I’ve decided that once-monthly blogging should keep happening for as long as I choose to keep this blog up and running.
2. No Coke zero. No store-bought sweets and junk-food! When I succeeded one this one last year, I decided that I would use January to say good-bye to junk food.  Sour Jubes, Mambas, Sweet Tarts, Coke, Coke Zero, Pringles Reese Peanut butter cups… You get the idea.  I wanted to enjoy eating them before giving them up completely.  I still plan to enjoy dessert foods if they’re homemade or if I’m eating out at a restaurant.  And if Captain Morgan’s around, I’ll allow myself some coke or coke zero.  But those are the only times.