bpope’s blog

While admittedly arbitrary, the new year offers an opportunity for self examination and a good starting point in the struggle to become more like the people we want to be, and to do more of the things we want to do.  In that spirit, here are a few goals of mine for the new year (title inspiration goes to Halle Tecco, who posed an interesting question about goals the other day). In no particular order…

Stay closer with my family.
I’ve got family all over the country, and spread around the world.  I’d like to continue spending time with my mother, get to spend time with both of my brothers, and maintain close to my extended family.

Become more of a creative-type.
To that end, I’m going to try to become for proficient with a few software tools for both movies and stills (ex. photoshop and final cut).  Also I’ve got to improve my drawing/sketching abilities.

Travel.
I love to travel, and I’ve been spoiled so far in my life.  But, for the past couple years I haven’t set aside the time for adventure.  This year I will.

Climb better.
Climbing is something that I really enjoy.  Now I’d like to get better.  Right now I can eventually climb V3, roughly.  It’d be awesome to bump that up to V6-ish and/or 5.12

Build!
I like to design things.  I like to work with my hands.  I didn’t do much of that for myself last year, but I think I’ll have more of a chance now.  It’s time to get to know the hobby shop better.

Be like Josh Baskin.
That’s the guy that Tom Hanks plays in Big.  Have a childlike enthusiasm, honesty, courtesy, and genuine love for people.

Make more friends.
It’s easy to keep the same circle of friends.  It also means I’m missing out on a lot, so I’ll try to meet lots of new people and hopefully have some fun along the way.

Get outside more.
2008 didn’t see me spend enough nights in a tent or under the stars.  it didn’t see me climb enough mountains (especially in winter).  Here’s to more outdoor adventures in 2009.  I’m not going to be stupid, but I am going to try to push my limits a bit more.

Make better goals for myself.
I tend to make poor goals for myself, by making them too hard or too easy, too much time or not enough.  I’d like to set realistic (and challenging) expectations for myself on a continuing basis this year.

Those are more or less the first 9 I thought of…I’m sure that as the year goes on, there will be other things that grab my attention, but it’s at least a good starting point.  Good luck to everyone on making this year better than the last.