My New Years Resolutions (Goals) for 2013

So it’s that time of the year again when people go around making promises to themselves about things that they are going to either accomplish or do better in the next year.  With most people some these promises are quickly forgotten or given up on.   Those who accomplish their New Years Resolutions throughout the year get the satisfaction of completion but for many resolutions they are easily undone.

I want my resolutions to be something with a lasting impact rather than subscribing to the resolutions that are most popular like losing weight, exercising more, and eating healthier.  While I could benefit (who couldn’t) from setting those resolutions for myself those are things that can be accomplished and then broken easily with no lasting gain.  When I set goals for myself I want them to be something that will leave a lasting impact, even if it is a failure.

Now I don’t believe you have to make new years resolutions in order to have goals you want to achieve, that’s just silly.  You can make goals for yourself whenever you want but most people don’t and use new years as a time of reflection and looking forward.

I began doing a self assessment recently and realized that I don’t set enough goals for myself.   So I felt like now would be a good time to set some goals for me to accomplish this year.  My goals for 2013 are as follows:

• Make at least one blog post a month
  • My current post rate has been low comparatively to what it was at one point.  I had a lot of topics I wanted to post about last year that I never got around to writing.  Setting myself up to post at least once a month will help me follow through on those missed opportunities.
• Finish at least 5 personal projects
  • I have a lot of personal projects that I have started or come up with that I need to finish.  I managed to finish a few last year but want to aim for more this year.
• Obtain at least one more certification
  • I currently have an MCTS in Silverlight 4, Development but really want to add at least one more certification to that with the end goal of eventually getting a MCPD (Microsoft Certified Professional Developer) certification.
• Set more goals
  • If you don’t set more goals for yourself then you have nothing else to work towards.

So those are my goals for 2013, and while there are many other resolutions I will set for myself these are the goals I will be working towards that should leave something when they are accomplished.