Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Resolutions for 2009

Every year I make my New Year Resolutions, which I pen down on a little scrap of paper and carry around the folded scrap in my wallet for the entire year. Usually in early December, I extricate the secret list and invariably admit guiltily to myself that I haven't achieved half as much as I'd have liked. Some resolutions then get carried forward to the following year, some get redefined in much less ambitious terms, and still others are quietly dropped :-(

This year, I'm going to take a rather different approach. For starters, I won't burden myself with an unrealistic list of 46 items, like what I did one year not too long ago. I'll keep it a much shorter list. Maybe 12-15 items at most. And secondly, it won't be a secret list any more as I will be displaying it in this blog entry for the whole world ... well, at least the dozen or so kind souls who actually bother to read my online rants. Ha! That should introduce a little more pressure on myself to keep my resolutions real and to put more effort into trying to attain them.

So here are my resolutions for 2009 ... (drum roll please)

Health
- reduce weight by 10 lbs & get more physically fit thru gym or other sport
(building abs was one of my previous resolutions, long discarded & I'm not putting it back in!)
- undergo medical & dental checks

Personal
- increase my Mandarin vocab by 500 characters
- learn a new language (to basic level)
- read at least 2 books a month, with more focus on humanities (esp history & classics)

Professional
- make a real sales impact in at least 3 countries
- deepen & extend domain expertise
- get one book published or at least manuscript-ready
(out of the several I've been working on & off for the past three years)
- put "E-Gov in Asia" online

Family
- get Family Journal + Book 2 typed & collated
- take two family holidays (one preferably to somewhere we've never visited)
- visit Sabah & Brunei on family tree exploration

Financial
- improve financial position

Social & Spiritual
- improve ties with family & friends (eg organise a re-union of ex-schoolmates)
- get actively involved with a charity organisation


Well, that's it folks. A very happy new year to all !

And be sure to watch out for my end-2009 review of these resolutions.

13 comments:

Nelson Wee said...

With you there James, esp on the health (losing weight), personal(books, culture appreciation, friends get-together), family (holidays, child development involvement) ... and I am trying to keep my 2009 list to stop .... whoah there. Happy 2009!

NEL

Anonymous said...

Amazon.com poll on top 2009 New Year resolutions - lose weight what added as my vote :)
28% Lose Weight
12% Fix Your Finances
3% Go Greener
3% Curb Your Vices
16% Get in Shape
8% Relax More
6% Pursue a New Career
6% Upgrade Your Technology
8% Organize and Optimize
6% Start a New Hobby

James Yong said...

Seems many of my resolutions are in line with many other folk. There's obviously a lot of over-weight, unfit people walking around :-)

navimap said...

Over weight? Well, you have not much incentive as I thought you were hiding it quite well.

James Yong said...

Probably thanks to baggy clothes. Alas the weighing scales don't lie.

navimap said...

Try your luck, sometimes they are wrongly zeroed. :-) If that fails think of something else, and then finally bite the bullet when all else fails.

Anonymous said...

James, I remember you have this thick book pasted with life's knickknacks. Still carrying it around and pasting more knickknacks?

James Yong said...

Yup, that's my journnal. Not one, been a whole series of them. Currently on volume 58, I think ..

Anonymous said...

James, I like that one about organising a class reunion. Being one of your ex classmates left stranded in Kuching while the rest of you are living it up all over the world, I am holding you to your resolution. Get James Kuoh to come back from England for it. All of us overweight and unfit joes want to meet up with him. Can't think of a better venue than a re union party to get some free medical advice!
:-)

PT said...

Looking forward to see a fighting fit James by year's end!! Be glad to offer a few tips on the gym/health thingy. :-)

James Yong said...

Thanks PT. I think I will take up that offer of help. Went to the gym for the first time this year, and spent most of the time on the treadmill.

PT said...

Good start,JY. Next time try 15/20 mins on treadmill followed by 25 push ups, 25 sit ups and 25 squats. Idea is to build aerobic fitness, upper body, core and leg strength. Even if you progress to weight training, these should remain your high level fitness objectives. Enjoy. :-)

James Yong said...

Thanks PT. Will try out your suggested techniques at my gym session today. If you don't hear from me tomorrow, you know it might not have gone too wel ;-)