My 2010 New Years Resolutions – The Real Life Edition

2010 already feels good. I mean, a new year always feels good, but a new decade, that’s a big refresh.

The turnover into the last decade got lost in the shuffle into the new millenium. And we had such great hopes, at least until  we succumbed to our paranoia about the impact of the lazyness of our 20th century programmers. And then we got distracted by the Internet. And then the terrorists needed some attention…

I read on some blog today that the last ten years has been a great win for the individual, but a general loss collectively. I agree. I think we all had some great successes at an individual level in the last 10 years. But at a macro level, we got let down by everything around us. We set a bunch of individual performance records, but our win-loss record as “Team Humanity” kinda sucked. Its almost as if the human race needs to realize, collectively, that there is no “I” in “TEAM”.

My sincere hope is that 2010 will be a much kindler, gentler year than any of those last 10 years. And that we’ll start to figure out what “We” means.

Repeat it with me, 2010 will be awesome. For all of us. If I could hope for one thing next year, that would be it.

For my part, I’m going to try and relax. I can’t swim upstream forever. My number one priority is to find a way to work within the flow, to become one with the energy around us, the 氣. Much of what I propose to do centers around simplifying my life, and centering around what is important.

You’ve already seen the Internet Edition of my 2010 resolutions,  what follows is the Real Life Edition of my 2010 goals.

1. Be a dad. I have no idea what this really means, but its important to me that at the very least, I do this in 2010.

2. We will move to the country. Not sure where specifically, but definitely somewhere rural-ish. We’ll know the place when we see it, but I can guarantee you that it won’t be in Bloor West Village, Mississauga, Oakville, Ajax or Oshawa. My test will be simple. My neighbors won’t be close enough to care if I hang out on my deck in a speedo. Not that I would, but its a good test.

3. Our finances will become a tool. We’ve never been big users of debt and credit, but even still, it has taken us a while to get our debt behind us – car loans, student debt, silly decisions made in our 20′s, and so on. 2010 is the year that we become truly proactive with our finances and get into strong position for an early retirement.

4. Give me PVR or Give me Death. In 2010 I won’t watch anything on TV unless I’ve pre-recorded it on the PVR. The only exception to this will be the daily news at 6pm and 11pm and any special coverage of any event of a global scale. Events of a global scale means things like the Obama Inauguration, Katrina, the coronation of a new monarch and so on. It doesn’t mean the endless coverage leading up to and after the actual event, and only includes the actual event itself.

5. Its not about the bike. Somewhere along the way between Santa Clarita and Twenty Nine Palms during the 2009 Furnace Creek 508 bicycle race, I realized that I wasn’t an endurance cycling junkie, I was an adventure junkie. In 2010, I will run at least 3 ultramarathons and use running to find new adventures.

6. Its totally about the bike. I will not ride the bike to prove anything in 2010. 100% of my rides will be fun rides.

7. I will write two books. More specifically, I will start two and complete at least one. Never having written a book before, I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew. Do I want to write two? You betcha.

8. You can find me in the back 40. A really smart person told me in 2009 that I was too willing to blend into the group and too tolerant of my own mediocrity; that being awesome, that standing out, wasn’t a bad thing. I will do my best in 2010 to be outstanding in my field.

9. I will not forget my priorities. Family, work, friends, then everything else – in that order. This used to be easier and I think I’m doing an okay job, but it is very important to me that I get this right.

I’m a bit worried, combined with my Internet resolutions, this adds up to a lot of stuff to accomplish. With only 365 days to do it all, I’ll need to make sure that I don’t do a lot of stuff that’s not on this list.

The list of stuff that I plan on not doing? Well, that’s a third list. Check back tomorrow for the final edition of my 2009 News Years Resolutions.

Happy New Year.