Welcome to 2013

Welcome to 2013! I have spent the last few weeks thinking about what I was able to accomplish in 2012 and what I would like to do in 2013. I don't really like the idea of a New Year's resolution as they have become a bit of a mockery and are easily ignored. I do set goals, but I don't think of them as resolutions...I look at the beginning of the year as a clean slate and plan accordingly.

As for 2012, here is a brief list of some things I was able to accomplish and also some things where I fell a little short:

• I married an amazing woman and my best friend.
• I finally made it out of the country again...spending time in Cahuita, Costa Rica. This was the best trip to date!
• I started running. Though I didn't run the 5K I planned on running, I still trained for it. I ran further than I ever have.
• My goal to read 52 books in 2012 fell short with only having read 44.
• At work, I helped lead Great Plains SPCA to the best year of adoptions in our history (though I wouldn't have been able to do it without all the staff around me). 
• I also worked way too many hours helping open our brand new adoption center.
• I wrote my 176 blog posts and saw my 20,000th page view.
• My credit card debt was eliminated.  
• I celebrated (is this really the right word?) my third anniversary of sobriety.

In 2013, I have some goals I plan on reaching:

• Reading 52 books is back on the list.
• I will run a 5K.
• I will run a 10K.
• I will write 3 posts (at least) each week for this blog.
• In just a few days, I will celebrate my tenth year being vegan.
• I will pay off three more monthly bills.
• At work, I will help lead Great Plains SPCA to another record year.

There are other things I really would like to do, but I haven't set them as actual goals (yet). Some are still ideas I am toying around with (a novel) and others are still a little vague and not yet goal worthy (taking less personally, living more in the moment, laughing more). What goals do you have for 2012?

Write them down. Figure out a good way to track them. Hold yourself accountable. Tell them to someone else so they can hold you accountable. Hell, comment here and we can hold each other accountable. Then, start working on them. We only have 365 days in 2013 (now 364), so we have to start now. No more procrastinating. No more waiting until tomorrow. No more waiting on other people. Let's get to work. This is going to be an amazing year, but only if we help make it one!