Aims for 2013?

knucklehead6

So lads (& lassies who frequent here) what are your aims for 2013?

Mine..

1) Finish redecorating my house (again)
2) Maintain my ongoing battle with the evil tobacco genies!
3) Put a few more manners on my dogs... Especially the puppy!!
4) Get back into running. Start off in the mornings with the mutts, work from there.
5) Find a woman who appreciates you for who you are, and you appreciate for who she is, not just how she looks! (Even though the looks are kinda slightly important-ish!! )
6) Stop letting the ironing pile up. Little bits at a time keep it under control.
7) Keep on enjoying work. Keep asking the boss to give you more responsibility. You know you are good enough.
8) Try to work on that shyness thing.
9) Save some fecking money. You haven't had a holiday in 4 years. I know you said you don't want to do the single guy on hols thing again, but, you might just have to.

_Kaiser_

Good thread.. must remember to check this out again next year.

Let's see..

- Get the finances in order and start putting some aside (rough few years but starting to come together)

- More money in work. I had a good year last year and need to get more for it.
Otherwise there's always plan B

- Change the car would be nice (06 Passat with 233,000 km on it. No problems with it as such, but I'd like an A6)

- Find some way to control my sweet tooth and start looking after myself a bit better. Getting older now after all. Can't just live like I'm 20 anymore

Fox_In_Socks

Travel to Scandenavia again, along with taking in a few concerts in different cities.

Get my finances in order...I have savings but I waste a lot.

Get fitter.

Keep going with my very basic drawing/art (hey, it's a start!)

I want to learn how to play music. At least using an instrument that I can work (keyboard and guitar are out)

Liam McPoyle

Pass my driving test.

Take up and stick to yoga.

Go on at least 1 decent holiday.

Learn to play the guitar.

Hermione*

Necronos wrote: »

Take up and stick to yoga.

I approve muchly :pac: Honestly, though, you won't regret it

My aims:

- progress professionally
- revisit my marathon ambitions. I did a half last year and would like to build on that.
- become a morning runner. It appeals so much to me, but I am not a morning person. I want to be.
- develop a more regulated yoga practice. I need to push myself more in it, instead of always doing my favourites.
- save more

CastorTroy

-Become less single.
-Get fit and keep fit. Started near the end of last year but didn't last long
-Teach myself to cook
-Become more sociable by joining a class of some sort. So similar to knuckle's number 8

Liam McPoyle

Hermione* wrote: »

I approve muchly :pac: Honestly, though, you won't regret it

Hope not,going to a beginners class on Thursday evening to check it out!

JessePinkman

Back playing football
No more fags
Nail the promotion in work
Learn and use more as gaeilge
Do something for "The Gathering"

Sleepy

Good idea for a thread.

Get married and give ourselves and our guests a day to enjoy (47 days to go!)
Do well in my new role and earn a decent amount of commission.
Use the extra finances I'll have this year (thanks to improved tax position of a married man and recent promotion) to save and get ahead of my debt repayment schedule instead of increasing my spending.
Start a rainy day fund so the unexpected events of this year don't cause as much hassle for me as last years ones did.
Get enough money into that account so I can take my soon-to-be wife on honeymoon during the summer.
Take up some form of exercise and get out on a surfboard a lot more than the once I managed this year.

EdenHazard

1.Spend the summer in Spain
2.Become fluent
3.Learn another language(German maybe, but more than likely Italian
4.Put on some muscle mass
5.Pass all my exams
6.Get a girl(maybe in Spain )

Dravokivich

- Play through as much games as I possibly can in my backlog.
- Get back into mucking about on music production software.
- Strecth dammit! Your back and right leg can do with it.
- Get on a plane FOOL! Go somewhere even if it is only to England.
- Books, you've books, collecting dust. Dust'em off, read the feckers. It's only words.
- Spoil her rotten.

D'Agger

Nice thread

- Be the best damn moderator I can be :pac:
- Play an entire season of football without sustaining an major injury
- Keep up gym sessions throughout the football season
- Get two or three IT certifications
- Go on a sun holiday to get a break
- Head over to a Liverpool game and take a few other weekend trips
- Pay off the car loan early and start saving.

ToxicPaddy

Great idea for a thread.

Mine are simple:

- Lose a little more weight
Lost 8kgs between Nov and middle of December, but put a few on over Xmas. However, I'm back on track now. Only about 8 kgs off my ideal weight, so nearly there

- Get back playing more basketball.
Damaged my shoulder 6 years ago when I was playing a fairly decent competitive level, back playing once a week since last May but want to be back on court at least 3-4 times week this year to get my skills back and get back in shape.

- Certifications, I need to update mine and get more.
Have 4 in mind and maybe start that degree I've been putting off for the last few years.

- Finally, the most important one.. make it to a tGc beers night
Despite being a member of boards.ie for a lonnnng time, I never once made it to a beers..

knucklehead6

ToxicPaddy wrote: »

- Finally, the most important one.. make it to a tGc beers night
Despite being a member of boards.ie for a lonnnng time, I never once made it to a beers..

they'll take your moddy hat off you if you don't attend!!

Pawwed Rig

1. Go to Old Trafford for a PL match.
2. Run outside rather than on a treadmill (it's cheaper for a start and probably healthier).
3. Pass the exams again this year.
4. Investigate whether a new job would be better than this one.
5. Be more patient and nicer to people.
6. Socialise more.
7. Read more sci fi books.

Dewey collins

1. get back fit for football and get back into the team
2. pass exams in college
3. learn how to drive
4. get a job so i can stop asking my parents for money
5. try to cut down on drinking so much

ToxicPaddy

knucklehead6 wrote: »

they'll take your moddy hat off you if you don't attend!!

Do I get a hat????

Hey, wheres my hat??? I never got a hat!!!!! :mad:

kevthegaff

1. Be better to people
2. Train 3-4 times a week- weights running and soccer
3. Build on my business-infrastructure
4. Spend more time with the girlfriend
5. Keep renovating the house and garden
6. keep a diary/log

um7y1h83ge06nx

So far I have in no particular order:

1. Start exercising regularly again - running and weights. Try to focus on my tummy for a little while (I was very fit in 2011 but early last year I knackered a knee and it set me back hugely).

2. Take better care of my teeth - flossing, and better brushing.

3. Look for more responsibility in work.

4. Investigate further education.

miamee

I did a list with my best friend before Christmas, we kind of witnessed each others. This was mine:

• Trip to London, to New York, to Dubrovnik & Plovdiv. Add to this that I will go away as much as possible and say YES to any travel opportunities that come my way.
• Volunteer with a children's or homeless charity
• Move to city centre to be closer to work and social life and to save money for trips.
• Get a payrise
• Look into new job opportunities whether in current company or a new one
• Do some creative writing. Or just writing
• Meet someone special to share life with

Jimmy Iovine

Hopefully I'll stick to these:

- give my absolute best on teaching practice. Don't just try to skate by.
- get a job.
- cook more and eat less pizzas, especially when on teaching practice.
- read more.
- spend less time arsing around on the internet and go out and achieve something.
- get fit(ter).
- learn the basics about money, taxes and all that over the summer, just in case I get that job in September.
- start saving.

karaokeman

Good thread OP, my top in order of importance;

1. Grow closer to the friends I've made over the last few months, because I've made a lot
2. Stop wasting so much time on the internet/ reading AH
3. Start doing my reading well in advance for college assignments/exams
4. Do a better job planning my career/ learning about other job areas
5. Look after myself more, cook more of my own dinners etc.
6. Find a girlfriend, I know if I have this attitude it won't happen, that's why its last even though the rewards would exceed the other 5

seachto7

1. Fix between my ears
2. Do more regular exercise than I have been doing
3. Ditch freelance work, and go back to full time work.
4. Move abroad
5. I can't really say "find a woman". I've had ample golden opportunities in 2012, and f*cked them up. (See aim no. 1)

d-gal

Great thread

- go on 4 holidays of some sort this (can even be 3 days away)
- save €2000 in coins in a year (that's a fun one!)
- make more money (solution below)
- get up and running my online business for weight loss programs. Already run a successful private gym so want to try it, have 280 people signed up for free 2 week trial so it's a start

boobar

Sort out my weight, general health.
Improve my finances - pay off some loans, reduce credit card balance.
Spend more time with family.
Get more time to enjoy hobbies - squash, reading, movies, photography.
Take some time out over the Summer for a family break.
Concentrate on succeeding in my new job.
Appreciate the simple things.

wha

-do well in my masters, make the most of the opportunities it brings (and ENJOY it!)

-get even a little bit of paid work with my fancy new camera

-do as much as I can with said fancy new camera!

-get a job ASAP! Preferably not a call centre as I have served my time...

-get fitter, tone up a bit

-drink less, stop wasting time being hungover! (think I wrote this last year... woops!)

-see lots of films!

sam34

My main aim is to learn 3 new recipes a week, from straight forward dinners to soups/starter/canapes/baking/desserts/dinner-party-suitable food etc.

I'm hoping this will help with further weight loss and money saving as I will be getting less take-aways.

helimachoptor

2012 was a good but pretty busy year work wise also got married.

2013 I want to do the following.

- Get the promotion...
- Get to Seattle to see the Seahawks Vs Titans (my 2 teams)
- Start a Masters (have been faffing about on this for a while)

Finally.. go see the inlaws more. They live the other side of the country and after a week of work, I dont want to be driving out West... but its part of the deal i suppose :pac:

ToxicPaddy

d-gal wrote: »

Great thread
- save €2000 in coins in a year (that's a fun one!)

Oh its fun alright.. Used to do it every year, not quite 2000 euro but a decent amount. The pain was counting it at the end and getting it to the bank.

Used to bribe my little sis that I'd give her 10% of the total amount if she did it for me. Always worked a treat

velosolex

Drink more
Go out more drinking
Rob a fence
Eat more steak
Put on more weight
Me first
Not be "nice but dumb"
Save a slug
Don't post on Boards
Change my underwear

Peanut Butter Jelly

Lose weight
Get back to GAA
Win a trophy for the club
Get into college
Start YouTube and get 100 views. I know. High target.

jam08

new-ish in here..

- get back to playing ball

- get fit, proper fit, not just the usual

- don't make a balls of teaching practice again

- find a girl

- don't pack in the guitar again

Augmerson

Pay off Loan
Travel more (within Ireland...been abroad plenty but a lot to see at home and shamefully I've never seen it)
Learn to swim
Develop interest in Photography
Make more of an effort to spend time with family & friends
Win World Cup with Ireland in Pro Evolution 6 on hardest setting

Kev.OC

Nothing major here. The main two would be;

Get into decent shape.
Get back into playing the guitar.

cade

Here're my goals for 2013. I tried to keep them reasonable.

• To expand my group of friends.
• To, by the end of the year,
  1. be able to perform both the front splits, on both sides, and the box splits; Achieved via a committment to stretch a minimum of once a day, five days a week.
  2. be able to perform a free standing hand stand, ten hand stand push ups, a hand spring, a no handed cart wheel and a one handed back roll.
  3. be able to play a minimum of twenty four songs on my guitar, and twelve on my Ukulele.
  4. have completed my learning from books one to four of 'Japanese from Zero'.
  5. have gone surfing and snowboarding a minimum of four times.

Galwayguy35

I've been a lazy git for the last year and a half so starting on Monday I'm getting back to the gym and stop making excuses for not going.

My second aim is hopefully not to be still single by the end of 2013.

We should try to keep this thread alive over the next 12 months and see how we all got on.

Young_gunner

Aims

keep working hard at work and progressing well perhaps buy property at long last get really fit and stay injury free

Desires
Meet that someone special to begin a relationship with...

Itwasntme.

Great thread

- Love more
- Live more
- Learn how to manage my time (Eff procrastination. Seriously, I am doing it right now )
- Set goals and see them through

1ZRed

- Get into a proper sleeping routine, kick my developing insomnia and actually get about 8 hours a day
- Commit myself fully to more running/sprinting and general fitness.
- Bulk up more
- Take up a new sport
- Find a new job and save up for college in September
- Move out and live more independently
- Keep learning French on the side and work on building my fluency in it
- If it things suit, spend a few months abroad.

I notice the things I aim for in the new year usually gets me the opposite result, but I recon I'm being somewhat realistic this time. You never know, it could go great or it could be a complete nosedive :P

boomtown123

1) Pass my driving test
2) Go to my first ever concert (Girls Aloud 16th March)
3) Save for college in September
4)Get fit and lose that clingy stone
5) Have more fun
6) get a job i like and near my qualifications

1ZRed

Fox_In_Socks wrote: »

Keep going with my very basic drawing/art (hey, it's a start!)

I want to learn how to play music. At least using an instrument that I can work (keyboard and guitar are out)

Do, keep it up. I've recently been trying to get back my passion for drawing and painting after a few years of losing interest. If you're into it, it's a thoroughly enjoyable hobby.

Funnily enough I found myself alone with a keyboard one day and I taught myself half a song fairly decently by ear. Took ages tho and I got bored of it the next day. A musician I ain't it seems :P

1ZRed wrote: »

- Get into a proper sleeping routine, kick my developing insomnia and actually get about 8 hours a day

I'm off to a great start so far!! :pac:

Jarrod

1- Get a job.
2- Plan more things after completing number 1.

I am a little short on 2013 goals at present. Most of the things people generally list on threads like this are things I work hard at already and so I have no goal to start or improve them. They are ongoing.

I am also finished some of my more insane DIY projects such as using my free time to learn how to - and then engaging in - build a house and a jacuzzi and an outdoor stone oven BBQ combo thing. All three projects complete now and with my herb and veg garden and chickens and so forth there really is no more spare land left to engage in any weird projects with - at least if I want to keep SOME garden space for us all to move around in and live with.

So I guess my goals for 2013 pretty mundane until I can think of new ones:

1) Maintain everything at the level I have already been engaged in.
2) Win this years Weaponized Go Karting race.
3) Find some new DIY project that I can get engaged in. Maybe build a state of the art Tree House with all kinds of hidden secrets and compartments and functions and the like.

Pretty crap list but I am coming up short on thinking of anything

GalwayGuy2

Eh, I already failed walking once per day resolution...and learning Tai-Chi. Ah well, there's always summer:P

^ I have long felt one of the worst ways to do these things is to plan some future time to start.

I'm the same as taxahcruel I think... my goals are about the same as always, keep up the various things I'm doing, start the new thing I was already planning to do...
Any improvements I want to make I just do them. Doesn't mean they're easy but no putting off

Pawwed Rig

Deleted User wrote: »

^ I have long felt one of the worst ways to do these things is to plan some future time to start.

I dunno. Some things you have to mentally prepare yourself for. For example I gave up smoking the day after my birthday. I needed a few weeks to prepare myself (and smoke my brains out).
I also do lent every year even though I'm not religious. Like 44 days of eating healthily and exercise with a definite start and end date sets you up well for the rest of the year.

^ Giving up things may be different. But I generally mean taking up a new hobby. Running, excercise, reading, studying, music instrument and so forth. People seem to have high expectations of how much time and effort they will put in and this can be the first hurdle they fall at.

Take the guy who said he wanted to take up walking but failed above. People like that often think "Right I will start doing X next Monday and I will do an hour a night at it!" and then Monday arrives and they can not find the time. So they say "Ok maybe tomorrow" then "Maybe next monday" or "ok ok then dammit... the first of next month" until its so late in the year its "Ah I will leave it for next Jan 1st and try again".

So not only do people not do what they wanted to - it also hits their personal self esteem as they failed to meet their objectives and targets.

I have promoted a different way to people I have worked with on personal issues - as well as just friends and family - of an incremental approach which basically goes:

1) Start today not at some future point
2) Start by doing a tiny amount and then make it longer and longer over a period of time until you reach some set personal target.

This can feel _ridiculous_ at first depending on what "X" is but anecdotally at least I have not seen one person fail yet who has implemented it. Take me for example - I run an hour in the morning before anything else (which involves me getting up at 5am nowadays) and I cycle an hour every evening and I study a foreign language for 1 hour a night.

I started each of these at 1 minute a day. I just got up one day and went out walking (and cycling when I did that one) for 1 minute. I literally spent many times longer putting my shoes on and getting the bike out etc than I actually did doing it. 30 seconds down the road then 30 seconds back again on a bike. The girls and my mates though I was bonkers. They could not imagine anything so pointless. With the language learning I did this at 30 second intervals not one minute ones. Day 1 I picked up learning material and literally did 30 seconds study.

Day 2 I did 2 minutes. Day 3 - 3. And so on. Getting to doing 1 hour of each a day was - at the risk of seeming arrogant or dismissive - effortless. Yet I now get people saying things like "Where do you find the time/energy/motivation????? I simply can not get myself to do it!".

And whats better is each day the increments were so small I met my targets. I mentioned this earlier in the post that this can hit your self esteem - and one should not underestimate how hard it can do so. But my way I met my targets each day. Of course I did - they were piss easy to meet. But that _felt_ good and that self esteem boost is priceless when trying to make a life change.

I am sure SUDDEN life changes work for _some_ people. Everyone is different so it is not a one size fits all perfect solution I am espousing. But way - way - more often than not when people try to implement a large life change such as going for couch potato to 60 minutes a day in teh gym - it is too big a leap too quickly and they fail at - or soon after - the first hurdles.

ironnike

1) Loose as much weight as I can!
2) Rebuild my life( out of 5y relationship)
3) Quit smoking again(that will be later on at some stage)

Mr_Spaceman

Hi,

I've only noticed this thread but thought I'd fire in my 'Ten for Today' :

1/ Travel more. I did feck all last year (which was a bad year anyway) after years of regular trips, long and short-haul.

Thankfully, I've already made a start on that as I'm just back from a wee trip to Paris, which has gone some way in terms of recovering my mojo

2/ Plan better for work and become more self-motivated/self-disciplined as there is really no-one around to give me kick up the arse

3/ Go to bed at sensible times instead of staying up late, arsing about on the internet and what not

4/ Return to reading books regularly again as I'd lost the habit of late

5/ Exercise. I wrecked my ankle playing badminton two years ago and it's only now I feel like I've recovered. Dust down my bike and swim more. Walk the Capital Ring here in London (which I've already made a good start on)

6/ Do a bit more of the cultural stuff here

7/ Spend a little time - say 20 mins a day - improving my touristy Spanish. Every little helps, I guess

8/ Try not to analyse every wee fecking thing. Usually it doesn't matter anyway.

9/ Socialise more/go to more gigs. I used to do this a lot until last year when I lost my edge and my head was gone

10/ Last but not least, find a special lady friend. I enjoy my own company but it's not enough

Hope the above isn't asking too much... hmm, quite revealing when you write things all out, isn't it?

Oh, and if anyone else has top tips on 'self-motivation for slackers', I'd love to hear them! (taxAHcruel's advice has certainly made me think)

_Kaiser_

Some great posts in this thread. taxAHcruel in particular...

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

Good thread.. must remember to check this out again next year.

Let's see..

- Get the finances in order and start putting some aside (rough few years but starting to come together)

- More money in work. I had a good year last year and need to get more for it.
Otherwise there's always plan B

- Change the car would be nice (06 Passat with 233,000 km on it. No problems with it as such, but I'd like an A6)

- Find some way to control my sweet tooth and start looking after myself a bit better. Getting older now after all. Can't just live like I'm 20 anymore

So one month update...

Finances: I've done out a very simple budget in Excel and am keeping track of the cashflow a bit better. I've also cut back on things like takeaways and instead bought a fortnight's worth of shopping on Tesco and am making stuff instead. Also cutting out the random crap I buy (eg: stuff on Bargain Alerts etc)

Work: Only getting busier (which is a good thing) and I manage a small team which looks likely to expand. I need to start fighting for what I'm worth more - I'm rubbish at the question "so what are your salary expectations" for example and seem to always undersell myself, even though I do extra hours, short notice on-call, get stuck in with the hands-on work if needed etc and go in with the attitude that things just need to get done.
It's not just more cash though - my role is in practise more senior than the title (basically I'm responsible for everything in my area) so more recognition of that too would be nice.

Car: Assuming I get the cashflow sorted out I'm hoping to still do this later in the year

Food/Fitness: As above I've made a conscious effort to cut back on the crap. Living alone + canteen in work means that when you do get home, you're not going to bother making up a meal for one.. far easier to get a takeaway on the way home.
So to counter this I've cut out the lunch/dinner in work (not great food anyway), have something small during the day and then DO make something when I get home. Only problem is I'm a useless cook My mother was a chef but I think it skipped me!

I need to do something about the fitness side though as my current job basically sees me going from bed-car-desk-car-couch-bed most days I know joining a gym is the default answer but I don't know if it'd work for me to be honest. I seem to have no energy most of the time as it is no matter how much/little sleep I get so maybe a general once over by the GP is in order first.