Monday, January 11, 2010

New Year Goals

Jeannie just posted a somewhat cheesy list of her goals for the aught-ten. Like a good romcom, however, her post contains an inspirational life-affirming message hidden there in the cheesiness. In addition, it was cute and entertaining. This is pretty much as close as I get to flattery, Jeannie, so you should enjoy it while it lasts.

Anyway, my point is that her list inspired me to write down my own goals for this year and how I'll achieve them:

Physical
1. 3 Backcountry Trips
How: Harass Jeannie into meeting Carie and me in the Eastern Sierra for 3 weekends, one per month as long as there's enough snow
2. Ski or Hike At Least Once per Weekend in Winter and Spring
How: Self-explanatory, but not having internet at the house should help.
3. Climb San Gorgonio
How: Wait until spring when there's minimum of snow and Dry Lake is still a lake, most likely May. Prepare for mountain acclimation with BC trips and other hiking and skiing, at least three times a month.
4. Finish Tahoe-Sierra 100 in less than 11 hours (shave 1:30 off last year's time)
How: Build up lighter bike, train like mad all summer. At least 50 trail miles per week, and 15 hours on a bike per week starting in May. 5 hours per week on a bike starting in April.
5. Qualify for Collegiate MTB Nationals at Northstar
How: Same training plan as #3, race two non-collegiate races this summer to get cat upgrade, and race all collegiate races (including Super D to improve my descending) possible before nats.

Career/Mental
1. Pass Quals
How: Schedule them in early February with my committee and just do it.
2. Publish a Paper
How: Initiate collaboration with computational colleague and perform emission measurements on my discharge, finish measurements by April, submit by August.
3. Get the Prestissimo of Beethoven Sonata #1 in F Minor, Op. 2 No. 1 reliably up to speed, learn the rest of Beethoven Sonata #1 in F Minor, Op. 2 No. 1 and Rachmaninoff Prelude in C Sharp Minor, Op. 3 No. 2
How: Practice 20 minutes every day, with at least 5 minutes devoted to scales and arpeggios. Post videos at least once a month of progress on new pieces.

Interpersonal:
1. Be more agreeable and nicer
How: Limit myself to 10 minutes of arguing per day. Say at least one nice thing to everyone I see during the day.
2. Be closer to my family
How: Send at least one e-mail per week updating my family on how I'm doing. At least one phone call per month.
3. Be more supportive and appreciative of Carie
How: Can't share it here or else she'll know what's coming and not be surprised.

Also, I found a great new house in LA for Carie and me. It's up on a hill in a quiet place with a garden and nice views; it's perfect. I'll be moving in this weekend and settling for a while after that. Hurray for no longer being homeless!