Final Update of My 2014 Goals

This is the final countdown update. Dee-doo-dee-doooo. Dee-doo-de-doo-doo. Dee-doo-dee-doo-deeeee, dee-doo-dee-doo-doo-doo-doo. …

If you wanna read the details of my 2014 goals, check ch-check ch-ch-check it out.

Lose Ten Pounds: FAILED.

Um. Well, I mean… The thing is, I really, like…

Listen: I gained weight. I was steady up until Thanksgiving. If we’re being honest, I think I probably swapped some muscle mass for fat before then. I’ve returned to the gym regularly for the past couple months, but we’ll cover next year’s goals - and how I’m going to reach them - in the 2015 Goals.

Record More Music: FAILED.

I didn’t record anything other than some song ideas, and those were very crude recordings. Only now am I starting to feel settled enough to configure recording equipment. Honestly, this will be removed from next year’s goals. I will play as much music as any other year, but writing and recording will not be a priority.

My creative outlet will switch formats, which I’ll talk about in the 2015 Goals.

Read Ten Non-Fiction Books: SUCCEEDED!

I cheated. I feel like I cheated, anyway. Most of my non-fiction consumption was via audio, and I am counting seasons 1, 2, and 3 of Writing Excuses as a book each. I think that’s valid, but feel free to frown at this sentence. I would never want to oppress your facial expressions.

Please, do not take the above list as a list of recommendations. At least a couple I would recommend avoiding. I will write a Fav Books of 2014 post later.

Read Thirty Fiction Books: SUCCEEDED!

Like a hobbit on an adventure, I exceeded expectations.

I read (or heard) a total of 60 books this year. (This includes the 9 non-fiction above, but not Writing Excuses). I think that is a bit deceptive, because several were novellas. Page count is still pretty high, regardless. Lately, I have been reading short stories from Tor.com, as well. It’s been a good year for fiction-reading.

One of these days, I will feel that I have read -most- enough of the long-ago-published fiction that interests me, and I can start picking up more and more recently published books.

Be a Better Father and Husband: SUCCEEDED?

I am not comfortable marking success or fail on this mostly immeasurable goal personally. However, I have help in this! My wife says …

I do think you have been more aware of being patient with the kids this year. When you are more patient, we have better days.

I do wish you would be on your phone less often.

[Editor’s note: she means looking at it, as opposed to talking on it. I have talked on my phone, but I’m not sure I know how that part works.]

Especially at bed time, I feel like you’re on your phone a lot when it’s not your turn to read.

I’m going to go crazy listening to what happens if you give a damned mouse a cookie over and over.

Seriously, though, I’m glad I asked my wife. This will inform my goals for 2015, too.

I definitely did more outdoors stuff with my son this year. Much of that has to do with the fact that we have a large, fenced-in yard now. I can do more, though, I think. We only camped once!

In Conclusion

I am pretty disappointed in my commitment to my own health. That must be fixed.

I need to choose my goals carefully. Then, I must do more than rely on the pressure of having made the goal for motivation (though that worked to a degree).

The bottom line is I was better than 50% awesome in 2014.