New Year Resolutions

Just like everyone else it seems, I'm penning some new year resolutions to attempt to improve myself. Now generally I'm not one for saving all these changes for the new year - if you truly want to make a change, then start doing so tomorrow, or better yet, later today. Ignoring that here are some resolutions for the coming year, not necessarily every one I will start acting on immediately, but will definitely aim to at some point.

Be better at becoming primal
I've mentioned here on the blog before and over the past 9 months or so I've been on and off the Primal lifestyle, although not really at all by the end of last year. Now when I was following the blueprint I was seeing some of the benefits, weight loss, improved energy and I want to return to that so we're going to make a renewed effort. The main goal is the weight loss, and leading on from that I would like to sort out a new wardrobe, by which I mean clothing etc I don't want to buy things which will be too small, although that might work as motivation.

Stop drinking on my own
Pretty self explanatory this one. Too often last year I got into the habit of getting the beers in and drinking in my own company. Of course it's always better to be able to unwind after a tough week at work but emphasis on the word "habit" in the last sentence - it got all too routine and I would even be drinking on school nights. Never to excess but still it was a cycle I wasn't happy getting into - "addiction" is a dangerous word but I may have been flirting with the concept rather worryingly. If I didn't feel the urge to have a drink (or two) then I will of course not be spending the money and will be able to spend it more wisely.

Be more productive in the evenings
A lot of these resolutions are linked. To the above I was never really that productive in the evenings during the week. If I had a beer then the TV shows would be queued up or I'd be on the 360. I still have my home programming course to work on and that has been heavily neglected for the last half year or so.
I am pleased that I have a board game night on Thursdays to get me out of the house although it could be interpreted as another side of the coin of my gaming habits. I would like to have other nights to break up the above routine. I've always wondered about maybe picking up a martial art, or at least something active. I've been curious about ping pong following watching the Penny Arcade videos where they have ladder tournaments with game developers.

Read more (or at least match 2011's level of reading)
Probably my most useful single purchase last year was my Kindle. I used to always read in bed before going to sleep and my Kindle has got me reading again. Not watching TV/being on my Mac immediately before bed with all that blue light has meant improved sleep as well. I have been meaning to do a post where I gush about my Kindle. I've read quite a few books this year and I want to keep that up, maybe even read more.
An extension of this is to read more self-help books. A lot of the writing is very obvious when you actually think about it but spending time to be reflective and analytical of your actions can only be a good thing right?

A new job
Probably the biggest one of all. I've talked the talk for a long time about not enjoying my current job and would like to find something new, something better. I won't repeat thoughts on the job, I'm sure I've said enough before but what I would like to do is to finish the programming course and get that qualification to help bolster the CV. I have some years of programming experience now so it hopefully shouldn't be too difficult to get interviews he says. It almost certainly means that the future job will be much closer, if not within the City of London so moving too but then again I've moved a few times in the last couple of years so I like to think I've got quite good at that.

Well, that's enough to work on for now. As I said before making changes, mixing things up shouldn't be limited to the start of the new year so there's bound to be other things to work on and improve.

Here's wishing you all a prosperous 2012 (or twenty dozen as I saw written down which I quite like...)