Wow 2010 was fun. I spent the summer hiking, ending with an epic trip to Peru. I’m probably in the best shape of my life right now, thanks to a fitness regimen with a personal trainer that kept me at it all through the year. I can finally take pull ups unassisted and lift 45’s on a chest press. Those were big highlights for me. I finally don’t look out of place in a gym.
I’ve never really made new year resolutions. Someone usually asks me on New Year’s Eve what my resolutions are and I’d fire off a couple of random thoughts. Maybe it’s just me hitting my 30’s, but I’ve started to wonder if I’ll ever get around to some of the stuff that’s been on my to-do list. So I’m gonna put some resolutions down and hold myself to them this year. Nothing drives accountability like the Internet .
Get decent at the guitar
If by the end of the year I can sight read music notes and play them, play “Stairway to Heaven” and “Classical Gas”, I’ll consider this done. I’ve been learning the guitar off and on for well nigh ten years now, and haven’t got past basic chords. They say it’s repetition and that’s what I haven’t been doing. I’ll pick it up once a month, wonder why I’m not Slash and then never look at it again. So this year I will sit my jaded ass down for practice and keep at it till I get it right. If I run into ruts, I’ll talk to some of my friends or get some instruction if things seriously derail.
Why “Stairway to Heaven” and “Classical Gas”, you ask? Well both of them are the kind of songs you build your technique up to. You don’t just pick these guys and start learning them. So I’ll formulate a plan to lead up to them and stick with it. Hopefully by the end of the year I’ll sound like this guy.
Snowboard
In the Northwest, you can either pick up a winter sport or play board games and movies for half the year. So this’ll be the year I hit the slopes frequently. I can come down a green with no issues and am ok on a light blue. Now that I’ve bought all my gear I really have no excuse. I’m thinking I should head up 15 to 20 times this season. I need to move from the wide “S” I’m doing right now to a pretty straight line down the slope, with only slight braking to control my pace. If I get good enough this season I could hit Whistler next winter.
Tennis/Basketball
This is my complementary summer sports goal. I spent 2010 getting my fitness back to a decent level and I want to use it in 2011 to lock in a couple of good sporting activities. I play decent beginner level tennis, and my cardio is finally up to the level where I don’t faint within ten minutes of a basketball game. I’m going to loop Divya in on tennis, so we can get better together. We’ll probably do classes at the Amy Yee Tennis Center. For basketball, if by the end of the year I’m playing in pickup games without embarrassing myself I’ll call it good. I’ll get my personal trainer to drill me for it as well.
So there you have it. I figure getting three goals done well is better than jumping from activity to activity. I would like to pick up a language, probably French since I used to learn it in school. But I think this is all I’ll have time for this year.
Let me know if any of you out there have similar goals. Peer pressure and group training always work wonders, so maybe we can collaborate.