My 2013 Challenges

I’ve been mulling over what to challenge myself this coming 2013. It’s definitely coming up in a few hours. So, here’s my list, and I hope I can look back to it at the end of 2013 with deep joy and pride that I’ve accomplished most of it:

1. I will spend more time with my family. Not just being physically there, but being mentally present to them.

2. I will increase the frequency of my workouts. I have decided to work out for a minimum of 1 hour a day at least 5 days out of a week, with enough variety to get better results. I will check my heart rate at each to make sure I get up to the desired range. I will monitor this in a calendar.

3. I will make time to read more books. I have so many downloaded in my iPad and some hard copies from what people have given me. I intend to double the number of books I read from 2012. That would be a feat!

4. I will delegate more at work, convincing myself to let go some more of management controls. I will coach more, cheer more, compliment more.

5. I will seek out old friends I have not talked to and call or invite them for coffee or a meal to catch up. I will see my friends more often. I was listening to an interview of writer, Sandra Cisneros. I was struck by her comment that she could not live in the Bay Area because people here tend to talk to people sideways because they are always in a hurry. She said the pace here is so frenzied. There’s no time to really talk to people.

6. I will be kinder, more patient, more forgiving, and more tolerant of people who are different from me. I will take special care to understand.

7. I will spend more time with my parents, more than how much I have been (if that’s possible).

8. I will post more on WordPress!

9. I will challenge myself to write short stories with a long-term goal of writing a novel.

10. I will relearn to play the piano or another musical instrument.

11. When we go on vacation, I promise not to do work on the side.

12. I promise to be less tolerant (if this is at all possible) with people and groups who will not respect women, LGBT, people of color, etc., regardless of whether people claim it a necessity because their religious or political affiliations require so. (What? Are you saying they do the thinking for you?) And I promise to express it more often and loudly.

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