New Year... New Things to Resolve

As y'all know, the new year is just around the corner.  We go through a yearly ritual of making some resolutions that we're sure to break by February, and by December we've forgotten what those resolutions even were.  We'll I'm going to break out of that rut this year.  I plan on writing my resolutions down and posting it on my bulletin board in my room, so that I see them every day. 

I'm even going to post my resolutions on this blog so that you can hold me accountable.  In fact, if any of you see me on the roads, I want you to stop me and say "how are the New Year's resolutions going?" 

And then I'll say "thank you for asking me.  I'm [a) doing great, b) doing pretty good with most of them, c) having some difficulties, or d) in the $@#% crapper]."

And then I want you to recommit me to live up to my New Year's resolutions, no matter how much I resist.  This is the way missionaries help the people they teach break out of bad habits.  Of course, I do know all the missionary tactics,  so I might be a tough case if I'm not happy about you asking about the resolutions.  Just twist my arm until I break, or something like that.  I'm being kind of serious about this.

When I was a missionary, my mission president would have all the zone leaders and assistants of the mission set a yearly goal for the number of people our mission would baptize by that year, and we would always set the goal in a special mission council meeting in which all the participants arrive praying and fasting.  That goal would then be something we would all work towards--together--for the entire year.  During my time in the Little Rock mission, the number of baptisms we would have per year doubled, and I'm confident in saying that setting some high goals and then following through with faith and hard work was a major factor in that.

Maybe I'm being naive, but I'm going to try the same thing this year.  My goals won't all be religious and I won't say that they came as the result of prayer and inspiration, but I will say that they came after some serious considerations, and that I believe they are attainable, yet stretching.

#1.  Work out for 30 minutes 3 times a week

My vision:

Nobody wants a roundhouse kick to the face in those bad boys.

Vision likely to come true?  Not really.  But it is good to exercise.

#2.  Read the Book of Mormon in 100 Days

I did this at the end of my mission, and it was an awesome experience.  Our BYU stake is planning on doing the same thing this year, so I'm going to capitalize on that.

#3.  Make at least a B+ in all my classes

I go to school for the first time since 2008 tomorrow.  I'm not too worried about this goal, since I'm a freakish perfectionist when it comes to grades and will likely sacrifice just about anything short of a minor appendage if it means higher grades.

"Must... Get... A-minus..."

#4.  Give Five Compliments a Day

Can you imagine how awesome the world would be if everyone did this?  I know I posted the short film 'Validation' on here before, but I think it deserves a repeat: http://bit.ly/evpE86.  It's a film about a guy who gives wonderful compliments to literally every person he sees

#5.  Cut Back on the Mormon Swears

 Examples: Flip, fudge, fetch, freak, freakin', shiz, crap, and my personal favorite: what the eff!?

I'll need to find new words to express myself.
<stubs toe> "Gahh!  Melvin!"
<burns finger>  "Oww!!  Zeezrom!"

I'll work on some better words.  I promise.

Once again, I'm committed to do these resolutions.  So stop and ask me how they're going.  You may think that the idea of having New Year's resolutions is kind of silly.  And to be honest, I do too, but I firmly believe that everyone needs goals in their life.  After all, how can you expect to go anywhere if you don't take the steps inbetween?