New Years Resolutions 2015

Submitted by Joshy Orndorff on Thu, 01/01/2015 - 15:50

It's time for my 2015 New Years resolutions. (See also: Other Years). To be honest, I did terribly with my resolutions last year, not making a single one of them. Some of them will be recycled this year. In fact most of this years resolutions are repeats from previous years that I liked and worked well. Last year was not a good year for me in terms of doing things I like or growing as a person, so this year I'm quitting my job and trying to get back to being the kind of person I can be proud of.

  • Stretch every day

    I'll spend at least 10 minutes stretching each day. I haven't seriously stretched on a regular basis since 2010, and since I'm starting to get older and stiffer and less flexible, I think this will really help.

    Update 14 October: Going Great.
    Year-end Update: Went Great.

  • Do situps and pushups

    At least 49 pushups and 147 situps each day.

    Update 14 October: Going Great.
    Year-end Update: Went Great.

  • Get up with my alarm

    I'm terrible about snoozing my alarm. And it makes me rush nearly every morning. I learned recently that my dad gets up with the alarm every time, so I'm going to give it a try. Luckily I'll be unemployed so I probably won't have to set the alarm very much. But these next two weeks (when I'm finishing up my job) might be tough.

    Update 14 October: Going well. A few days I definitely didn't do it, but I'm certainly not doing the daily multi-snooze anymore.
    Year-end Update: This went okay. I definitely broke the habit of snoozing every day, but the last few months there were more days that I set an alarm in hopes of getting up on a Saturday and just didn't, or woke up with my alarm on a work day and instead of snoozing, just laid awake for a while instead of getting up.

  • No TV at night

    I did this as a monthly resolution back in 2012, but, like most of my resolutions, it didn't stick after the month was over. So this year I'm doing it for a whole year.

    Update 14 October: Going fine. This one has actually been subject to some gray area judgment calls, but I really think I've made the conservative calls.
    Year-end Update: I consider this a big success. Occasionally I would fall asleep watching TV in the evening, but then still get up for dinner and situps and pushups, and then not watch TV when I went to bed for the night.

  • Take a photo every day

    This is another monthly resolution from 2012. It was a cool idea, but there isn't much change over just one month. So I'll do it for a whole year this time.
    Update 14 October (I think): Going great. I have a vague memory of accidentally missing one night early on, but otherwise fine.
    Year-end Update: This went well. There were two or three more days that I forgot, but I never decided not to do it.

  • Build a boat

    This is a repeat from last year. Although I did make some progress learning the process and building models, I really didn't do much on this resolution, so I'm planning to finish it this year. My plan for now is to build a stitch and glue row boat.

    Update 14 October: Done.

  • Biking and running

    Since last year's resolution to "get and stay truly fit" was a massive failure and I'm in the worst shape of my life, I'm going to be more specific. I've learned before that it is important to be specific about resolutions, but I guess some lessons I have to learn over and over. This year my biking and running minimum will be as follows: (running) + (biking / 4) > 2000 km

    Update 14 October: This is almost definitely not going to happen. I'm currently at 1012.55 km, so basically half way there and about 80% through the year. At least I did way better than last year. Progress is important.
    Year-end Update: As expected, I didn't complete this one, but at least I did lose a bunch of weight since the beginning of the year, and I'm now in shape where I can easily run 5k whereas at the beginning of the year I was too fat to run at all. I've made this exact same resolution again for 2016.

  • Drink only 12 times

    Just like in 2012. But this time instead of my bum of a sister being my accountabilibuddy, Maggie will be joining me.

    Josh's Drinking Log Maggie's Drinking Log
    1. 01 February -- Superbowl party in NC
    2. ?? -- Sampling dad's homebrew
    3. ?? -- Eli visiting from Tunt
    4. 11 April -- Eli visiting again
    5. 2 May -- Village people in Bethel for fight night
    6. 6 June -- Going away party
    7. 24 July -- Keg Party
    8. 22 September -- Night at the fort
    9. 26 September -- Erin's wedding
    10. 13 November -- Poker game
    11. 21 November -- Yards six pack with roommates
    12. 25 December -- Christmas night with Dad, Tyler, and the gang
    1. 31 January -- Going away party
    2. 08 February -- Dinner with Mai and Minh
    3. 30 April -- After submitting project report
    4. 06 June -- Matt's wedding
    5. 26 September -- Erin's wedding
    6. 26 November -- Thanksgiving
    7. 27 November -- Painting with wine
    8. 24 December -- Christmas eve with the grandparents
    9. 25 December -- Christmas night while Tyler was over
    10. 27 December -- Orndorff Christmas party
    11. 28 December -- Crab party
    12. 31 December -- New Year's Eve with Joshy

  • Eat fast food only 12 times

    This is a repeat from 2011. I did very well with it then, and actually my fast food consumption has been much lower in general as a result of that resolution. It's one resolution that really made a long-term difference for me. The one exception is that I've started going to Sheetz a lot in the summers. So this time Sheetz counts as fast food too.

    Fast Food Log
    1. 30 June -- Sheetz West
    2. 08 July -- Sheetz West
    3. 09 July -- Sheetz West
    4. 14 July -- Wendy's
    5. 30 July -- Sheetz South
    6. 08 August -- Sheetz South
    7. 28 August -- Sheetz Durham
    8. 29 August -- Sheetz Durham
    9. 20 December -- Sheets Brookville

    Update 14 October: This is going great. I'm all but certain that the entry on 08 August is supposed to be Sheetz West.

  • Keep a video log

    I've done this one several times, and I really like the reflection it provides. I didn't do it last year, and last year was not a great year for me. So I'm bringing back the video log.

    Update 14 October: Going great. I have a vague memory of accidentally missing one night early on (interestingly, if my memory serves me, which is always questionable these days, it wasn't the same day as the missed daily photo) but otherwise fine.
    Year-end Update: Went Great. Just like the daily photo.