New Years resolutions... interesting concept. To some they are nothing more than a pointless exercise repeated year after year with no positive results, (after all why choose a single point in the year to better yourself, when we can do that any time in the year, right?), to others it is a good reason, a psychological catalyst, to set some real goals in front of them and do their utmost to stick to them.

Yes, i've made them in the past, always glibly, never setting any targets of real worth, and usually forgetting about them after a month. However this year, a culmination of things including turning 30, and thinking about where I really want to be in 5 and 10 years, and where I will end up if I continue along my current path, have led me to really sit down and ponder things a lot more seriously. For me, health and career need to become an increasing focus.

So to this end, my new years resolutions for 2011 are:

1. This is the biggie for me. Go back and study and get some qualifications, with the aim of getting out of the current field in the company where I work, and into the fee-earning side of the business within the next few years. This will not be an easy task, and will require some major reworking of my current mindset, but I do have some idea of how to approach it (a good friend who knows the route well having done the same thing himself), some resources to aid me, and I do have the free time to study.
   
2. Work out regularly and get fit again. Since I came to Zurich I have perhaps enjoyed life a bit too much, and this has resulted in a decline in my general condition... something I really want to change. Thankfully, I now have two willing and enthusiastic weights partners to aid in this, and we will set a thrice-weekly routine that we will hopefully manage to stick to as circumstances allow.
   
3. Make a concerted effort to improve my German. My German speaking is alright, I can hold conversations to a certain degree of complexity, and make myself understood in most day to day situations, but it has progressed only marginally in the last 2 years, despite me having the advantage of a decent base of understanding from living in Germany when I was younger. My grammar and writing skills are still largely rudimentary, and if I really don't kick this into gear then every year that passes is a waste of a great opportunity to improve my life by being able to communicate with those native German-speaking people around me fully and coherently. Swiss German is to me a secondary consideration and will come later after my High German is to a level i'm happy with.

So, those are my main three issues I want to address... all of which have weighed heavily (to different extents) on my mind of late, are all of which are mostly down to my own past complacency. However, it has now come to a point where I am now very much aware of all three, and genuinely want to change things in the coming year.

So... what new Years resolutions, if any, will you make? Are they minor adjustments, or something more?

Well, I've actually had a pretty good year all round in 2010 and my main goals for next year are kind of maintenance of the work I've done.

This year I lost 15 kilos in weight between March and June and have managed to keep it off. So my main goal for next year is to keep that going. I've re-discovered actually enjoying fitness - not to mention buying nice clothes for the new slimmer me so I just want to keep going. I'm having a Christmas food splurge but will be back into fitness come January.

At home I would like to spend more time actually "doing stuff" with my two boys. Right now although I spend time at home with them I'm always pottering round doing something else - the cleaning, the washing etc. rather than actively doing thing with them.

I'd like to rediscover going out with my husband! This involves finding a reliable babysitter though so I see this as an ongoing goal. I thought we had found someone earlier this month but then she failed to turn up for two "meet the kids" appointments we had made with her so we're still looking.

At work I would like to remember not to be so cynical!

Hey Richdog

Good for you man on all three

Mine is to improve my fitness, tone up and lose some weight along the way

There is another but I ain't sharing that one

simply ........be happy again, after some dark times......i don't ask for much else .....

Apart from upgrading the old standard definition CRT TV to a full high def TV in the living room I see no other resolution changes occurring in the next year

Not do any resolutions

I never keep them anw

Good for you wattsli, theres no nobler cause than putting spark back in a marriage... though I imagine losing 15KG helped witht his also. Good luck to you.

To do with the unfairer sex I imagine.

*throws rotten fruit and veg*

Spend less time on forums which have little to do with my current location

One of mine is "persuade Swissotter to continue to spend some time at least on a forum which has little to do with her current location".

apart from those already mentioned: studying, get fitter, lose more weight & keep it off, spending less time pottering & more with kids, & the most important, being happy -
spend more time with friends and less in front of the computer or cleaning..

I have a few.

1, To make sure and enjoy, taking care that my outer self, reflects my inner self.
2,To make more gut decisions, than head ones.

Hehe! Say what?! Am keeping stummm on that dude.

Some serious health issues in 2010 have left me quite a few kilos heavier & a lot more unfit than I would like to be so my biggest resolution now I am healthy again is to ditch the flab & get fit. I have also signed up for quite an intensive course for my hobby; I would like to do really well at that.

Stay fit
Stay qualified
Give all the love I've got

to make the most of the lemons that life throws at me this year

But seriously we have some major changes in store for us in 2011 and I am determined to make the most of everything and not let the unimportant things get me down.

I've also been threatening for years to formalise my qualifications, 2011 is the year I will do it!!!!

Good luck to all
Nats

Start doing sit-ups.
Take lunch to work.
Finish the diploma I started in 2009 and get a better job.
Read more slowly.

Be thankful every day for what I have
Laugh a lot
Walk more
Write more
Be happy and kind

Words to live by

Learn to do magic/card tricks. I've always been fascinated by it and have finally bought an appropriate set and hopefully before the (next) year is out, I will be able to dazzle all and sundry with my most amazing skills!!!

Do you believe in them? Have they worked with you?

So, what are yours and how related are they to CH?

I'll start. I need to bust out my thesis, uhm, cram more French, I'd say shed 2 kilos, learn to bake real bread, get hiking and cycling more, get into local life more (I wonder if sauvetage or pompiers take chicks). And the band, of course. And some work related stuff..Find some good grindy Frenchie tunes. Search for some good Scandinavian muzzak.

You?





I searched for related thread, none found, so please, merge if possible...Cheers.