January 1st, 2006
2006
First off, a happy New Year's to everyone!
2006 is finally here. I'm half excited and half relieved. 2005 had been such a bad year on so many accounts (for many people other than myself). It's good to finally turn the page on what was definitely a sub-par year. I'm looking forward to starting fresh with a clean slate.
Of course, no post welcoming 2006 would be complete without some New Year's Resolutions. I'll put 10 of them up; and I'm really going to truly do my best to keep them all.
1) Stay positive. I tend to be a pessimist about a lot of things. That's just the way I've been brought up: think of the worst and try to improve upon that. I'm going to start doing the opposite; maybe being confident in instances where I shouldn't be will help out, and unexpected good things will happen.
2) Don't waste time. I'm talking about watching Sportscenter a second time for no reason. Spending half an hour tracking the JMU basketball score because it impacts Georgetown's RPI by miniscule proportions. Playing freeroll poker tournaments online. If I can eliminate screwing around by about one hour a day, I'll be happy with myself. That hour can (and should) go towards sleeping.
3) Be more efficient while studying. I've decided locking myself in the library does not do me any good. Neither does locking myself in my apartment. I really do believe I need to study in a small group setting where all the members are focused. I hope I can find one or two other people in my program this upcoming semester who are willing to do the same.
4) Stay in shape. I always get in about 2-3 weeks of solid exercise, and then the process of staying in shape gets derailed by either sickness, exams, or just plain laziness. After I return to Philly on Monday, I'm going to start going to the gym at least 3 times a week, regardless of the situation. My most successful stretch academically this past semester was when I was in semi-decent shape and as a result, the least-stressed out. That needs to continue.
5) Call my parents more often. Granted, I am very busy most of the time when I'm at school. But, I have been leaving my parents in the dark too often. I plan to call them at least once every other day starting Tuesday. They deserve at least that much.
6) Eat healthier. This goes along with #4. I'm setting a 1 cheesesteak limit per week, despite how good and cheap they are. Less soda, more juice and milk. And less late night snacking, which can easily be avoided if I accomplish #7.
7) Get no less than 8 hours of sleep a day. It's taken me forever to learn this, but I do not perform well under conditions where I am sleep deprived. Others can get away with it and be successful. I am not one of these people. By avoiding wasting time and being more efficient while studying, I can hopefully achieve this.
8) Write in my blog at least twice a week. Even if I have nothing to say, it's a real killer when you've sat down at your blog and realize that you haven't posted in 2-3 weeks. I want to make sure I chronicle my life so I remember months and years from now what exactly the hell happened. And I do need to stop writing solely about times I've gone out, ran into people, etc. A commentary about a viewpoint, a conversation, etc. That needs to be added.
9) Don't hold grudges. Probably will never accomplish this one. But as a friend bluntly stated to me a few weeks ago, "People are not perfect." I'll probably go to my grave believing otherwise because I have been blessed with a group of friends and family who have never cross the boundary into imperfection. But I need to be more realistic and forgiving than I have been in the past. I hope this can happen.
10) Play poker for real. Enough with playing with chump change online and small friendly games. I've got to realize that I am an above average player who can succeed at poker on a larger scale. So here's to fulfilling my potential and cracking games I know I can be a force in, such as the Club Rick game, the 1/2 NL tables at AC, etc. There's a good amount of money to be had in those games, and I need to take advantage as often as I can.
Someone remind me maybe in April if I've been keeping up with these resolutions. My goal is to keep at least 7 of them.
Happy New Year's everyone, and let's hope this year will be better than the last.