It's important to set goals for yourself. Pretty much everyone knows that and yet so few people actually sit down and articulate specific things they want to do. Every New Years people come out with "resolutions".  Often times these resolutions are just not realistic. "Lose 25 pounds". That's easy to promise. But is it realistic?  I'm a big believer in setting bunches of very easy goals that take only a little effort.  I'd be the one to say "Lose 5 pounds" as a resolution for example.

So here are my big goals for 2004 for what it's worth:

1) Keep weight under 170lbs.  I'm about that now, want to keep it there.

2) Finish The Political Machine by May 30.

3) Get son Alex into a sport this year. Soccer, Baseball, something to teach him team work and sportsmanship.

4) Teach Alex how to ride a bike.

5) Try to get better organized in general

6) Get eyes "lasered".  I've had it with contacts/glasses.  They screwed up my new glasses by ordering the wrong lenses for the wrong eyes. And I'm getting increasingly tired of dealing with contacts.

7) Exercise 3 times per week actively.

8) Get basement "theatre" finished (i.e. actively save up to get it done)

9) Eat somewhat better. Not Atkins diet but cut down on carbohydrates

10) Take a vacation!

See! All of these are relatively painless or at the very least, not very difficult to accomplish.  That's why I am focusing on a set of fairly easy to achieve goals. Boring, mundane, but ones that will be either good for my family and friends or healthy for myself.