New Years Eve 2012

Well, there you go: another year down.  All the idiots who don't understand the Mayan calendar can breathe easy, though, because it looks like there's still at least one more  year in the chamber.



The problem, of course, is that you don't really know how many more years are left in the magazine. This is the traditional time of year for "resolutions," and I'm sure that there are a million blog posts out there about them.  More often than not, these are vague statements expressing a vague wish for better health. "Lose weight" or "exercise more" or "eat better."  The general tone of these resolutions suggests a resigned wish for a few more years to be tacked on at the end of it all.  It's all nebulous and conceptual and, ultimately, meaningless.

I'd like to ask a little more of the Dusty Musette readership.  I don't want to talk about airy resolutions. I want to ask ya'll about concrete goals.  The legendary cycling coach Joe Friel has said that "dreams become goals when there is a plan for accomplishing them . . . If you can't even conceive of achieving it now, you're wasting your time. If you can, it's a good goal."  As a coach, he thinks about things in terms of seasons, and for him a dream is anything that takes more than a single season to work towards. He wants his athletes to think in terms of goals. What can be done this year? What's needed to get it done? I'm asking you to ask the same questions.

Friel lays out four rules for setting a goal:

1. Your goal must be measurable.
2. Your goal must be under your control.
3. Your goal must stretch you.
4. Whatever your goals, state them in the positive.

Ok, then, Musetteers . . . Whaddaya got?  It's a long year, but it goes quickly. We need signposts to make sure that we're the ones doing the moving, rather than just stagnating while the days roll past.   I'm asking you to put some concrete goals down in the comments here.  What specific and achievable things do you want to put in the books for 2013?