Things I want to achieve in 2012

I don’t like to call them resolutions, as this word has a negative meaning because so many people took some, and never do it during the new year. Let’s call this a list of things I want to accomplish, in no particular order, in 2012:

I want to blog more

Like I said a couple of weeks ago, I’m back to the blog as my main way to communicate my thoughts. I never had a regular schedule for blogging and this year I want to blog at least three times a week on this blog. Why? I love blogging and I have so many topic ideas. A lot of them will never be on the Web as I didn’t blog enough to write them all.

I want to eat healthier

I never had good habits when we talk about food. I’m often on the road, so that mean that I eat a lot in restaurants. I also eat, too often, in restaurants when I’m in my hometown. I didn’t cook, so I just started to learn (and try), and I’ll probably go take some courses. I want to drop my number of times in restaurants to a maximum of three times a week: two lunch and one dinner. At some points, this number could be more than 10 times…

I want to read more

I’m not a fan of fictional stories, but I like books about social media, productivity, life… These books are so motivating; they challenge me to be a better person in all spheres of my life. Last year, I think I read 1-2 book. This year, I want to read twelve books: 1 per month.

I want to make more exercise

I hate this word. I’m so lazy sometimes, and I’m not a fan of sport. It’s been five months now that I have a trainer, Dino Masson (in French), that I see once in two weeks, but I didn’t do much more than this. It’s a lot more exercise that I was doing 12 months ago, but it’s not enough. I really need to get in shape and as eating healthier will help me, doing some exercise three times a week won’t be bad.

I want to write a book

I don’t know if it’s because I read so many blog posts from Seth Godin or Chris Brogan, but I want to write one book before the end of the year. Writing a book will help me achieve something big, even if it’s just for friends and myself, but it’s not an easy task. This will also help me with my writing skills, like blogging. I’m not sure about the subject yet, but I don’t think it will be a technical one (topics I checked were already covered). As you read what I wrote and know what I’m doing in life, any suggestions on the topic?

I want to be better in my roleI really like what I’m doing for a living, but I want to be better. I don’t think I’m bad at it, but we always can be better. I want to be more consistent in my effort. I want to do more with less time. For this, I will make an actionable plan on how I can improve myself in my role, and I’ll follow this for 2012. My goal, being a Senior Technical Evangelist based on Microsoft’s rules (in the time I’ll be able to achieve this in this company).

Notice what I did? I put some general goals, but I had something quantifiable (not yet for the last one), a kind of KPI (Key Performance Indicator). For me, it’s a way to see, at mid-year or at the end of the year, if I reach my goals, if I’ll be successful. So, for this year that has just started, what is your plan? Do you have a resolution? Do you have things you want to change or achieve in 2012? Share your thoughts.