Hey, it’s a new year! Do you have any goals for this year?  I don’t bother with New Year’s Resolutions anymore, because if you have to wait for a new year to begin weight loss, for example, then you are wasting a lot of time!  My goals can happen at any point in the year. Nevertheless, it is the beginning of a new year, and we are already into February.  Time sure does fly quickly. So I want to organize my thoughts by typing them out, and although it is primarily for me, maybe I will inspire the reader to do something similar. 

One thing I have learned is to define some objectives or things to strive for.  Otherwise, for me, I am very misguided and just sort of glide through the year without any direction.  So here are some things I hope to accomplish in 2020 in a random order – no significance to this order.  I’m not even sure how long this list will be, but I will check to see how many I accomplish come December.  

1. Be more consistent in blogging.  I enjoy writing these posts, but I have convinced myself I don’t have enough time to do them, and I know it isn’t true.  Last year was horrible in terms of number of posts, so I hope to be more active in 2020. 
2. Run the NYC Marathon.  It is the 50th Anniversary of it, and I have tried the last two years to get in.  I don’t necessarily want to run a marathon this year, but if it is NYC, then I will. I will probably apply every year until I get in!  I want that medal in my collection. 
   
   
3. Become a Black Belt in American Freestyle Karate.   I have working towards this going on 3 years next month.  Currently I could test in the fall this year, though not guaranteed.  It has required hard work, and  it is something that I never thought I would do. 
4. Continue to become more proficient in coding, namely, Python, using the Django framework.  It’s like learning a foreign language and so cool when the code actually works.  If you like to be challenged, learning how to code can give you that, plus, Python is one of the most popular coding languages right now and in high demand.  If you are tired of flipping burgers, learning Python could change your financial situation quickly, seriously.  
5. Speaking of language, I took 4 years of French in high school, and what a waste of that investment to forget it.  A good review of the language may help wake up those memory cells and recall the language.  So at some point this year, I will delve into French to see what I remember. 
   
   
6. Launch at least 2 of the 3 web projects I am working on.  Believe it or not, LivestockCity is still a work in progress!  It is too much to write about here – it needs its own post, in the near future. 
   
   
7. Start lifting weights again.  I have been out of the gym for a while and would like to be more balanced between strength training and cardio.
    
8. Increase my flexibility by stretching more.  I think running works against flexibility, which hurts my ability to kick higher in karate.
    
9. Identify and eliminate as much as possible, time wasting activities – this includes TV ( I already cut out a lot), screen time on phones and tablets, internet surfing, etc. 
   
   
10. More time for guitar playing.  You won’t see me in concert anytime soon, that’s for sure.
     
11. More time for photography.  It provides a bit of satisfaction for me. 
    
    
12. Less time watching News channels – Left or Right, they bring out the worse in everyone.  I am not publicly political and never will be.  Plus this is wasting time with TV, see #9.
    
    
13. Continue to find stuff to sell on Ebay. It isn’t exactly to make a lot of money.  It is just interesting to see what people will buy. 
    
    
14. See the U.S. west coast.  It’s happening this year finally. 
    
    
15. Reach out to someone I wronged in the past and apologize.  I don’t have anyone in mind off-hand.  Even if they don’t accept the apology, at least I tried.  I have done this in past years, thanks to sites like Facebook which makes it easy to find people.  People from high school or since, I have apologized to – thankfully I don’t have a long list of people to apologize!! Sometimes it was greeted with acceptance, and other times it went unnoticed, but either way, it still made me feel better doing it. 
16. Skydive 🪂 (might not be this year but real soon).
17.  Get a thorough health checkup.  It’s been a little while.  Just because everything seems okay, doesn’t mean it is.
18. Get more sleep.  I try to take on too many things and the one thing that is sacrificed is sleep.  I need to fix this and get an extra hour most nights. 
    
    
19. Be more consistent running.  I managed one half marathon last year, but for the year, it was the lowest mileage I’ve had in years.  I need to do better hit at least 700 miles this year. 
    
    
20. Give a random stranger $20, somewhere, some place, during this year and just see what happens!

Okay, there’s 20 things.  I have more, but not everything needs to be public, right?  Let’s see how many happen by the end of the year.  What are your goals for 2020? Do you have any goals that you set? Comment below.