My 2019 Resolutions: Defining Success

In retrospect, 2018 wasn’t a great year for me. It started with me jobless after I was laid off from a digital marketing company. I transitioned into a trucking company as an office administrator, but it was another dead end position.

As the year continued, I felt distant from some close friends. Work was tiring and I didn’t have time to invest in the people around me.  

Now it’s 2019! The new year means a fresh start to refocus and grow as a person.

Thankfully, 2018 ended with me accepting a new job with HP as a tech support for printers. I have much more opportunity to learn and reflect than my last company. I have an easier commute and more freedom in the office. I am excited to wisely use the extra time throughout the day.

Therefore, I’ve determined to seriously quantify project goals by setting deadlines and disciplining myself to achieve them.

So far I’ve come up with 6 major project themes. Almost every leisurely task could be filtered into these categories.

First, allow me to give some pointers on effectively tackling New Year’s resolutions:

Just having a general warm fuzzy feeling isn’t enough to make a change. You need a systematic plan to track objective goals. That’s the only way to measure success. It’s hard to feel like you’re progressing in life if you aren’t organized about it.

I think a big step on getting serious with commitments is sharing your intentions. If you made New Year’s resolutions for 2019, share them. You don’t have to write a blog post for the whole Internet to see. Start with a close friend. If you’re intent on changing your old ways, people will notice eventually anyway.

My method (which isn’t right or wrong) requires you to have clear and definable resolutions. Having “positive vibes” all of 2019 is admirable, but what does that mean exactly? It’s like you’re making yourself a test. If the tasks are too subjective, it will be hard to evaluate yourself at end of the year.

Finally, take a big goal and break it down into manageable parts. If you want to lose 30 pounds, try to lose about 3 pounds each month.

Anyway, here are my New Year’s resolutions for 2019:

1 – Gaming: #Winning

Gaming is a great way to escape by immersing yourself in a new world. I enjoy experiencing rich stories and finishing challenges.

One of my goals this year will be to play more games to experience new way of storytelling and push myself to be my best competitively.

This one is pure entertainment, but who says I cannot have fun?

25,000 Xbox Gamerscore

On an Xbox Microsoft account, you can earn achievements for completing various tasks throughout a game. Each achievement is worth a certain value of points based on how rare or difficult the task is to complete. Maybe a simple achievement is worth 10 while a more complex one is 100. Typically, a game might have between 1000-1500 worth of total achievement points.

Some Xbox achievements you get naturally by progressing through the game. For example, the description text might say “Kill 100 Enemies with a Shotgun”. Others will require you to solve some kind of puzzle that requires outside research.

I got my Xbox around December of 2017. As of January 1st of 2019, I’ve acquire 11,830 gamerscore points across all of the games I’ve played.

That’s not bad for about a year of play time. But I think I can do better. Before the end of 2019, I want to more than double that number by having at least 25,000 gamerscore.

This goal is honestly not too difficult. I might modify my goal as I notice my pace increasing too quickly. Maybe I can do 30,000 or even 40,000!

It’s going to require me to purchase new games. I expect to visit the bargain section of Gamestop often this year. More games also means more opportunity for video game reviews!

I’ll need to also scour the Internet for clues to unlock some of the more elusive achievements.

And, it will help to go back and redownload older games to complete them properly.

Ranked League of Legends

I’ve played League of Legends on and off since my university days. It’s both extremely frustrating and yet also very rewarding at times. I’d say it’s one of those games you either hate or love.

What is League of Legends? It’s a little hard to explain in a paragraph or two, but I’ll try…

The game is a highly competitive free-to-play massive online battle arena (“MOBA”). Basically, you control a single hero on a team of 4 other human players against another team of the same setup. Your goal is to destroy the enemy Nexus while defending your own. These bases are located on the far end of a symmetrical map. Separating the two sides are “lanes” which minions march down to assist you. The lanes are defended by your team’s towers.

Anyway, you have a top, bottom, and middle lane. Between the lanes is the “jungle”, a neutral area players can sneak through to ambush the enemies. This tactic is known as a “gank”. Different hero champions have ability sets that favor certain play styles. Some characters are good for supporting, tanking, damaging (ADC), ganking,

The key to success is working with a team that communicates and has champions with  great synergy. You need to have map awareness, build the right items, time your abilities, and control objectives.

The community of the game is sometimes very toxic and the mechanics aren’t very obvious. Newcomers can feel overwhelmed.

I started playing because my friends were into it at the time. Then, I got burned out because I didn’t progress anywhere in the ranked play mode. I remained in bronze forever it seemed.

Surprisingly, I finished the 2018 season in the silver division. I am not sure if I just got lucky match ups or I finally mastered the basics. Either way, I ended last year really satisfied. After all, it took me almost 7 years of playing to reach this point.        

Now… it’s 2019. I feel I can go even higher! I am setting my sights on gold rank.

2 – Writing: Weekly Blog Postings

I’ve had this blog about a year and half now. I’ve learned some valuable lessons about maintaining a personal website and enjoyed the freedom to express myself.

Writing has always been a passion of mine.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been consistent or as organized in writing. 2019 is going to be different.

Crow Writer Postings

I’ve posted on here at random times and didn’t focus too much on promoting content. I just cared about actually writing a post. Last year, it didn’t matter how long it took or what the topic was exactly.

Now my goal is publish a post on Crow Writer at least once a week. So far I’ve met this goal. But it’s still random. I’d like to publish content on a real schedule per topic. I am thinking like every Monday will be something in the review category, every Tuesday a writing tip post, and so on…

Once a week is too easy for me. I know for certain I can write more than 1000 word postings a day. The writing isn’t the problem. The problem is ideas don’t just come to me. Then I want to add custom graphics for each post, not just free stock photos.

It’s going to take time, but eventually I’ll set a routine that works for me.

Narrative Writings

Besides blogging on the Crow Writer, I’ve also written short stories and narrative poems on my Wattpad. The website has a nice enough community, but it only a temporary hosting with a lot of formatting restrictions.

While my work Wattpad is also haphazardly posted, I am not too worried. I’d rather take my time with narrative stories.

I do want to eventually take all those stories down from Wattpad and traditionally publish the content in print. It seems like a hurdle to find a publisher and then organize sales and marketing.

But hey… it’s a new year! I can do it.

Part of writing will involve researching and learning the genre. You cannot become a writer if you don’t read. Finishing a book every month or so is possible and a necessary step to learning. Committing to read is a challenge, but, like I said in the beginning, break it down! If a book is 300 pages, read 30 pages a day. You’ll be finished in 10 days!

3 – Physical Health: Gym Life

When I was in middle school, I remember girls teasing me for being a skinny twig. They used to call me Chicken Legs. I cannot say my body has changed much since then. Maybe I got taller, but I didn’t bulk up like the popular kids.

Working out never seems to do much when I was in high school. When I was part of the ultimate Frisbee club then, I used to flex my chest in the line up before we started. I still got picked last. didn’t realize then that it takes time and dedication to become fit.

I don’t need to be like a jock. I’d just like to feel better about myself by seeing improvements. Maybe some girl will see me as attractive, but that’s just a bonus. I am setting this goal for me. I don’t want to look in the mirror and see Chicken Legs anymore. He’s the old me.

My birthday just passed, so I cut myself a break then by eating peach pie – but overall, I am trying be mindful of my diet and go to the gym at least three times a week with a friend.

4 – Spiritual Life: Divine Connection

Physical strength is valuable, but I also have to address my whole being – mind, body, and spirit.

I am a Bible believing Christian. Last year, however, I felt I didn’t grow in my faith. I was too closed off from other believers and slacked in applying Scripture.

I can think up excuses but it’s in the past now.

I’d like to live 2019 consistently with my values as a Christian.

365 Day Bible Plan

My church has promoted a plan to read through the entire Bible in a year. To many people, that sounds really intimidating. It’s a challenge for sure! Yet, it only requires you reading 4-6 chapters a day and would take about 15 minutes a day. It’s not impossible.

I am certainly willing to try the plan. So far, I’ve missed a few days and need to find time to catch up to the present. The point, I think, isn’t to rush through the Word. This goal should be incorporated into a daily devotional period of prayer and meditation on God. I want to constantly pray for the needs of others. Then, I’ll actively do something to address them. Scripture is the tool. You have to use it.

Intentional Relationships

Being a Christian necessarily means loving others to demonstrate Christ. My relationships need to change this year.

I had too many online distractions that have deterred me spiritually. Some connections I made because of my writings, but I don’t know what they offered me. I think it’s healthy for each of us to cut people out that only cause stress and hurt. Just let them go.

The Internet is great in some ways, but I want to focus on the world around me now. I need my church group for support. I haven’t been intentional about building relationships with other believers.

I cannot hide on this website forever.  

5 – Photo Journal: Capture the Year

Part of my writing goal was to journal more than last year. I could have record my thoughts in my usual leather bound notebook. Instead, I decided to start a photo journal.

The way it works is simple: I snap pictures of events or themes throughout my year and then organize them into a digital scrapbook. I am really excited to see the finished product. It’s a nice idea to have something to pass down and physically look at years from now.

Here’s a sneak peak at the first page…

6 – Organization: Tracking Chores

Finally, I want to stop being a generally mess in life. 2019 is the year I get organized by consistently doing laundry, cleaning my room and car, and cleaning up files on my computer.

I just feel have peace knowing my chores are done.

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Well, those are my goals for 2019. I don’t think they are too unreasonable.

What are you 2019 New Year’s resolutions? Share away! I am here to encourage you every step of the way.