I set ten New Year’s Resolutions for 2018. Now that we’re halfway through the year, it’s time to shave some of them off the list and refocus on what I still think would be valuable to accomplish this year. My friend Sarah calls the act of consciously giving up on goals that no longer make sense “strategic abandonment.”
First, here’s what’s staying:
1. Do one new thing every day.
Until recently, I was doing a shitty job of documenting this, but I’m still doing it.
2. Read 25 books by people of color.
Behind on this mainly because I haven’t been reading this year, other than non-fiction audiobooks. (Read the Theranos book ASAP if you haven’t already.) I still think I can read the remaining 20 books in the second half of the year.
4. Go vegan for Lent.
Done!
5. Run the TCS New York City Marathon.
Qualified in December; started training amonth ago.
7. Write two books.
I have two partially written novels, and I’m on track to finish at least one by the end of the year.
8. Ride Ain Dubai.
This one’s dependent on whether Ain Dubai, soon to be the tallest Ferris Wheel in the world, is actually complete by the end of 2018.
9. Make a hat.
This is an easy one to cross off the list because it’s a one-time thing. I tried to knock it out while I was in Ireland in May, but the millinery class I found in Dublin didn’t work with my travel schedule.
10. Solidify my creative habits.
I still want to do this, though I’ve definitely fallen off.
And here’s what I’m taking off the list:
3. Get really good at vegan baking.
I realized this week that I don’t actually care about getting better at vegan baking. But in the meantime, I’ve noticed that I’ve been getting much better at vegan cooking, and I’ve built up my pantry to where I can make a lot of simple recipes without having to go to the store for ingredients.
6. Record and publish at least 30 episodes of my podcast.
I’d planned to launch a podcast called Kat Reads Wikipedia this year, but I soon realized that it involves an amount of research that I don’t have time for right now. This is on hold indefinitely.
Spirit for Skeptics 