My 2011 Resolution Report Card

Category: Life Thoughts

Now that we are only a few weeks away from the end of the year I’ll kick off the “year in review” season by reviewing how I did in accomplishing my 2011 resolutions. This was the first year I publicly posted them (Facebook) in hopes of motivating myself to stick to them.

Here they are:

Resolutions for 2011

Develop further understanding of my beliefs and faith
Lead a healthier lifestyle in order to promote a longer and healthier life
Do more to help my fellow man (while continuing to spread the word that the private sector is more efficient and effective than government)
Continue to advance my education, furthering my skill set to make me a more valuable asset to an organization and myself.
Decrease debts by 35%
Resume musical studies

Grades for 2011

C – While I now have a better understanding of my beliefs and faith, I did not make as much progress as I would have liked. This one will be rolling over to 2012.
B – I was able to improve the numbers that we often relate to healthiness by about 10% for the year. There is still a lot of work to be done here.
F – That’s right. I failed on this one. This year I closed my business, largely stopped working for free, and stopped writing about the wrongs of government.
A – I earned a certification this year, boosting my credentials. I have also started my graduate studies looking to earn an MBA concentrating on IT Management.
B – I have reduced my credit card utilization from around 80% at the beginning of the year to around 15%. I refinanced my hours shortening the term and reducing the interest rate 2%. Overall these and other changes amounted to a 17% overall debt reduction.
C – I have been working on my guitar and piano skills but not to the degree I had hoped to.

Overall Grade: C

I think publicly posting my resolutions was a big help in keeping them in my mind as I felt there was the possibility that someone could hold me accountable to them. I plan to do the same for 2012 and encourage others to do the same. If nothing else, it is always interesting to see what people think they need/want to improve in a given year.