This Place is so Insanely Beautiful

I’m on top of a mountain in Malibu. Skies are blue, blue, blue. What else needs to be said?  Well, its the beginning of 2010 and so lotsa stuff, actually…

New Year’s Resolution 2010 Biblio

I realize process of making and keeping New Year’s Resolutions is (or should be, at any rate) quite obvious.  It doesn’t hurt to start by Google-ing up a refresher or two, though.

Also worth mentioning nothing what the top New Year’s Resolutions are and what overall stats are for keeping them.  There’s a ton out there on the topic — everything from New Year’s Resolutions statistics, making New Year’s Resolutions, funny New Year’s Resolutions, New Year’s Resolutions for Kids, Broken New Year’s Resolutions, Green New Year’s Resolutions…

I created the following list by eliminating articles from sites trying to sell charts and virtual coaching software subscriptions.  This is what I ended up with:

The Top New Year’s Resolutions, according to a US Government Poll — yr tax paying dollars at work, presumably

Psychology Today New Year’s Resolution advice

New Year’s Resolutions for NYC — Freakin’ hilarious NYTimes article (doubtful these will be of general interest, tho)

WebMD New Year’s Resolution advice

New Year’s Resolutions are for Dorkazoids

And in case you haven’t already figure this out — I’m into making New Year’s Resolutions. I’m even into keeping them. I realize I’m a total dork for taking New Year’s Resolutions so seriously.  Fortunately, my dorkazoid status has little to no impact on my ability to make and maintain New Year’s Resolutions.  Solipsism is, after all, part of the dorkazoid credo.

Acceptance of the Dorkazoid Credo

Dorkazoid credo acceptance also helps me get over the fact that making New Year’s Resolutions means admitting to the deepest, darkest storm clouds of shame, failure and self-loathing.  For this brief moment in time, I will not allow these clouds to come between me and this clear day in Malibu.

What Happened With My 2009 New Year’s Resolution

Five hours a day of writing.  Believe it or not, I met my goal.  Only problem was that I didn’t connect my writing goals with financial goals.

Fact is, despite those few and far between entrepreneurial success stories, it is not easy to earn a living by creating online content.  Even content published on insanely high traffic blogs like the Huffington Post doesn’t pay.

Although I published over 100 articles only a small percent of my words connected to market pay.  Most of the paid gigs were for print publications.  Print publications also provide a lot more editorial feedback and vital resources such as fact checkers, art directors and regularly accessible Editor-in-Chiefs.

Not that I, in any way, regret last year’s resolution.  Seeing Politiku featured in Huffpo and then syndicated by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek was, of course, rewarding.  I continue to Politiku.  Just not as frequently.  Same with other online publications I contribute to.

Hopefully my 2010 resolutions will protect me from neglecting my longer term and more substantial aspirations such as screenwriting, playwriting, publishing more articles in print magazines and continuing to create optimized web content for clients who can afford to pay market rates for my talent, education and expertise.

2010 New Year’s Resolutions

Resolution #1 - Don’t allow the number of pro-bono or even below market rate assignments to exceed paid ones. Unfortunately, Huffpo bloggers don’t get paid.  Am therefore trying to figure out how to maintain my beloved Politiku column on the level I’m currently maintaining it on without having to sacrifice self-sufficiency.

Resolution #2 - Arrive five minutes early whenever possible
Best technique I can think of for improving punctuality.

Resolution #3 - Two days a week working out at the gym. Incredibly trite, compared to what some people do. Never been much of a gym rat, though but again, the key to succeeding is making resolutions that can be realistically maintained.

Resolution #4 - Full-time, long-term ‘dayjob’ - Having this stability will vastly increase my effectiveness in all other areas.  It will enable me to pick and choose freelance gigs, rather than simply trying to be ubiquitously published.  It will also enable me to refocus on screenplays.  Hopefully, acting wont have to be entirely sacrificed since it’s something I love and will continue to need to always be doing, and always be needing to do, in some capacity.

Resolution #5 - I haven’t figured out the fifth one yet. I prefer odd numbers to even so I’ve decided to leave it as ’standby’. Suggestions?

Between Now and 2011

There are other things that I need to do or am planning on doing. I’ll need to trust myself to do those other things –breaking them down into smaller steps and setting deadlines for those steps– without a resolution.  Again, keeping resolutions realistic, mundane and ultimately doable increases the likelihood of its actually getting maintained through 2011.

How did things go with your 2009 resolutions?

What are your New Year’s Resolutions for 2010?

If you’d like to read my Huffington Post Politiku Neuroeconomics for New Years click here.