Contemplating Resolutions: A Note to Future Self

Don’t make goals.
It sounds counterproductive.
All the advice is start with a goal,
but stop and understand.
Goals are vague, obscure,
distant, unconquerable things.
There is a reason Arjuna
was advised to focus on actions.
Instead of a goal let’s create
an achievable daily action plan.
First we need to keep up with our writing.
Do try and write 500 words
or one verse daily.
Now for the hard part.
You are too fat and too old
and your children will be disappointed
running away from a fat old man.
We can’t do anything about the aging part
many have tried, all have died,
but we can take a few actions
to get in better health.
Each day do 100 push-ups,
100 body weight squats,
and 100 sit-ups.
They do not have to be
done all at once.
Break them down into
achievable morsels,
but at the end of each day 100
of each should be done.
We both enjoy reading
and most of the world
is deluded enough to think
it makes you smart.
Keep up with reading by
finishing 50 pages a day.
That brings us to eating.
You eat far too much Taco Bell
and Cookout and Arby’s and Five Guys
and fried chicken.
We need to reduce this significantly,
and trust me I know what a pain
meal prep can be.
Again we will create an action.
Each week you will grill a family
pack of chicken.
I’ve calculated and it will take
16 minutes on the grill.
The grilled chicken can then be used
for any number of things.
Put it on a salad, reheat it and eat it with broccoli or peas or green beans,
simmer it in those curry sauces you like but
try not to eat so much rice,
through some hot sauce on it and wrap it in a tortilla for tacos,
stir fry it with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and hoisin sauce.
There are any number of things
that can be done with grilled chicken,
and all are better than your current diet plan.
Before we get to the last
and most important part of the plan
let’s recap:
Write 500 words or one verse a day
Do 100 push-ups, body weight squats, and sit-ups daily
Read 50 pages
Pre-grill a sizable amount of chicken weekly (and eat it instead of allowing it to spoil in the fridge)
Now for the most important action
of the daily achievable action plan.
If you miss a day, come up short,
or fall back into bad habits.
Don’t be hard on yourself.
Never forget 10% is better than zero.
The past is beyond your control
and you shouldn’t try and play catch-up.
That is where failure lives.
The tasks do not change
if yesterday was forgotten.
Together I believe we can complete
this daily achievable action plan
and end 2020 better than we start.