Things I’d like to do in 2013

Over the past 10 days I’ve spent 20+ hours in airplanes… the result of living on a different continent from family during the holidays. The vast majority of this time was spent watching movies and reading magazines, but as my mind wandered for the first time ever I found myself compiling a variety of New Year’s Resolutions.

This resulted in a list of 6 resolutions, which I intended to whittle down to one key objective for 2013.

As I contemplated the relative importance of each item, it dawned on me that I could achieve the full list in 2013 if I put my mind to it. In fact, the items ended up being things I wanted to do more – opposed to the typical metric-driven resolutions. So, the following is my “Things I’d like to do in 2013″ list:

Music

I want to bring back music to my life. Although I love not having a car in London, I do miss the hour of radio inherent in a typical US commute I’ve played piano for more than 20 years and just last month I received a keyboard for my 30th birthday – so not only do I want to listen to more music, I also want to play more music.

Mornings

I want to wake up earlier. I am naturally a night owl and often most productive after midnight. However, I feel like allowing extra time in the morning will result in a more calm and focused day ahead.

Breakfast

I want to eat more protein for breakfast. My energy level is always higher when I substitute eggs for cereal or a protein smoothie for a granola bar. It’s just a matter of time. Waking up early will allow me to make a healthy, balanced breakfast for my wife and I.

Travel

I want to travel more. I’ve been living in London for 2 years and failed to make a serious effort to prioritize travel. This will change in 2013 as I intend to plan trips further in advance and utilizing more of the glorious vacation time allotted in the UK. Columbia, Turkey, and Greece are just the beginning…

Think

I want to think more often. Not just the typical daily task-based thinking… but really stepping back to ponder things I find important. This could include anything from weighing the pros and cons of an interesting startup during a leisurely museum stroll, to thinking through all aspects of an www.opinsy.com topic while wandering through a park.

Breaks

I want to take more short breaks during the day. In my opinion too many people correlate time sitting at a desk with the amount of work being done. I’m a true believer in quality over quantity, and my preferred way to achieve this is through short bursts of high-quality activity followed by down time. Sitting for more than 90 minutes isn’t productive, and I intend to do less of this in 2013.