This year, I'm making my resolutions public. I think it will help with accountability. Each of these is couched in terms of an investment. They are as follows:
Investing in my personality: Break the habits of patriarchy. This includes mansplaining, talking over women, and other similar behaviors that I have let slide in myself for far too long. It's a long, hard road ahead of me, and I've been building these bad habits for many years, but it's time to make a serious effort to better myself in this regard.
Investing in my body: Run 350 miles and log at least one Peloton workout (30 minutes or more) per week to establish a 52-week workout streak. As they say with writers and winners, runners run. If I'm going to be a runner, I need to run more. I was going to say 500 miles, but recovery times have been longer than I like, and my schedule has been hectic and unpredictable, so I cut the mileage to slightly less than 1 per day, as my runs normally go for between 2 and 4 miles, but I don't do them every day, and if I can be consistent, this is reachable. Also, it's sometimes impossible for me to get everything together for a run, so I'm pairing the running mileage with a Peloton workout goal, because no matter what happens, I can set aside 30 minutes per week to get on the bike at home. I'm 35, with 36 coming later this month. It is time to take fitness seriously.
Investing in my time: Earlier to bed, earlier to rise. I have gotten into a bad rhythm of going to bed late, not getting enough sleep, and then scrambling for work in the morning. This will do no longer. My mornings will be better rested, more relaxed, and more pleasant this way, and I will arrive at the office refreshed with breakfast eaten and coffee drunk or in hand.
Investing in my mind: Get a handle on my mind. I have been struggling with depression and anxiety for a long time. My ADHD makes it worse, and my concussions and memory problems aren't helping either. This year, I'm going to be more consistent and intentional about treating my depression, anxiety, and ADHD, and will continue to explore ways to overcome my injury history. Hopefully, I can get some more robust diagnostic and treatment care in the coming year.
Investing in my passion: Post a blog entry each week at least. Writing brings me joy, and I find that I'm happier when I write. An entry for this purpose need not be of particular length, or addressing a specific topic, but making a habit of writing at least once a week will do wonders for my mental health.
Investing my experiential education: Travel beyond driving distance.* I've been promising my longsuffering wife that we would travel abroad for years, and I have to date failed to fulfil that promise. We were planning to go to Paris for her birthday this month, but professional setbacks and the pandemic have put that plan on hold for the time being. We are now in the process of trying to buy a house and move to the suburbs, but I owe it to her to travel someplace with her. If not internationally, then at least to a new part of the country.
* This assumes that Covid-19 doesn't necessitate another lockdown or
otherwise prevent travel.
Investing in my marriage: Be a better husband and partner. I am a deeply flawed and self-centered individual. I am hard to love and it is not fun or easy to live with me. I need to change this. This includes being a more intentional partner in maintaining and cleaning our living space, communicating my needs/desires/frustrations/concerns better, and spending more time thinking about how my actions affect those I love and less about how other people's actions affect me. My wife's receptive love language is "acts of service," whereas my expressive love language is "gift-giving". I can no longer expect her to do the emotional work of interpreting my expressions. I need to work on showing her love in the way that she needs to be shown love, not in the way that is most comfortable or intuitive for me.
Investing in my colleagues and career: Mentor others while seeking out mentorship of my own. In the practice of law, as in any other profession, if you aren't growing, you're dying. I seek mentorship from attorneys and non-attorneys who are more and less experienced than I am, whose backgrounds and practices differ from my own, and whose insights I am unlikely to share. I will seek out more people from whom I can learn. Conversely, I make it a point to mentor and develop other attorneys and support staff, not only because it makes my own practice stronger but because I believe it is my duty to help others as I have been so richly helped.
Investing in my professional skillset: Continue to develop a broad skill base, seeking out work in new areas of practice. I have worked in a variety of practices: criminal prosecution and defense, sex crime victims advocacy, military law/law of war, finance/consumer protection, administrative law, domestic relations/family law, real estate, wills and estates, tort litigation, insurance coverage and defense, civil rights, and ERISA/Managed Care litigation, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. It is my aim to develop expertise in my current area while cultivating experience in other areas.
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