Who actually keeps New Year’s Resolutions anyway? Not many, I suspect, but it’s always worth the effort to be better people and do good things, isn’t it?
My 2005 Resolutions:
1. First and foremost, to grow in grace and be a woman after God’s own heart. King David was a man devoted to God. Although he was still a sinner, he sought God’s counsel and his will. When he transgressed, he repented and suffered the shame of his disobedience. If I could be only half the believer David was…
2. To live and breathe this edict:
“Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?’ or “What shall we drink?’ or “What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6: 31-34)
Until Christ returns, I want to share the Gospel with as many people as I can and live a life of obedience.
3. To make bold moves toward becoming a full time writer. I write boldly on this blog, but I’m often afraid to take risks in real life. I want 2005 to be the year I take chances with my writing. By year’s end, I’d like to be earning enough money from writing to either quit my full time day job or work part time. I have a sense of urgency that I don’t think I’d have if I were in my 20s. (I’ll be 40 real soon.) I need to make quantum leaps in my writing career this year.
4. To be a better marketer. Besides the writing, I’ll seek out more speaking engagements. I’m still a little green when it comes to speaking before large groups of people, but I’ll have to learn the ropes fast. It’s a necessary part of being a writer. You have to promote yourself at every opportunity.
5. To open myself up to a new audience. My new three-column blog design is underway, and I see new things on the horizon. I plan to add liberals to the blogroll, and I’ll ask a few to add me to theirs. With commenting turned off, I won’t have to worry about their irate readers trolling the site.
And that’s another thing. I have a sense of freedom that I haven’t felt since I’ve been blogging. I love getting feedback from my readers, but this year I want to focus more on developing better posts with more originality and analysis. I sometimes find public commenting distracting because if someone insults me, intentionally or otherwise, I can’t ignore it. The feedback will be in the form of e-mails, and I can respond at my leisure. 
And I will respond to reader feedback. I’ll create a new category titled “Reader E-mail” and post interesting responses, even hate mail.
6. Now what kind of list would this be without resolving to lose weight? This year I will lose ten pounds and keep it off. I used to exercise several days a week, but I injured a knee during a workout. It was an excuse to stop altogether. That’s bad, isn’t it?
That’s all I can think of right now.
What are your New Year’s Resolutions?
Addendum: Look where I am in the Ecosystem. In the top 50. I think my real rank is more like 60, so I expect the number to change in the next few days.
What does this mean? That my URL and individual posts are widely linked. What’s the significance of a black blogger being so high up? Most of the high ranked bloggers are white and male. I’m not sure about the ethnicity or sex of a few up there (with the exception of Michelle Malkin), but it looks like I’m the only black (correct me if I’m wrong).
I’ll spend time this year thinking about what this all means and how/if I can/should capitalize on it.
Another Addendum: Cool shout-out from John Hawkins: “The Blogger Most Likely To Have A Syndicated Column in 300 Papers In Five Years Who Doesn’t Already Have A Syndicated Column, Which Means That James Lileks Isn’t Eligible Award: La Shawn Barber.”
Update (9:09 p.m.): Another resolution:
7. To read more blogs, and not just the big ones. (I don’t have to name them, do I?) I used to read a lot of blogs (small, medium, large, old and new) back in my Blog*Spot days. I need to start doing that again. But I always visit blogs big or small that link to my posts.
