Happy, 2019.

Did you know that?

A couple weeks ago, the United States Congress passed a resolution reaffirming the strong commitment of the United States to the countries and territories of the Pacific Islands region?

It did.

I know Congress often gets flak for its inability to, like do stuff.

To cite one particularly egregious example, much of the United States federal government is not currently functioning because Congress can't pass a bill to fund it.

But Congress is actually pretty good at resolutions at least ones that don't require you to do anything, which is my issue with New Year's resolutions.

They never last for me because they're more like dreams than goals, you know, like, for instance, this year I would like to spend more time with my family, which is a nice resolution and seems doable.

But the problem is that it will necessarily require me to do less of other things, and that will disappoint people who are involved with or benefit from those other things.

And so I have to be ready to disappoint those people.

I have to be ready to make a trade off.

In my experience, life is a series of trade offs and compromises.

And if you don't make them consciously, you end up having to make them in a panic.

Or else you deny that such compromises are necessary until your system, whether that be like a human body or a federal government, just kind of shuts down.

So with all that in mind, I don't make New Year's resolutions.

Instead, every year I write a letter to myself looking back at the year that was and ahead at the year to come, and I write about the trade offs I would like to make and the changes I'd like to make in doing this, I try to make so called smart goals, which stands for specific, measurable, attainable roll tide.

Sorry.

No, that's not it.

That's the Alabama and me coming out.

It's specific.

Measurable, attainable.

Rob Thomas.

No, whatever.

I make smuggles like last year, for instance, I set myself a goal of making 10 episodes of a new podcast called The Anthropocene Reviewed, which I did.

I actually made 11 and it has been great.

It's been much more work than I imagined, as things tend to be, but also more fun and Nadeem Silverman at W N.

Y.

C.

Made this amazing illustration for the new episode, and in general, it's been good to kind of like Force my Brain into quiet contemplation amid, like the loudness everywhere.

On the other hand, I also set myself goals I didn't achieve.

Like I wanted to make a cooking history video.

Siri's with Sarah, and that did not happen because we didn't make time for it.

This year's gonna be a little bit different because most of my goals involve doing less like, as I talked about in a previous video.

I have a goal to post zero times to Twitter, Reddit, Instagram and Facebook.

That should be a pretty easy goal, and yet I am very worried about my ability to actually do it.

Also, I want to travel for work less.

I want to spend fewer than 20 nights away from my kids this year.

That will also be tough, because a lot is happening outside Indianapolis this year, like the Looking for Alaska, whose Siri's will probably film this year as well.

A movie adaptation of Let It Snow, a book, Maureen Johnson, Warren Miracle.

When I wrote and there's the possibility of the turtles all the way down movie, and I want to be present for all of that stuff.

But for me, I think parenthood is not just about quality time.

It is also about quantity time, and so I have to make trade offs.

There are some things I want to do more of.

I want to read at least two books per month and be a productive member of the life's library book club community, which, by the way, is going great if you are or want to be part of life's library.

Goto Life's Library book club dot com It's so wonderful.

And in addition to writing another 11 episodes of the Anthropocene reviewed, I Want to edit and host 46 episodes of a new crash course history.

Siri's about Europe.

But my biggest professional goal and the one I'm most hesitant to acknowledge publicly because I have a history of failing to meet my writing goals is that I'd like to write 5000 words a month of a new novel.

I won't be finished by the end of the year, but I'll be started.

So those are my smidge goals for 2019.

I wonder what your goals are for the new year.

You don't have to share them here, of course, although you're welcome to, but I really do encourage you to write them down and keep track of thumb.

I can't do much to prevent the government from shutting down, but I do want to do whatever I can to prevent myself from shutting down.

Hank, I'll see you on Friday.