Personal Resolutions for 2007
I’ve never really been into the whole New Year resolutions thing but I realize there’s a few things in my life that I need to change. I figure now as good of a time as any to start working on them.
1. Workout - Ya-ya, I realize this resolution is on everyone’s list but it’s going on mine too. I haven’t worked on a regular basis since I was in high school, and even then it was only because I took a weightlifting class which most days I didn’t show up for anyways. So in all honesty I’ve never really worked out on a regular basis in my entire life, and I never really had the desire to either. It will be hard but I need to commit to doing this. Why? For one, I am starting to put on some extra weight and I’m also seriously out of shape. I could also use the energy that comes from working out.
2. Get on a regular schedule - My schedule, or lack thereof, sucks. I wake up anywhere from 8-10 and go to bed anywhere from 1-4. So I need to start getting to bed earlier and that way I can start my day at a normal hour. I don’t have an organized schedule that I follow during the day either so I want to work on that as well.
3. Balance - I’ll be honest, I have a problem. I spend way too much time on my computer. The time I spend working is excusable, but I’m sure at least a couple of the 14 hours I spend on here everyday is completely wasted. Lately I’ve been feeling burned out so I took two days over Christmas where I didn’t even touch my computer, and you know what? It felt great. I realize this is something I need to start doing more often. Freeing up a few hours of my day will keep me from burning out and give me a chance to get out and get some balance back in my life. This resolution is a huge priority for me.
4. Start playing hockey again - I miss playing hockey and I am anxious to start doing it again. I’ve been threatening to start playing again for a couple years now and this is the year I’m really going to do it. I’ve already started shopping for new equipment and contacting people in the area to figure out when all the leagues start and the pickup games are played. I’m getting excited. This will also help with resolution #1 & #3.
5. Spend more time with my family - This goes along with the balance resolution. The time I am spending on the computer is time that is being taken away from my family. Family is the most important thing in my life and I need to make it a huge priority to start giving them more attention again. Especially now that my kids are getting older. This is a hard one because I am trying to work as hard as I can now so that later on in life we’ll be set financially and I won’t have to work so many hours.
6. Take public speaking courses - Now that I am starting to speak at conferences regularly I need to get better at public speaking. I really noticed the need for this at SES Chicago, where in my opinion I didn’t give as good of a presentation that I’m capable of. I have a strong desire to become a great speaker, not only for myself but also because part of my company’s success depends on it. I think the main thing that I need to work on is the nervousness; it makes my voice shaky and I don’t have a clear head when I am nervous.
During the coming year I hope to refer back to this post on a regular basis, that way I can keep myself honest. If anyone has any tips or tricks that have helped them stick with their resolutions I would love to hear them.
Cameron Olthuis is the Founder of
Seems like some worthy resolutions, good luck with them.
Good resolutions Cameron. I’m on the computer way to much so I gotta get that one down, then I’ll have time for some of my others. Good to hear you are so dedicated to the speaking part. I think your passion helps you speak well now so really focusing on your skills will be great.
Best wishes in ‘07 to and your family and good luck with those resolutions. Let us know how it’s going.
I like your resolutions. Be easy on yourself, take them a step at a time.
Honestly, my public speaking classes were useless though ten years of theater helped quite a bit. The biggest thing you can do is speak as often as possible and really pay attention to annoying nervous habits like using “like” or “um” a lot. Also, hockey and spending more time with your family should really help calm the nerves and focus you on what’s important. Once that’s covered everything else seems conquerable! Good luck and Happy New Year!!!
I too think the public speaking classes are of little value. The best way to get beyond where you are is a coach or tutor.
Beyond that, the one single thing that helped me improve the most is watching great speakers with keen observation of how they do it. Then emulate them.
To calm the nerves, look into Neuro Linguistic Programming and more specifically, EMI or eye movement integration. There are a few different sciences on this but all are basically the same.
Moving you eyes in the track of looking at a Z that is as big as your field of vision, doing so slowly, then track the movement as if a box around the Z. Do this 7 times slowly.
Do it sitting down the first time. It will give you a bit of a buzz.
Best wishes…
Wow, thanks the encouragement and feedback everyone. It’s good to hear the experiences with public speaking classes, now I don’t have to waste my time & money finding out the hard way.
Jonathan, thanks for the tips. I’m also taking a look over your site and there’s a lot of good tips there as well. Thanks.
For working out — get a partner (it’s cheaper than a personal trainer) and you’ll motivate each other (It’s helped me.)
For public speaking — Try joining Toastmasters http://www.toastmasters.org/ (it’s probably cheaper than public speaking classes, should help more depending on what your local chapter is like and can also help with networking, business relationships) It’s a very ‘junior executive’ organization but can help a lot for introverts. (It’s also helped me.)
Will, thanks for the tips. Looks like there are quite a few Toastmaster Clubs in my area, a couple hundred to be exact. Definitely will be going to those. Thanks.
Hi Cameron, I wish you good luck with your resolutions! Some of my ambitions are very similar, especially the “balance” one. I don’t make resolutions anymore though, because I usually break those…Happy new year 2007!
Peter - Happy new year to you as well.
Your #1 is the hardest for anyone to keep. I was relatively successful but it took some good self-motivation for me to keep it up as much as I did. Found kind of a kindred spirit in newyearresolutionblog.blogspot.com , and I’m going to try to apply it to my new resolution of getting my goddam house clean, with my basement being the biggest problem.
“. I think the main thing that I need to work on is the nervousness; it makes my voice shaky and I don’t have a clear head when I am nervous. ”
Dude, you’re not the only one. If anything could define “community marketers”, I would say that the bulk of them are comfortable in unrestrained environments, environments that don’t always lead to having tons of people looking at them;-) Most of us, including yours truly, are actually more comfortable in treating posts on a “one-to-one-basis”. In other words, we look at the poster & not the crowd.
Ny NY Resolutions:
1. Lose weight.
2. Make my girlfriend my wife;-). As she already knows this, it shouldn’t come to a great shock!
Exercise:
Get a medicine ball (they work!)
Get an exercise ball (great for the core).
Do a search for these exercises & you will see what I’m talking about.
Damon, very interesting, thank you. Good luck with #2, she seems like a great girl from what you write.
“To calm the nerves, look into Neuro Linguistic Programming and more specifically, EMI or eye movement integration. There are a few different sciences on this but all are basically the same.”
Cameron, I’m reading “NLP The New Technology of Achievement”. The premise is that it explains step by step how to use NLP for learning the characteristics of top achievers… modeling human excellence and so-forth. In the first few chapters I’m sure you’ll find that some of the techniques are extremely applicable to your desire to improve your public speaking. I’ll bring it to Refresh.
I’m happy to hear that you are feeling out of balance, like you don’t work out enough, and that you need to pick up old hobbies. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one that got sucked into the Internet to the point of feeling like a change is necessary. Let me know how these resolutions work out for you.
[…] As everyone knows, Internet Marketers (whether you’re focused on SEO, SEM, blogging, arbitrage affiliate marketing, product creation, domain trading, or one of the things some of you have emailed me about and asked not to mention) tend to spend on average 16 hours a day in front of the computer. (Unless you’re Cameron Olthius and only spending 14 hours a day in front of the computer: Personal Resolutions for 2007) […]