Tag: goal

101 Books in a Year

On By pastorjonathanIn blogging, books, spiritual disciplinesLeave a comment

A couple of years ago I set out on an ambitious adventure to read 100 books in one year. I exceeded my page goal but came up about 18 books shy by the dead-line. At the time I was finishing up my master’s degree. This year I am unencumbered by school work (I’m not writing papers) and I wanted to challenge myself to again read 100 books in a year.

101 Books? You may be thinking, “Hey the title says 101 books?” I know. In addition to reading 100 regular books I want to continue my tradition of reading the Bible all the way through at least once this year. (The Bible is actually a collection of 66 books, but for my purposes here I’ll count it as one). At the bottom of my book list I’ll keep a tab of the 66 books of the Bible and how many times I’ve read each book since the start date (some shorter books I’ll have read dozens of times before the end of the year… For example I read the book of James about 46 times this summer). This is the first time I’ve measured my scripture reading against my other reading.

What kind of books? I’ll be reading all sorts of books according to my interests. I’ve decided this year to limit my fiction intake and make an intentional shift to read more science, nature, history, business, and economics books in addition to a heavy lean towards theology.

Why November? Obviously starting in November may seem a bit out of the norm, but in analyzing my reading patterns I came to realize that I read more when the daylight hours are shorter. I hope to pass the 50 book mark in March and provide myself with a comfortable lead going into summer.

Why Blog about it? I wanted to blog about it for two reasons. One, for accountability. I want others to know my goals and feel some pressure to meet them. The second reason is to provide a forum for interaction. I’m hoping you’ll provide me with solid leads on good books, encouragement and a challenge (I know some of you read incredibly more than 100 books a year).

What have you read so far? I’ll be keeping a list of books I’m reading, have read, and the scripture I’ve read on the page marked 101 books (current). I’ll be updating it weekly. Feel free to provide your comments and recommendations. I’m looking forward to the journey.

My Goals for 2012

On By pastorjonathanIn Uncategorized16 Comments

Last week I wrote a blog post sharing 5 keys to Making and Keeping your New Year Resolutions. This week it’s time to go public with my own resolutions.  I was inspired to really make progress towards getting physically fit this year by The Show Me Cajun. I don’t know that I’ll be posting my progress as much as he is, but I will be checking in on his blog every week for inspiration and encouragement.  So without further ado, here are my goals for 2012:

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1. Lose 75 Pounds (That’s about 1.5 lbs a week). I’ll be keeping up with my eating habits by tracking all of my calories through the lose it app on my iphone and working out at the gym 3 days a week and of course goal number two won’t hurt either. Of course I’m checking in with my Doctor and already have a check up scheduled for early January.

2. Walk/ Run 500 miles (that’s about 10 miles a week). Just four laps around my neighborhood is a 5k (3.2 miles). I plan on walking the neighborhood at least three times a week and plan to walk on the treadmill at the gym on the days that the weather prohibits me from walking outside. I also plan on using the from the couch to the 5k to get into running shape and be running the 5k each morning by May.

3. Write 200 pages on a book manuscript (that’s about than 4 pages a week.) I’ll be sharing my progress here in a similar fashion to what I did with my goal to read 100 books last year.  Though I won’t share the full manuscript initially, I will share excerpts and let you know where I am in the process.

4. Write 3 blog posts or more a week. My blogging has come in spurts. Some weeks I post every day, other times I’ve gone almost a full month between posts. I hope by setting a minimum number per week that I’ll have a goal and be more faithful.

How about you? What are your goals? Any advice on mine?