Day 137

As the holiday season winds down, I'm starting to get back into my routines.

The first order of business is to STOP eating so much. Spending time with my family is awesome, but it also adds poundages. It's funny how my mom would tell me I'm fat in one instance and then feed me another piece of food in the next. Her rationalization? I can always go on a diet afterwards. That's true. Christmas only comes once a year and I don't visit my parents nearly enough. A little bit of holidays bingeing is not going to hurt me in the long run. I'll get back to my health regimen after the new year.

The next order of business is to get the writing done. I'm hoping by March I'll have the first draft done, and by May I'll have at least two revisions and by the summer I'll be polishing the final draft and ready for the submission process. It seems like a good plan, as this will be the fifth anniversary of the completion of The Pacific Between. Currently, I'm about 140,000 words in (and writing Part 2 of 3) so I think it's a highly attainable goal. We'll see.

The third order of business is to learn and perfect my trading skills. It's been a hit-or-miss year for me and I've made too many mistakes, some very costly, and I still have a lot to learn. More discipline to master. I understand the principles but it's been difficult to put all that knowledge into practice. 2010 will be the year I'm finally putting it all together and device a disciplined plan. The first half of 2010 is supposed to be rather good for the market as the economy continues to climb out of recession. The second half of the year may not be that rosy, but I'll have to remember this golden advice: "bears and bulls both make killings; pigs get slaughtered." It's all about discipline, not greed.

Last but not least, I'd like to spend more time with my family, friends and loved ones. We may not be in one another's life all the time, but they are still important to me and I assume I am to them as well. What the holidays have shown is that it doesn't matter what happens elsewhere -- family will always be family, and true friends will always be there for us. True friends are those who silently congratulate you when you're up and vocally support you when you're down.

So I guess this is kind of like my resolutions for 2010.

And I wish you a happy new year as well.