2016 Resolutions - Want To Join?

As Dec-31 turns to Jan-1, nothing really changes. The night remains just as cold, or warm, depending on the hemisphere. However, to those obsessed with numbers and statistics, almost everything is reset. I certainly belong to that group. 

For the past few years I have tried to marry this love for numbers with some other things dear to me - movies, books, blogs, and a few things far from dear to me, but apparently important - miles walked (I can't don't run) and pounds shed (actually pounds gained is also mathematically interesting). In 2016 I am setting myself some stretch goals in each of these categories, and have managed to get a few like minded friends who are joining me in this gamified experience. If any of these things interest you, and especially the thrill of racing against time and others and collecting copious amounts of personal data, drop me a line.

Movies

My friend, and favourite Bollywood author, Diptakirti, proposed the #100MoviesPact, inspired by the #100SareesPact which might have popped up in your social media timelines in 2015. I jumped at it, but having watched 56 movies in 2015 I am well aware that it is a stretch goal. You can set your own finer rules for this, mine are simple - watch 100 unique movies in 2016 (Jan-1-2016 To Dec-31-2016). You can watch them anywhere. These can be movies you have watched in the past (prior to 2016), but you can't count a movie two or more times if you watch it multiple times in the same year. Year of release, language, duration, quality, especially quality, no bar. As usual I will also give a rating on a scale of 10. Shows don't count. Documentaries, I won't count, feel free to if you want.

Books

Read 24 books. Simple. I have been using the Goodreads Annual Challenge to keep track of my progress, and also see how my friends are doing and what they are reading. Have picked up a few books based on their recommendations and suggestions from Goodreads. FWIW, I managed to reach only 10 with a target of 20 in 2015.

Blog Posts

Write 53 blog posts, or once a week. Will explain why 53 and not 52 at the end of this post. Used to fancy myself as a writer long back, haven't been able to put finger on keyboard for a long time. This is the one I am least certain about and will be the most laborious. This is the one I am looking forward to the most. For the record the last few years have been 2013 (12), 2014 (9), 2015 (10, including this one).

Miles

Now comes the hard part. If you know me even in passing you know fitness and I aren't made for each other. However, a 2014 purchase - the Fitbit - changed things somewhat, mostly because of the granular data in terms of steps, miles, flights of stairs etc. and forced fitness into my daily routine somewhat. This was accentuated by the very competitive challenges with friends from all over. I am ending this year at 1,630 miles/2,623 Kilometres (this includes all movement, not just those on the treadmill or where I go for a walk specifically for the purpose of a walk). I am stretching my 2016 goal by ~10% to 1,800 miles or 2,900 kilometres. I hardly walk on weekends, so this comes to ~6.5 miles or 10.4 Kms per weekday. I have a TV in front of the treadmill, and so am hoping to combine the movies and miles goals somewhat.

Losing The Pounds

I have been told any self respecting new year resolution can't exist without this one. This one will depend entirely on the Miles goal. The target is losing 15 pounds/7 kilos through the year. Let's not talk much about this.

I will be tracking and sharing my progress every week on this Google spreadsheet. 

Why 53?

Because I am looking at a Sunday-Saturday week, and Dec-31-2016 is a Saturday we have 53 Saturdays, and thus 53 weeks. So Week 1 for me will be Dec-27-15 - Jan-2-16 (for the movies count I will only record movies that I watch from Jan-1-2016). By the way, we have 5 Saturdays in January, April, July, October, and December) this year.

So, if any of this sounds interesting to you, even if the target numbers are different, let me know. Also, feel free to use the Resolution Tracker template.

Wish you all achieve whatever you set out to in 2016.