As it’s a new year I guess it’s traditional that we set goals for ourselves or vague ambitions for what we’d like to achieve in the year ahead. I’m definitely not just writing this article as a filler because I’ve done no blog worthy cooking recently. Nope. Definitely not.
First lets look at some of the things I said I’d do last year:
Stay dedicated to training – Would like to do a sub 50 mins 10k at Balmoral in April and be a blue tag in Taekwondo at the end of the year (blue belt would be better but I don’t think I’ll manage that without seriously upping my game and sacrificing other things).
Play more music – Be it with 1864 or getting my other project up and running properly. Now I’m settled again I need to pick up the guitars and get writing.
Climb more hills – Did a couple of small ones this year and want to pick this up again next year and do a lot more.
Stay healthy – Really enjoying not drinking as much as I used to (but still enjoying quality booze), being fit, eating good food and making the most of my weekends instead of being hungover for most of them. Everything seems to be nicely balanced at the moment and long may that continue into next year.
Stay dedicated to training? Well I didn’t hit sub-50 mins at Balmoral or achieve a blue tag in Taekwondo, instead I decided to quit Taekwondo at the end of last year to free up time for my other hobbies.
Play more music? The band split up.
Climb more hills? I did two, neither were Munros. We did make it to the bottom of Lochnagar but the cloud was just above head height so we walked round Loch Muick instead.
Stay healthy? Off training for a month and a half with bruised ribs and then over two months at the end of the year with a damaged knee. Another good reason to stop martial arts.
In addition things went from nicely balanced to being very precarious. My cat passed away and the contract that ensures my continual employment was put up for tender (with my employer not invited to bid!)
But some positive experiences were had last year and they were ones that weren’t planned. We transformed our back garden from a grey, gravel covered expanse to one covered in grass over the space of a few months and with a lot of hard work but very little cost. Just need to finish the rest of it now!
I also started this blog which has been a great source of inspiration to me and a way of spurring me on to do more writing which is something I’ve always enjoyed.
Looking forward there are some big changes happening this year, not least of which is undergoing redundancy at work. Hopefully that will work out ok!
Anyway the topic of goals, or resolutions, has come up a couple of times and I put a few together on a forum I take part in and thought I’d put them up here and expand on them a bit:
Travel more and take more short trips away for the weekend – I want to make more use of my weekends and see more of Scotland (Europe as well). Getting away to Loch Rannoch for my birthday last year was amazing and really gave me a taste for short breaks in the hills. This should also give me the opportunity to eat in many more nice restaurants which I can write about here!
Walk up more big hills – This is linked to the first one. I really enjoy getting out and about in the Scottish countryside and it’s a great excuse for taking a road trip for a couple of days. So far we haven’t managed to get up a Munro but I definitely want to get off the mark this year.
Run a 10k in under 50 mins – When I was injured for a few months recently it was running and walking that I missed most as exercise. I really want to make running a fixture in my routine and plan on getting involved in a local running club in the next few weeks. Hopefully as a result I should see my 10k times come down below that magical 50 minutes mark! I’d like to try a few different events this year too, maybe the Scolty hill run as it’s on my doorstep or the First Monster challenge round Loch Ness if I can get a team together.
Start gigging again – I’ve got a lot more free time now (maybe even more if things go pear-shaped regarding work) so hope to get more involved with music again. I’ve been in various bands over the years (of varying quality) and have been working on some songs on my own since the last one split. Hopefully I can get that project further forward and gig ready for the summer.
Cook more, eat more and write more on the blog – This is pretty obvious. I’ve loved spending time on this blog since I started it in August and I’m so pleased that people seem to read it (I now have a steady stream of visitors daily, not just when I post a link on a forum or get a picture accepted on Serious Eats photograzing). I’d love to really bring the blog on in 2011 and fill it with more delicious food from around Scotland. Hopefully I can improve my writing, my photography and my cooking at the same time.
I’m going to start making the blog a bit more personal and give more of myself into it as I think that’s what makes people come back regularly and not just seeing a dull list of recipes with no personality. So apologies if you only come here for the food and you start seeing a few posts about other things I might be involved with or if I suddenly lose the plot and some embarrassing pictures of myself start appearing on the site.
If you’ve set any goals this year or made any resolutions (you don’t have to stick to them) then post them up in the comments below.
I hope you keep reading Mince and Skirlie and wish you all have a very happy 2011!
Mince and Skirlie 
Oh I hope the work thing sorts itself out – that sounds really scary and you seem amazingly calm about it.
Your list is a very healthy sounding one – more running and more climbing hills – should balance out the more cooking and eating!
I don’t really have any resolutions but am constantly striving to be more organised and spend less money.
Looking forward to all our posts this year!
Lou.
We’ll see how calm I am in March if I still haven’t got another job!
It’s all about balance, I figure if I spend my spare time running, hillwalking, cycling etc. and try and eat mostly healthy meals through the week then that allows me to cook delicious, unhealthy food the rest of the time, eat lots of chocolate and drink quite a lot of beer 🙂
Be more organised and spend less money, definitely good things to aspire to. I should probably add the latter to my own list of goals but I know I’d never stick to it. There’s too many toys out there I need to buy!