Here’s the rundown (copied and pasted from the original, with some notes below):

Professional

Technical Skills

• I want to learn something new every month.  My goal is to tackle something challenging, and be able to understand the ins and outs of it within 30 days.  For example, I want to finish tackling XML (including XSD’s) in SQL Server. 

I think I’m doing OK on this one; I haven’t really done great this month, but I have spent a little time each month working on something new.

• I want to upgrade my certifications by the end of the year; I’ve been dancing around the MCITP exams for a while, and I need to finish them.

Spent a little time studying, but I need to get on this.

Presentation

• I want to make at least 6 technical presentations by the end of the year; last year, I managed to eke out 8, but given some of the recent changes in my personal life (see below), I think 6 is reasonable.

I have two presentations scheduled for SQL Saturday 70 next month.

• I will blog at least once a month about some technical topic (see the first bullet point under technical skills).

See the above point; as I learn, I blog.  I did miss the T-SQL Tuesday blog for Feb (which makes me sad).

Management

• I will understand the SCRUM methodology, and learn how to implement it with my team at work.  Although I’m not a team leader, I AM the Senior Database Architect, and I need to code less, and teach more.  This is my year to do so.

I’ve done this; I’m moving on to something larger. 

Personal

Health

• I’m getting married again this year, and I want to look good for my new wife.  I also want to avoid long-term health issues.  I was losing weight last year (until I started dating), and I want to get back on track.  I’d like to lose 50 lbs by October.

Started Weight Watchers and have lost about 10 pounds so far.  Have tapered off a bit, and I need to get back on this bandwagon.

• I have apnea, and I’ve been horrible about using my CPAP on a regular basis.  I will use it regularly.

How about irregularly?

• I need to exercise more, so I will find 20 minutes a day to do SOMETHING, even if it’s just walking around the office for 20 minutes.

Blech.  I did OK for about two days.

• I will drink at least 8 glasses of water per day.

Does Diet Coke count as water?  Sigh; it looks like I’m not doing so hot in the Health area.

Spiritual

• I’ve slacked off in my religious activities; my faith was nourished by church attendance during my divorce, and I need to start growing again.  I will find a new church in the next two months (my old church is too far to drive on a regular basis), and become a regular attendee.

Checked out a church; didn’t like it.

• I choose to absorb the goodness from people who love me, and I will reject the poison from those who do not.  I will focus on the important things in life (like my kids, and my future bride), and worry less about the unimportant things (like who’s mowing the grass).

Mixed results on this; while I think I do a great job at spending time with my kids and my future bride, I’m still struggling with ways to handle conflict in a positive fashion.  My strategy now is direct confrontation, rather than continuing to tap-dance around issues.

Social

• I will listen more to my children, my family, and my friends.  I will find ways to let them know I love them.

See above.

• I will nurture my own friendships; while I love my fiance’s friends and family, I want to bring more to the table than just me.

Need to do better about this.

Financial

• My divorce pulled me way off course.  While I’m a long way from being out of debt, I will continue to make strides in that area.  I will pay off at least one credit card ahead of schedule.

Not really making a lot of headway here;  this one may have to wait until my fiancee and I combine households (thus saving on rent payments).

• I will save more; I plan to find ways to cut costs (like taking advantage of coupons, and eating out less).

Ditto.

There you have it; a mixed bag.  I think I’m making some positive steps in the right direction, but I’ve still got a long way to go.

Professional

Technical Skills

• I want to learn something new every month.  My goal is to tackle something challenging, and be able to understand the ins and outs of it within 30 days.  For example, I want to finish tackling XML (including XSD’s) in SQL Server.
• I want to upgrade my certifications by the end of the year; I’ve been dancing around the MCITP exams for a while, and I need to finish them.

Presentation

• I want to make at least 6 technical presentations by the end of the year; last year, I managed to eke out 8, but given some of the recent changes in my personal life (see below), I think 6 is reasonable.
• I will blog at least once a month about some technical topic (see the first bullet point under technical skills).

Management

• I will understand the SCRUM methodology, and learn how to implement it with my team at work.  Although I’m not a team leader, I AM the Senior Database Architect, and I need to code less, and teach more.  This is my year to do so.

Personal

Health

• I’m getting married again this year, and I want to look good for my new wife.  I also want to avoid long-term health issues.  I was losing weight last year (until I started dating), and I want to get back on track.  I’d like to lose 50 lbs by October.
• I have apnea, and I’ve been horrible about using my CPAP on a regular basis.  I will use it regularly.
• I need to exercise more, so I will find 20 minutes a day to do SOMETHING, even if it’s just walking around the office for 20 minutes.
• I will drink at least 8 glasses of water per day.

Spiritual

• I’ve slacked off in my religious activities; my faith was nourished by church attendance during my divorce, and I need to start growing again.  I will find a new church in the next two months (my old church is too far to drive on a regular basis), and become a regular attendee.
• I choose to absorb the goodness from people who love me, and I will reject the poison from those who do not.  I will focus on the important things in life (like my kids, and my future bride), and worry less about the unimportant things (like who’s mowing the grass).

Social

• I will listen more to my children, my family, and my friends.  I will find ways to let them know I love them.
• I will nurture my own friendships; while I love my fiance’s friends and family, I want to bring more to the table than just me.

Financial

• My divorce pulled me way off course.  While I’m a long way from being out of debt, I will continue to make strides in that area.  I will pay off at least one credit card ahead of schedule.
• I will save more; I plan to find ways to cut costs (like taking advantage of coupons, and eating out less).

Anyway, there you have it: my New Year’s resolutions for 2011.  May it be a good year for all.

Over 22 days, I’m down 5.6 pounds, with an average drop of 2.82 pounds during that period. All I’ve done is three simple things:

1. Change what I eat: more veggies, more fiber, less carbs.

2. Change WHEN I eat: I eat when I’m hungry (a little snack in between regular meals), but I never eat after 7 pm.

3. Exercise AT LEAST 15 minutes a day. Mostly doing strength training (I hate aerobic exercise), but if I do strength training, I do it at a high rate of speed.

Looking forward to a loss of 20 pounds by June. Now back to your typical geek jargon

* SQLSaturday is going well. Just picked up speaker shirts and gift mugs today, and they look awesome. Sent the check to Microsoft a couple of days late, but hopefully they won’t dump us. Started cleaning the roster from lunch no-pays, only to discover there’s a bug in our pay process, and a lot of people did pay. I think Andy Warren is just going to pay for everybody’s lunch next time rather than put up with me (just kidding, Andy).

* A couple of weeks ago, I started talking about the impact of Facebook on my own personal appearance. I’m proud to announce I’ve lost 5 pounds so far, and I’m determined to lose the next 5 by next Wednesday. My secret? Lots of veggies, very few carbs, and a lot of exercise. We’ll see what happpens.

* Anyway, Microsoft is coming in to the office next week to show us what SSAS and SSRS can do for us. I dread meetings like this because I’ve rarely met a consultant that doesn’t have the “I-have-a-hammer-and-that-looks-like-a-nail” mentality. It’s a good excuse to update documentation (which we’ve been needing to do, but it’s hard to justify hours for).

People want to see what you look like. You can’t hide physical features like on a traditional forum environment; there’s a strong pressure to post pictures of not only who you were (because most of your friends on Facebook are going to be people in the past), but who you are now. In my case, the who I am now could probably eat the who I was then for breakfast.

As a side note, I have noticed that most of the women I went to high school with have aged very well; if they were cute at 16, they’re beautiful now. Most of the men… well, let’s just say that I’m not the only one who didn’t hold up well over the years

A focus on the physical is not necessarily a bad thing; while part of me is now increasingly self-conscious about the fact that I have changed over the years, that self-consciousness may save my life. When I graduated high school, I weighed 120 lbs; college, 130. First Master’s? 180 (I had started working out, and was in pretty good shape at that point). Three years ago, (after long since ceasing regular physical exercise) I crossed the 300 pound mark. I started having some health issues, and I’ve been working out since then, and am now at 260. Looking at my friends on Facebook, I’m determined I’m going to get down to 220 by the time of my high school reunion (in August; 5 months). Facebook’s focus on the physical is going to be my motivation.

I realize that my true friends from high school don’t care that “there’s more of me to love”, and that an obsession over looks can be unhealthy, but I’m trying to put a positive spin on this; I need to get healthy. Seeing my friends that have been successful at that over the years is inspiring, and I want to be a part of that.

I know I’m not the most religious person, but my faith is actually pretty important to me; I do believe that there is a certain value in seeking out Truth, and I’m often comforted in times of stress by certain rituals. For Lent this year, I’ve decided I want to put my faith into practice and take on two disciplines:

1. I want to read the Bible daily. I plan to spend 15 minutes a day reading Scripture; I’ve neglected my spiritual side for far too long.

2. I want to spend at least 15 minutes a day in exercise. A healthy body leads to a healthy mind, and I’ve never been able to shake this excess weigt I’ve picked up over the last few years. If I can work out every day for 40 days, it can become a habit, and a good one at that.

Peace.
Stu

Professionally, I need to find more leadership opportunities in my company.  This year’s a bit of a challenge because we’re understaffed with a lot of projects coming down the pipe, and there’s not a lot of openings in management positions, BUT I need to find a way to make my name known.  I want to be the SQL guy for not just my division, but I also want to expand beyond that to the company level as well.

I want to complete my MCITP certs for database administration and development this year.  One thing I learned at PASS Summit was that I need to continue to find ways to expand my knowledge.  I feel very confident in my ability to code T-SQL and design elegant database solutions, but I have 0 experience in Microsoft’s BI solution, and my DBA skills are a bit rusty.

I like Andy’s suggestion to play chess; I’m going to open that up and say I want to play more games with my kids.  They’re getting older, and soon they’ll be too old to hang out with me.  I want to find ways to encourage them to think, and I want to spend time just having fun with them.

Finally, I’m going to get healthy.  As soon as this shoulder recuperates from surgery, I’m back on the workout routine.  I am going to find 30 minutes a day to work out, and I’m going to stick to it.

How about you?

So long, artificially-sweetened cans of go-juice. I’ll miss you.