Ongoing goals

The New Year brings a convenient marker for us to reassess our lives and make adjustments to our earthly journey. Truthfully, resolutions could easily be made any time of the year. Perhaps the time off during the holidays allows us to ponder and reflect. By the time the annual reset rolls around, we can take this perceived opportunity for a fresh start to make changes.

I've already posted on my New Year's resolutions for 2008. I also have a few ongoing goals which I started last year and plan on continuing this year. They aren't resolutions since I already incorporated them into my life last year, but I'll reaffirm my commitments (in the dedication sense, not the white straitjacket sense... I have those voices in my head well under control, thank you very much).

1. Declutter - I continue to live a nomadic life, moving to a different apartment every year. I've moved 5 times in the past 2 years (cat-sitting gig, moved for job, etc.). Now, I live an apartment with something like 500 square feet of space. I learned quickly that having lots of unnecessary stuff is a real drag.
2. Learn Mandarin Chinese (學中文) - I started around the end of grad school to seriously pursue proficiency. I'm still a long way from being fluent (right now, I'm barely a functional speaker), but I understand it's a long-term process.
3. Smart investing - I've been maxing out my Roth and recently my 403b contributions while I'm still relatively young and don't have kids sucking away my income. With the help of my parents and finally having a real income, I've actually racked up enough savings that I'm annoyed at having to pay the regular tax rate on the interest. This year I'll start putting more money into carefully researched mutual funds which should earn me a higher return while incurring the lower long-term dividends and capital gains tax rate.
4. Stay healthy - While I already lead a relatively healthy lifestyle, I've fallen out of the habit of doing a few things which I plan on re-introducing: qigong (氣功), yoga practice, and meditation.