First of all, I want to wish all of you a happy new year! I rang 2008 in with my family in a very low-key get-together at home, which is what I like best. I hope you were able to be with the people who are most important to you as well.

I’m looking forward to 2008 because there are a lot of changes that I want to make in my life, and this is the perfect time to get started. Towards that end, I’ve got some resolutions that I’d like to share with you. I’ve been thinking about these resolutions for a few weeks now because I’m serious about becoming a better person. By doing these things in 2008, I feel that I can make great strides in the right direction.

I will engage in intellectually stimulating pursuits every day. I will read the classics, learn a language, and study Asian history. I will take advantage of the free lectures offered by MIT, Yale, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and other top universities. I don’t even have to leave my home to do any of these things, so there’s no excuse to let my mind turn to mush.

I will make healthier eating choices, control portion sizes, and exercise regularly. I usually set a weight-loss goal for the new year, but this time I’m going to approach things a bit differently. Instead of worrying about my weight, I will focus on what’s happening before the food even goes into my body. What am I eating? How much am I eating? How will I work off the calories? If I pay attention to these three things, then weight loss will naturally follow.

I will spend quality time with my family every day. Family dinners, movie nights, board game nights, storybooks, and real conversations should be regular features in my home. Simply being in the same room with each other isn’t enough — particularly when I have my face buried in my computer.

I will work hard to maintain the friendships I have, and even harder to rekindle the ones I’ve let die out. I have been terrible at keeping up with personal emails, phone calls, and greeting cards, and have lost contact with many good friends as a result. I need to get these friendships going again. Moreover, there are three specific people that I haven’t talked to in years, but whom I miss very much. I will reach out to each of them at some point this year.

I will help those in need, without waiting for them to ask for assistance. On an organizational level, there are several causes that I firmly believe in, and I will support them through my words, actions, and/or financial contributions. On a personal level, I know a lot of families that are struggling right now. I will help out however I can, whether that means having them over for dinner, babysitting, rewriting a resume, or giving them money every now and then until their next paycheck.

I will be more productive with my time. I will earn the same amount of money that I did last year, but will do so in half the time. I will achieve this by forcing myself to stay on task when I’m working, and not letting myself check YouTube, IM, email, and message boards after every sentence I write. Those other activities are fine during breaks, but when I’m working I need to quit clicking around to other websites, and just focus until I’m done.

I will quit beating myself up about mistakes I’ve made in the past. Of all the things that keep me up at night or cause me anxiety, 90 percent of them happened 10-15 years ago. It’s time to acknowledge that yes, I made some grave errors in judgment and did things that adversely affected my course in life. But I was just a kid back then. I had no adult guidance and didn’t know any better. It’s time to let all of that go, and start looking forward instead of back. What’s done is done. Enough already.

I will tape this list to my desk, read it repeatedly, and make an honest effort at achieving these goals every single day. Hopefully if these resolutions are always in front of me, it’ll be easier for me to commit to them.