good morning Hank it's Tuesday happy
2019 did you know that a couple weeks
ago the United States Congress passed a
resolution reaffirming the strong
commitment of the United States to the
countries and territories of the Pacific
Islands region it did I know Congress
often gets flack for its inability to
like do stuff to cite one particularly
egregious example much of the United
States federal government is not
currently functioning because Congress
can't pass a bill to fund it but
Congress is actually pretty good at
resolutions at least ones that don't
require you to do anything which is my
issue with New Year's resolutions they
never last for me because they're more
like dreams than goals you know like for
instance this year I would like to spend
more time with my family which is a nice
resolution and seems doable but the
problem is that it will necessarily
require me to do less of other things
and that will disappoint people who are
involved with or benefit from those
other things and so I have to be ready
to disappoint those people I have to be
ready to make a trade-off in my
experience life is a series of
trade-offs and compromises and if you
don't make them consciously you end up
having to make them in a panic or else
you deny that such compromises are
necessary until your system whether that
be like a human body or a federal
government just kind of shuts down so
with all that in mind I don't make New
Year's resolutions instead every year I
write a letter to myself looking back at
the year that was and ahead at the year
to come and I write about the trade-offs
I would like to make and the changes I'd
like to make in doing this I try to make
so-called SMART goals which stands for
specific measurable attainable roll tide
sorry no that's not it that's the
Alabama and me coming out it's specific
measurable attainable Rob Thomas no
whatever I make small goals like last
year for instance I set myself the goal
of making 10 episodes of a new podcast
called the Anthropocene reviewed which I
did I actually made 11 and it has been
great it's been much more work than I
imagined as things tend to be but also
more fun and Nadeem Silverman at WNYC
made this amazing illustration for the
new episode and in general it's been
good to kind of like force my brain into
quiet contemplation amid like the
loudness everywhere on the other hand I
also set myself goals I didn't achieve
like I wanted to make a cooking history
video series with Sarah and that
did not happen because we didn't make
time for it this year's gonna be a
little bit different because most of my
goals involve doing less like as I
talked about in a previous video I have
a goal to post zero times to twit it
reddit Instagram and Facebook that
should be a pretty easy goal and yet I
am very worried about my ability to
actually do it
also I want to travel for work quest I
want to spend fewer than 20 nights away
from my kids this year that will also be
tough because a lot is happening outside
Indianapolis this year like the Looking
for Alaska Hulu series will probably
film this year as will a movie
adaptation of let it snow a book Maureen
Johnson warned miracle when I wrote and
there's the possibility of a Turtles all
the way down movie and I want to be
present for all of that stuff but for me
I think Parenthood is not just about
quality time it is also about quantity
time and so I have to make trade-offs
there are some things I want to do more
of I want to read at least two books per
month and be a productive member of the
life's library book club community which
by the way is going great if you are or
want to be part of life's library go to
life's library book club calm it's so
wonderful and in addition to writing
another 11 episodes at the anthropocene
reviewed I want to edit and host 46
episodes of a new crash course history
series about Europe but my biggest
professional goal and the one I'm most
hesitant to acknowledge publicly because
I have a history of failing to meet my
writing goals is that I'd like to write
5,000 words a month of a new novel that
won't be finished by the end of the year
but I'll be started so those are my
Smosh goals for 2019 I wonder what your
goals are for the new year you don't
have to share them here of course
although you're welcome to but I really
do encourage you to write them down and
keep track of them I can't do much to
prevent the government from shutting
down but I do want to do whatever I can
to prevent myself from shutting down
Hank I'll see you on Friday