As promised earlier this year I would write a bit about my plans/goals/aims for 2009, and as always I’m late (sorry) with the blog entry. This was probably the longest delay ever seen on this blog. But here goes:

I have decided (Did earlier this year) not to set any specific goals for 2009, nothing specific I want to achieve this year but rather things I want to improve. So nothing about X number of blog entries, X number of poker games and so forth.

Early this year I had a talk with a good friend of min; she also had one thing in mind for 2009, same as I have: More time for ourselves. This does not mean more time we can spend home looking TV but rather time that can be spend on things we like to do (Including to relax).

Extra work

I took on some extra work in 2008 which was great in several ways: Fun, Game, Working with good friends and extra income. At the same time it had some side effects, some worse than expected: Time. I have a long working day, then 2 hours drive and then days where I have my kids at my place; on these days I would be total wasted before I could even think about getting started on the other projects. This did also result in some delays and me been unmotivated and generally not happy.

Right now I would say that I will not be taking on any new projects in my spare time for 2009, exceptions are: Helping out on projects (short term) and projects that are without real deadline (own projects!)

Poker

My great passion is playing poker. I’m not only talking about online poker but also about ‘live’ poker. Here in Switzerland it is legal to have “poker clubs” as long as they get allowance. So on any given day there will be 20-30 (or more) tournaments around the country. I have so far just played at a few places, mainly OtherPoker in Basel. I can feel I’m getting better (and the results also show that) but there is still a long way to go… I’m often planning my spare time based on tournaments but I’m not addicted (yet.. Hmm, some might say otherwise).

I’m going to continue playing poker, might even check tournaments out at some of the casinos and other poker clubs (OtherPoker is starting up a second location, just 5 minutes walk from here). I don’t see my self playing any cash games this year as I’m not experienced in that and I feel that tournaments are right for me.

Fitness

I have total failed with fitness this year; sure I paid for my membership to the fitness studio but what good is it when I’m not going there! I have been considering to cancel my membership but decided against it yesterday evening. If I can just go once a week to the fitness studio then it is an improvement. So the weekends where I don’t have the kids here, then I could go for an hour or 2. The few days where I don’t go to play poker and have time for myself, then why not do some fitness! One of the reasons why I also decided to continue is that a good friend of mine have started a blog where he blogs about his training (for triathlon), been a good inspiration. (Reminds me, I better get my bike fixed)

Social

One very nice side effect of poker and fitness compared to ‘working from home in my spare time’ is that I get out among people. This is something that I really enjoy and probably also why I prefer to play live poker compared to online poker. The social part of it. Of course a lot of the talk at poker is about poker but we do from time to time go beyond that subject.

Friends and kids/family

I have the last few month not seen much to my very good friends in Basel but that will be changing, need to meet up for dinner/movies soon again. This was something I did a lot early this year and last year, something I enjoyed a lot. Been able to combine that with the time I have with my kids is perfect. I will here in 2009 also do something I didn’t do for awhile, visit my family in Denmark. First time will be next weekend where I will be going to visit my sister, then again in May and if all goes well then also a summer holiday. The summer holiday will be with the kids so that will be very special and something we all look forward to.

So?

So will this result in more time and better time for myself? Yes, I’m sure about it. Not getting stressed with work, spending time on what I do, get more quality time with the kids. Sounds about right I would say. Now, if I could just get my hands on a warp/beam machine, so I didn’t have to spend up to 2.5 hours pr day on the highway… Winning the lottery would also help of course.

Edit 23rd of March: Added link to Better late than never in the fitness section.