At the end of last year, I posted four resolutions for 2014. How did I do? Though I don’t have a record of when I did what, I feel pretty certain that I met three of my four goals. Here’s my summary:

Perform a kind act each day. NOT MET.

I didn’t consciously work to make this happen each and every day, and I’m sure that sometimes I simply didn’t make myself care enough to do more than the usual wake-up, go-to-work, go-to-the-gym, and get-some-sleep routine. I’m a “pretty good” person, but a resolution like this takes effort, and I don’t feel that I put the effort needed into it.

Engage in at least one personal growth activity each month, and engage in at least one professional growth activity each month. MET.

Perhaps I’m cheating here, but I think I met these two resolutions in a combined way because when I think about it, my personal and professional interests overlap significantly. As an instructional designer and developer, I’m interested in what motivates people to learn and how to make that happen. These are also personal interests. Thus, many books I read and conferences I attend contribute to both my personal and professional growth.

I read a fair number of books over the year, by the way, including

• The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science, by Norman Doidge
• My Stroke of Insight, by Jill Bolte Taylor
• Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown
• Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel
• The Accidental Instructional Designer: Learning Design for the Digital Age, by Cammy Bean
• Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design, by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, and Jill Butler
• What You’re Really Meant to Do: A Road Map for Reaching Your Unique Potential, by Robert Steven Kaplan
• The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition, by Don Norman
• Interface Design for Learning: Design Strategies for Learning Experiences, by Dorian Peters
• Evidence-Based Training Methods: A Guide For Training Professionals, by Ruth Colvin Clark (I’m currently reading this one)

I attended four conferences, including

• ASTE (Association for Science Teacher Education) 2014 International Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, where I presented a session with Dr. Scott Townsend and Dr. Austin Hitt
• BbWorld 2014 (Blackboard’s international conference) in Las Vegas, Nevada, where I received a Blackboard Catalyst Award (Director’s Choice) with Dr. Scott Townsend
• Screencast Camp, an unconference hosted by TechSmith (my favorite software company), in Okemos, Michigan
• Kentucky Convergence Conference, a higher education conference that brings together Kentucky’s faculty, designers, and technology, in Louisville, Kentucky, where I co-presented a session with three other EKU instructional designers (Chris Daniel, Mikah Pritchard, and Kara Renfro) and a session with Dr. Scott Townsend

Take the “52-Week Money Challenge.” MET.

Instead of saving on a weekly basis, however, I saved the same amount but on a monthly basis. I wound up with more than $1400 at year’s end.

2015 Resolutions?

What are my resolutions for 2015? The only one I’ve established thus far is to take the 52-Week Money Challenge again. I may just play the rest by ear.