My 2023 Blog Resolutions!

I'm still in the midst of my break from blogging but I was inspired to post a couple of things around New Year's - my look at last year's New Year's Resolutions successes (and failures) as well as my resolutions for the new year.  Hard to believe it's 2023 already...even harder to believe that I'm now only a couple years out from my 20th anniversary of graduating from college.  Ouch, time does fly!

To try and keep time from flying any faster than it already does, let's nail down some resolutions for the upcoming year.  

#1:  The Want List

Ah yes, the want list.  Each year I try to whittle it down a bit more but unfortunately it gets harder and harder to do so since the stuff that remains A) gets a year older each year and thus harder to find in general and B) typically is tough to find to start with and thus why it's been languishing on my want list for all this time.  All that being said, I do hope to continue to make strides on my want list - and this year I'm setting the goal to move my want list from it's current state (47 sets) to having 40 or fewer sets by the end of 2023.

Here are the sets that I'm probably most likely to actually complete to help me toward that goal:

• 2014 Topps Allen & Ginter:  Urban Fauna:  1, 2, and 9
• 2012 Topps Allen & Ginter:  Guys in Hats:  9
• 2012 Topps Allen & Ginter:  Fashionable Ladies:  2, 10
• 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen:  310, 311, 313, 323, 326, 330, 339, 341, 342, 346
• 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter:  Inventions of the Future:  5
• 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter:  Creatures of Legend, Myth, and Terror:  5, 15
• 2009 Topps Heritage:  446, 698
• 2009 Topps Heritage:  Rookie Performers:  3, 15
• 1998 Topps Gold Label:  Class 1:  3, 9, 17, 23, 29, 44, 69, 75, 76, 77, 93, 98

As you can see, most of the above cards are fairly tricky to find but I'm nearing the end on most of those sets so hopefully I'll manage to secure a bunch of the missing cards in the upcoming year!

#2:  The Great Reorganization

The eternal goal of my collection is to get it fully sorted and organized.  While that is probably never going to be 100% achieved, let's see if I can't make progress on the following four specific ideas:

• Finish uploading my Barry Larkin Collection into TCDB through 2022.  Once I (finally) get caught up, the long-running goal will be to complete the previous year's worth of Larkin cards during the following year.
• Clear off my card table, even if only for a day.
• Clear off my TV stand (it's also full of cards and it's been driving me nuts for awhile now)
• Get my card collection to fit within my four stacked bookshelves.  

#3:  Reading

I'm going to set a goal of reading at least five books in 2023.  I do enjoy reading but it's often one of the last things I end up doing.  

#4:  Video Games

Should playing more video games actually be a goal I attempt to achieve?  Honestly, probably not but here it is!  My goal is to actually finish at least two video games this year (ideally ones that I've started in the past).  I'm not saying to get 100% completion but at least play through to the end of the main story and then do a reasonable job at completing anything extra.

#5:  Disc Golf

Let's try a list here as well...

Throw over 300 feet consistently off the tee pad

Throw a round of par (or better) on the course I play the most

Play on at least two new-to-me courses this year

#6:  My LEGO blog

Same as last year, post at least 36 times (i.e. average three posts per month for the year).  I've got plenty I'd like to talk about over on that blog but it's a matter of making the time to do so.

#7:  Nachos Grande Specific Goals:

One final bulleted list of things that I want to accomplish here with Nachos Grande:

• Get my Discord channel up and running (including running most group breaks over on Discord)
• Figure out streaming to Discord
• Do voting for blog of the year, card of the year, set of the year, again (ideally starting in November)
• Do another round of Not-So-Secret Santa (I've got some awesome returns from that to show off soon)!
• Get the blog more noticed
• Grow my Discord channel to at least 75 people
• Figure out Patreon and get at least 2 people as Patrons

I'm terrible at self-promotion but for the effort that goes into the blog (and Discord channel) I'd really like to get my name out there a bit more.  

#8:  Trading

The lifeblood of the blog and the reason I've been keeping at it for many years - trading!  My goal is to send out at least 50 trade packages in 2023.  That's less than half of what I did last year but with my want list shrinking down, it gets harder and harder to find trade partners.  If I end up mailing out at least 50 trades then I'm betting I'll have had a solid year when all is said and done!

I think that will do it for this year's goals.  LOTS of stuff to work towards for me - and hopefully some of that will involve you, my loyal readers!  

Happy New Year - and I'll be back to blogging full-time again soon.  I'm still enjoying my break from blogging (even if I've now posted twice while on break...at least I did force myself to forgo scanning anything).  

In the meantime, feel free to chime in with some of your goals!