Happy New Year! Ok, so I admit, I didn't do too well on my resolutions this year. But I did manage to get a whole heap of other stuff done. So it was a moral victory...kinda.

With 365 days in which to complete my 2011 resolutions, I managed to fulfill exactly (drum roll) two. For those of you playing at home, these were: Get the bathroom done and Eat fish. Not exactly the most inspiring of achievements.

I could make all sorts of excuses: the bathroom project taking 10 months due to council cock ups and a company going bust, my experiments in nailbiting cures failing for lack of a high resolution camera, or just really, really disliking chicken.

But excuses are counterproductive. I'd rather look back on the stuff I achieved beyond my official list. I joined a Toastmasters club and delivered 7 speech projects, wrote and release an iOS app in a couple of weekends, got a start on two other apps, helped out on a short film project, ran another 10k, did a PADI refresher course and bought matching coathangers.

Setting resolutions over the past 3 years has helped me discover new sides of myself, and made me push to see what I'm really capable of, but I think now I'm ready to think a bit more short term. I've found that a great way to make something happen is simply to tell people you're going to do it. Announce projects early and let peer pressure keep you motivated.

So for 2012, I'm going to try to cram in as many neat things as I can. I won't be setting any resolutions, save one:

Be awesome.

That's my challenge for this year. And yours too.