2012.

Well, '12 is upon us. We'll start by looking at my '11 post and see how I did on my goals:

--PR the following distances this year--5k, 10k, half marathon and full marathon.

**5k-nope

**10k-yes

**half-no

**full-yes

--Run 1000 miles this year. Also to cycle 1000 miles.

**run-yes (1065)

**cycle-no, and not even close

--For 5k, I want to break 24 minutes. no

--For 10k, under 50 minutes. no, but did PR
--For half marathon, under 2 hours. regressed
--For full, just to beat my first race time. by 10 minutes

--I want to get down to 160 pounds. Doing this will make the above much easier.

**gained weight. guh

--I want to learn to hem pants.

**nope

--Pursue further the ability to converse in Spanish. No more classes. Its time to use what I've learned.

**afraid not.

I really stunk on my goals for this year. And it was a tough year all around for me. Closing both stores. No real growth personally. So, let's set some goals for 2012. And I'm going to try to be more specific. First, running goals:

*Run 1500 miles

*cycle 500 miles

*5k--under 25 minutes

*10k--under 53 minutes

*half--under 2 hours

*full--under 5 hours

*I also want to lose weight. 165 pounds seems like a good target.

2012 will also bring about a career change. At this point, I have no ideas. As of writing this, I haven't formally announced closing either store. God led me to the retail path 16 years ago. I've profited from it. I have to believe God will lead me where I need to go next.

Today, I made a major decision. I decided to close both of my stores. This has been hard for me. I hate giving up. And being a business owner is all I know how to be. I guess I felt like it was my legacy to keep Charlie's going. As if ending it would make me a failure. Pure logic and numbers said I should've quit several years ago. I hope I didn't set myself back financially thanks to my stubbornness. We still have to sell out everything, but my life as a self employed guy seem to be over. Millions have to make such transitions in their life everyday. I'm not special in this regard and I just have to approach it with peace and a clear heart. I've had such stress levels this year that it should be obvious this is the right choice. I literally had headaches due entirely to stress. I've been a fool I guess. Anyway, we finish out this Christmas (#16 for me) and do the whole sellout thing. That last day will be very bittersweet.