No. 614 - 2011 Resolutions
Last year I made 4 resolutions. They were
1. Build a writing habit
2. Build a reading habit
3. Get in shape.
4. Do as much research as possible for upcoming novel. Have everything ready to start writing January 1, 2011.
How many of those succeeded? NONE. I tried to follow those as much and as long as I could, and I think it was about April that all of those dissolved away completely. By April, no one really bothers to reflect on, "Okay, what were my new years resolutions again?" I never reassessed, never bothered to try to get back into the habit or reading or writing. It simply just...died.
This year, there's really one main resolution that I want to keep and follow through on.
Live in the present.
That's it. Well, actually, there are three more. But the one above is really what I want to focus on. The other three are
Eat healthier
Exercise
Think positive
I believe that if I can at least succeed in living in the present, that the others will be easy to maintain. If I live each day for just that day, I can ask myself, "Did I eat well today?" and "Did I exercise today?" If I can say "yes" to both, then I can be happy.
I also need to teach myself to stop projecting my negative feelings onto others. I get irritated so easily over such minute things - it's no wonder I'm depressed most of the time. "She's soooo annoying. I hate the kids in my classes. They're so stupid!" But why? Are they really annoying, or am I projecting it? Are they stupid, or am I not giving them the benefit of the doubt? And, really, what does it matter to me, my life, my world whether another person who isn't even an aspect of my life minus the 50 minutes I have to share a space with them is intelligent or not? Why am I focusing my entire day over one stupid little incident that I won't remember in a few days anyway?
If I live in the present and not project negative feelings onto others, there's no way I would dig that hole of depression. I just need to train my brain to not be so negative all the time.
There are lots of goals I want to do, but I need to not overwhelm myself. But, just so I can get it out of my head, here are some other things I hope to do in 2011.
- Lose 20-25 pounds to look like this again.
-Participate in a 5k run, and perhaps even a half marathon later in the year.
-Build a cleaning habit so that the house isn't a pigsty all the time.
--Clean the kitchen every night before going to bed.
-Be more sociable. (This one will be particularly hard for me.)
-Spend more time reading.
-Write EVERYDAY.
-Journal EVERYDAY. I cannot tell you how much journaling helps my mental state.
-Go hiking more.
-Study Japanese EVERYDAY -- even if it's just a word or phrase.
So on and so forth. It's those "everyday" ones that kill me. Routine is not my forte, but it's something I want to fix.
For now, I'm just going to stick with the four above, and the rest will just be an added bonus.
cross-posted from zabe.net.
1. Build a writing habit
2. Build a reading habit
3. Get in shape.
4. Do as much research as possible for upcoming novel. Have everything ready to start writing January 1, 2011.
How many of those succeeded? NONE. I tried to follow those as much and as long as I could, and I think it was about April that all of those dissolved away completely. By April, no one really bothers to reflect on, "Okay, what were my new years resolutions again?" I never reassessed, never bothered to try to get back into the habit or reading or writing. It simply just...died.
This year, there's really one main resolution that I want to keep and follow through on.
Live in the present.
That's it. Well, actually, there are three more. But the one above is really what I want to focus on. The other three are
Eat healthier
Exercise
Think positive
I believe that if I can at least succeed in living in the present, that the others will be easy to maintain. If I live each day for just that day, I can ask myself, "Did I eat well today?" and "Did I exercise today?" If I can say "yes" to both, then I can be happy.
I also need to teach myself to stop projecting my negative feelings onto others. I get irritated so easily over such minute things - it's no wonder I'm depressed most of the time. "She's soooo annoying. I hate the kids in my classes. They're so stupid!" But why? Are they really annoying, or am I projecting it? Are they stupid, or am I not giving them the benefit of the doubt? And, really, what does it matter to me, my life, my world whether another person who isn't even an aspect of my life minus the 50 minutes I have to share a space with them is intelligent or not? Why am I focusing my entire day over one stupid little incident that I won't remember in a few days anyway?
If I live in the present and not project negative feelings onto others, there's no way I would dig that hole of depression. I just need to train my brain to not be so negative all the time.
There are lots of goals I want to do, but I need to not overwhelm myself. But, just so I can get it out of my head, here are some other things I hope to do in 2011.
- Lose 20-25 pounds to look like this again.
-Participate in a 5k run, and perhaps even a half marathon later in the year.
-Build a cleaning habit so that the house isn't a pigsty all the time.
--Clean the kitchen every night before going to bed.
-Be more sociable. (This one will be particularly hard for me.)
-Spend more time reading.
-Write EVERYDAY.
-Journal EVERYDAY. I cannot tell you how much journaling helps my mental state.
-Go hiking more.
-Study Japanese EVERYDAY -- even if it's just a word or phrase.
So on and so forth. It's those "everyday" ones that kill me. Routine is not my forte, but it's something I want to fix.
For now, I'm just going to stick with the four above, and the rest will just be an added bonus.
cross-posted from zabe.net.