✨ 2018 New Year’s Resolutions ✨

I’ve never been one to make resolutions. When someone would ask me what my resolutions were, I would stick my nose in the air and reply indignantly that if you wanted to make a change in your life, you shouldn’t wait until the new year to implement it, but you should change things right then and there.

While great advice in theory (albeit arrogant), the problem is, I don’t do that. It’s not like I get halfway through June and want to make a major change in my life.

There is also a certain mental shift that occurs when it comes to a new year. It provides an opportunity for reflection (a task that I believe wholeheartedly in), as we consider everything that’s happened in the year past, while imagining what the year ahead will look like. While the date is arbitrary, it does provide a solid starting point to make some change.

So, all to say that this year, I have made some resolutions. I didn’t give myself any quotas or restrictions, just not to make them too difficult, and not to have too many of them. Here they are:

 

1. Read more (specifically, at least 12 books)

I used to love reading when I was younger, but recently I’ve been in a bit of a slump. When I’ve had a long day, I more often reach for the never-ending Twitter scroll (which mostly leaves me frustrated or upset), instead of a novel. I’ve set myself an easy goal here, of one book a month. Hopefully I breeze past it and end up reading much more, but if I don’t, one a month is something achievable.

2. Find a healthy work/study balance

Something I’ve realised towards the end of 2017 is that I don’t think I’m the kind of person who can study full-time or work full-time, mostly due to the impact it has on my mental health. Probably doing both part-time is the way to go, but I want to play around and find a healthy workload to take on in 2018.

3. No buying clothes

This is probably the most difficult resolution I have set myself. I am a massive shopaholic (like, to the point where I can’t control myself and go in a mad shopping frenzy and end up feeling so down about buying the clothes that I just end up crying on the floor surrounded by fabric. It’s bad). The point is, I have plenty of clothes in my wardrobe already. 2017 was about finding my style: the things that suit me, and the things that I like to wear. Now that I have a wardrobe of clothes I am excited to wear, I don’t need to purchase anything else. The one exception that I have given myself is that I can buy something if it is replacing something damaged or that no longer fits. For example, if my one white t-shirt gets a massive tomato sauce stain on it, I’m allowed to go and buy one white t-shirt. I’ve also exempted underwear from this because, obvs. I’ve considered rewarding myself halfway through the year by allowing myself to purchase one item not worth more than $20, but I’m not sure about it yet. Sometimes it’s better to go cold turkey rather than tempting fate. You know how you can be going so well not eating junk food, and then you have it once and crave it all the time? Yeah, kind of like that. I also almost broke on day four (FOUR!) of the year, by finding a bunch of Disney shirts I immediately wanted. I grabbed three of them in a rush, but had a stern talking to myself, and put them back. It was insane the amount of anxiety I felt about putting them back (what if someone else takes them?! What if I never find something like it ever again?!), but it faded, and I didn’t purchase them. Whilst disheartening that I almost cracked so early, the experience gives me hope that maybe I can resist other temptations through the year.

4. Use up makeup/skincare

Pretty much the same as for clothes. Watching a bunch of beauty gurus on YouTube caused me to run out and buy three eye creams at once. Surprise, surprise – I don’t actually need three eye creams at once. So, the rules are: no purchasing a new product until you’ve finished the last one, and you’re not allowed to throw out something if you don’t like it, only if it’s out of date (this means you have to face the consequence of your purchase. I am currently hate-using a product at the moment, and I will be soooo excited when I can finally allow myself to purchase something else, that I’ll consider the purchase much more carefully than I did before). I’ve started keeping a list of makeup and skincare products that I stumble across, and when it comes time to purchasing, I can flick back to the list and consider which product would be best for me. It’s all about conscious consumption. Also, it means I can actually use all the pretty eyeshadows I have which I’m saving for a “special occasion”, which never comes. 

5. Write more

This is a bit of a broad one, but I haven’t written nearly as much as I would have liked to in 2017. I have a habit of talking myself out of writing anything because I think it will be crap or that no one will care, but 2018 is about forcing myself to write it. If it’s crap, I can still chuck out the idea just as I would have before writing. But hopefully I won’t. I’m setting myself the tiny goal of 100 words a week, whether that be on here, journaling, or any other form.  

6. Find a form of exercise that works for me

I hate exercise. So much. Especially in summer in Australia, where it’s over 30 degrees each day and I get the itchiest heat rash in the world and there are flies everywhere and I get third degree burns from the sun because I am a pasty vampire and I’m so annoyed all the time because it’s SO. FREAKING. HOT. Anyway, I have no idea how I want to do it yet, but I need to find a way to exercise, particularly in this horrible heat. Preferably one that doesn’t make me want to murder my boyfriend for no particular reason.

7. Play more piano

Since moving out of my parents’ place (for the third time), I haven’t been able to play as much music as I would like. I had to leave my piano at their place, as there isn’t room here in our tiny little unit, so I think this resolution will consist of me driving to their place every fortnight or so, cuddling the best dog in the world, and sitting down to play. I think it will be pretty doable. Once I re-familiarise myself, maybe I can set myself the goal of learning a particular song.

And that’s them! I’ve made sure to put this list in a place when I can see them daily, because this year, I am determined to improve myself.

What are your thoughts on resolutions? Do you think they’re silly? Do they help you be more accountable for making changes in your life? I’d love to hear your thoughts.