Happy New Year!

How was your 2017?

Mine had ups and downs. Despite one huge up (I got married and didn’t die of anxiety during the wedding), it was not my favorite year. I spent too long in a toxic work environment (which I probably would have left sooner had I not had a wedding to plan), I got really, really sick (though fortunately not until after the wedding), I didn’t write enough, I didn’t read enough, I didn’t take good enough care of my health, physical and mental. Oh, and there was the downfall of western civilization to worry about constantly, too.

But! New Year! Fresh start! You can be like my cousin and argue with me that a change in date is arbitrary, or you can embrace the symbolic-ness of it and attempt a new start.

I am doing the latter.

I have one big accomplishment I was able to check off my list 10 days prior to the start of the new year: I got a new job! It’s still early, obviously, but I am already pretty certain this is a much better place for me. I feel incredibly fortunate this opportunity came around when it did and am excited about all the new things I will be doing and lessons I will be learning here. I am also excited for the improvement in my mental health that is sure to come in a non-toxic space.

But I still have other things I want to do this year! So I made a list. I wasn’t sure I was going to write a post like this, but I was so immensely inspired by this post by one of my favorite artists that I decided to do one of my own.

So in no particular order, here are my goals for 2018…

1. Write 10 hours every week (no matter what)
2. Do yoga at least 3 times per week
3. Do cardio at least twice a week
4. Get to bed earlier
5. Don’t mindlessly scroll through my phone. Especially in bed
6. Rewrite the faulty parts of my second contemporary (Swim) and submit them to my mentor
7. Revive my online presence by blogging more
8. Query Swim
9. Remain involved in politics by voting and staying informed, but spend less time reading things bad for my mental state (like Facebook comments sections)
10. Go to therapy more often
11. Read 52 books (at least!) (To be accomplished by reading instead of scrolling through phone)
12. Do something new and local every month (like go to a museum, a winery, an art exhibit)
13. Start looking at properties to buy (even if we don’t buy yet)
14. Adopt a cat (or two)
15. Finish rewriting my first manuscript (title tentatively changed to The Remains)
16. Draft something new (though which thing remains to be seen.) Draft it faster than ever before
17. Go back to France
18. Go somewhere I’ve never been before
19. Continue to build and maintain my community of excellent humans by planning weekly/monthly get togethers
20. Go visit my niece in North Carolina
21. EAT MORE GOOD FOODS and less bad ones
22. Drink less alcohol. No more than 7 drinks per week
23. Ensure I am not pouring my energy, physical and mental, into work in my off time
24. Stop worrying about things outside my control (like whether or not people like me)
25. Pray with intention
26. Watch my posture. Stretch
27. Drink allll the water (try for 12 glasses/day)
28. Write reviews on Goodreads and Amazon for the books I liked
29. Fully switch to all-natural beauty and household products
30. Get things framed and hang them on the wall
31. Get a new desk chair
32. Figure out composting in my neighborhood
33. Be less wasteful by using more cloth napkins, cloth bags, and silverware instead of disposables
34. Take better care of my skin by seeing the dermatologist, getting facials more often, using better skincare products
35. Continue to be philanthropic. Find a new cause to support
36. Organize and print photos and hang them on the wall
37. Evolve my personal style until my wardrobe is only made of things I love
38. Reach out and pitch freelance work 4 times per month
39. Get administrative tasks done ASAP so as not to let them linger
40. Learn to use my Insta-Pot
41. Host more dinner parties despite fear of not being the best hostess or cook
42. Do things I’m afraid of (like initiate conversations in person and online, cold-pitch freelance writing, post photos of myself that are not perfect, and stand up for myself even if the other person is intimidating)
43. Think more about ways I can help other people more directly. I feel like I am the one always needing advice. Find out ways to give it more. Or just listen
44. Stop calling myself a late-bloomer. Live life on my own timeline
45. Plan more outdoor activities
46. Seek out new music instead of listening to the same things over and over
47. Whiten my teeth. Stop being such a baby about the bleaching stuff
48. Eat more slowly. Savor my food
49. Go to Seattle
50. Speak and act with more confidence (even when I’m faking it)
51. Journal more, whether online or otherwise. Slow down, take stock, see what’s working, see what isn’t, and adjust accordingly
52. Be brave. Go after what you want, and stop being so accommodating because you’re afraid to inconvenience people.

That is all I can think of right now, though I’m sure more things will come to me. But 50 51 52 feels like a good, accomplishable number.

How about you? Do you have New Year’s resolutions? What are they?

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash