…But it’s better than never??! Right!? I think its really important to set goals for myself because once I decide on them, I usually find the results I’m looking for. While it may seem silly because so many people give up on their resolutions by the end of January, I take inspiration from them. As you’ll see below, I write them out and tape them to my wall. I see them every day. I may only be posting this now, but I actually made these resolutions on December 31st. I have no plan on losing my steam!
Before I get ahead of myself, I want to reflect on how 2014 was for me. I have lived in 3 different places, 2 coasts, and have only been happy in the 1 place I have lived my whole life: Virginia. I think I counted and I had about 9 different jobs last year…my taxes are going to be difficult to organize! I have met many people who have influenced my decisions and made me realize the importance of GOOD friendships. I saw my old friends who have stood by me in all my crazy choices this past year and I cherish them more now than ever. I am lucky to have my family. They have encouraged me to pursue all my decisions whole heartedly and have been there when the results were not what I expected. I learned a lot about myself. My career goals from last January are completely different than the ones I have now. So here are the goals I had posted last year and my level of success on each one:
1. Eat less sweets: I was horrible at this during the first half of the year but fairly successful during the second half. I had to fight against emotional eating a lot out in CA. As I became more and more unhappy in California, I ate a lot more ice cream and seemed to care less about what I put in my body. However, once I moved back and was in a different situation, I had a better head on my shoulders and used a lot more self control. I did a ten day smoothie cleanse in early November and lost 10 pounds. It proved to me that I didn’t have to eat chocolate everyday (and definitely not more than once a day like I did every so often). I started falling in love with apples and other alternatives to the junk food I was in love with previously. During the holidays, I went back a little bit to my old ways and allowed myself to indulge. Even with celebrating the season, I am proud to know that my mindset has become a much healthier one by the year’s end.
2. Workout 4x per week: I started the year off awesome! I bought a Groupon to the Redondo Beach Pure Barre Studio and went 10 times in the first two weeks of my move. Then, I got a position as a “barre-tender” which I thought would encourage me to work out more!!! It was an incredibly amazing deal–work the desk one morning a week in exchange for 2-3 free classes a week. However, after a few months, I felt pretty depressed. I began to prefer to nap and rest more than work out. So, working out four times a week slowly became one, MAYBE two times a week. Once back in VA and living with my sister, brother-in-law and niece, my weekly average rose quite a bit. There is a gym in the neighborhood and I started going about 3-4 times a week. I ran a half marathon in November. My mindset about working out has become a lot more focused like it used to be. Again, the holidays were brutally busy, so I slacked a bit in the last two months. But overall, I feel like my end to 2014 was optimistic towards getting fit again.
3. Learn to play my ukulele: I know how to pluck through “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and there are two notes that I can strum between. So, I did not take full advantage of this great instrument in 2014.
4. Start something creative: I definitely achieved this! This blog, while not consistently maintained at all, has become a great source for me to write about my experiences and reflect back on my crazy year. It has 10 blog posts with this one being the 11th! I also made a short film with my room mate in CA and edited a lot of videos of my niece for my sister. Creativity is really important to me and I think I allowed that part of me to flourish the most this past year.
2014 has possibly been full of my hardest decisions, but also allowed me to grow more than I have in awhile. It forced me to look at myself and what I thought I wanted out of life. I was pushed to rethink where I want to live, what I want to do, who I want to be around, and the way I have ordered my priorities.
I am hopeful about what 2015 has to bring to my life. Here are the Resolutions I have made:
1. Get Back to my Pre-California Weight: Eat Better, Sleep More, Workout Consistently
While I was in California, I gained an embarrassing 40 pounds. I am the one to blame because I stopped caring so much about feeling healthy. I made the smart move and when I wasn’t feeling happy I came back to Virginia. I already feel healthier. I eat better. I work out more…and thats just the effect of having people around me who are more supportive and work out with me. Since January 1, 2015, I did the 10 day smoothie cleanse again and signed up for a 5 week unlimited Pure Barre Package. Since January 5, I have taken 14 pure barre classes and lost about 6 pounds. I like the feeling of my muscles feeling sore from the intense workouts and can already see more definition in my arms and legs from all the work I’ve done. My pants (which are the largest size I’ve been since 10th grade) are starting to feel loose again. It motivates me to keep doing what I’ve been doing. I felt the most confident when I was taking good care of myself. My plan is to keep up with pure barre as much as I can afford along with getting back into running, start eating cleaner (more lean protein, fruits, and vegetables), and really start paying better attention to my sleep. I often choose to do something fun over taking care of myself and getting the rest I need. I hope by rearranging some of those priorities that I will be sick less, feel better, and start understanding my body a lot more.
2. Find a Full Time Job
One of the biggest changes I have experienced is what I want to do career-wise. I used to think I’d be okay with a freelance job that changes as I network with people. I thought (quite unrealistically) I wanted to be a film/TV producer one day making big flashy films/TV shows that would earn a ton of awards and make me famous. While I still think that would be a cool life sometimes, what I want a lot more right now is a steady media related job that is full time and allows me to work events or community outreach. I don’t know if that exact kind of job exists, but I feel like work in public relations or promotions may be what I’m leaning towards. I have experience with planning events and I have worked tons of jobs that involve talking with people and promoting a station (WAVY-TV 10/FOX 43), an organization (Team in Training), or my college’s activity board (Alma Mater Productions). I still want to work at Starbucks on the weekends because the work is pretty fun, I love my coworkers, it will be nice to make a little more money on top of the full time gig, and the perks are pretty great in general. But, after a crazy, unsteady, all-over-the-place kind of year that 2014 was, I really would love to start creating some roots somewhere. I think those roots will start to grow with a full time job. It doesn’t mean I want to exactly stay here in Virginia for the rest of my life (I still dream of living in NYC one day), but I just want some stability. I hope that when taxes come around next year, I will not be collecting W-2 forms from all over the place.
3. Be Better with $!!
Before moving to California, I had a great savings account. I was comfortable with my money situation and had zero debt other than my one school loan. Obviously, living in Los Angeles is not cheap. Within the few months I lived out there, my nice little safety net was gone fairly quickly. Since moving to Richmond, I have worked hard to start paying back the money I owe and building a savings account again. I absolutely HATE owing people anything. If someone has paid for something for me, I try to pay them back as soon as I can. I think if I follow through with my second resolution, a lot of my money problems will start to dwindle and I can start saving up for all the things I’ve been wanting to do in my adult life. I admire all the people who keep to a budget and I need to create a good plan for myself each month. I hope that by being smart about my money now through creating savings and investment plans, that by the time I’m 60 or older, I won’t be so stressed all the time. I can be more relaxed and really enjoy the life I’ve created for myself.
4. Post Blogs Regularly and Stay Creative
Starting in 2015, I hope to blog at least once, if not twice a month. I have an incredibly long list of ideas on my phone and computer of what I would like to write. I just need to start tackling them. My biggest problems include the fact that I am a bit of a procrastinator and that I also take a long time to write a post. As you can see if you’ve read to this part of the post, I am quite long winded. There are a lot of details in my posts. They take a long time to write and edit. I get busy and distracted and the blog often comes second (or third…or fourth or really at the bottom of my to do list). I already know the subject I want to do in February and I hope that maybe by planning them out a little more with a desired date to release them, that I will accomplish this goal. I also want to make some short films with a friend and start working with my amazing camera more. I am lucky that my Dad gave me a Canon 60D last year and I hope to learn a lot more about it this year. I need to complete all the editing projects I have started/been planning for awhile as well. I feel like I am a smart person with a lot to say in both written and visual mediums. I just need to be more disciplined in expressing myself.
5. Learn to Play the Ukulele
If anyone was to witness the moment I received my beautiful Ukulele for my birthday last year, he or she would be surprised that I haven’t learned more about it yet. I opened the box from my mom and started crying almost immediately. It was such an exciting present and I had a ton of plans of how I wanted to use it. I have played the piano, violin, and the flute so I know how to read music. I just need to find the time to sit down with my theory books and work on the different fingerings. I think about songs while I’m driving around. I have voice recordings and lyrics written on my phone and computer. I hope that as I learn to play that I can put the words to music. Maybe I can combine Resolution #4 with this one and start making artsy little videos of my musical endeavors. Even if I don’t accomplish all of those other goals, the ukulele is fairly easy to learn so I just want to finally start!
I’m looking forward to seeing how I change throughout 2015. I hope I succeed in my plans. I hope that with all of these goals combined that I find even more happiness and maybe even…a BOYFRIEND!!?? 🙂 I think that often times, good relationships come when people find peace within themselves and can make the space in their heart for another person. I think 2015 may be that year. CHEERS! 🙂
every so often... 
Leave a comment