What I like about the new year is just that. It is a new year. I mean, everyone knows how new shiny things are always more interesting. So when the new year arrives, it gives me this new strength, new excitement and new hope that I may achieve great things in this coming year. Great things that I’ve forgotten I needed to achieve in previous years. This year is no different.

Melbourne New Year 2014

Yes, it’s that time of the year when I start dishing out my New Year’s resolutions. I have been doing this ever since I was in high school, and I don’t intend to stop. Some people don’t do them, some people go overboard and have like all their goals and lifelong dreams… I tend to be in the middle. Small chunks of goodness that I hope to fulfil in the coming year; some harder than others to achieve.

Here they are, in no particular order, my 10 New Year’s resolutions for 2014:

  1. Read another 6 books. In 2013, I had an ambitious resolution of reading 12 books in 12 months. I stopped after 6. I realised reading any more would just mean completing the resolutions, but would not benefit me personally. The reason I want to read books is so that I can continue to learn and broaden my knowledge and skills in the areas of my choosing (usually creativity, design, web, psychology, marketing, etc). So 6 seems like a good number.
  2. Blog at least 1x a week. Yes this might sound ambitious, knowing that my blogging style is: whenever the mood strikes. But if others can write 1000 words a day, I think 1 blog post a week will be easy peasy for me. It is a good practice to continue jotting down my thoughts, my reflections on things that I see and just to get myself writing regularly.
  3. Read the Bible & blog it. I have thoroughly enjoyed starting this. But I have also completely failed at completing even one book! Yes, I’m still at Genesis somewhere. I can probably quick read through things, but I aim to read and reflect and write my thoughts down. So let’s try to re-start this again – and this time, finish it like a baaaawse!
  4. Start a project. Come on, I’ve said this for the past 2-3 years and yet what have I done? Stop over-thinking and telling myself I can’t do things. Start doing something. And fail. And do another thing. And fail. But first, just start one thing. Remember that domain name I purchased earlier in 2013? Use that. After all, real artists ship…
  5. Do not read comments on most internet articles. With the amount of stuff I read on a daily basis, this will be nearly impossible. But what I really mean is to try and not read comments on articles that I know will annoy me and make me lose hope on humanity (okay, not that bad, but you get what I mean). Getting angry at trolls and faceless commenters is just silly – and I can’t change how they think by being angry at the screen either.
  6. Time management is key. Two things: (1) I tend to procrastinate on tasks that are important but not urgent, and (2) I tend to get way too busy that I don’t have time to rest. Both can simply be solved with better time management skills really. Break my tasks into chunks of easy to-do list. And do not over-commit. Instead, learn to say “no” a little bit more than I have been doing. Yes, the world is my oyster, but I am merely a little starfish, moving slowly towards my destination. Maybe having a night time habit will increase my productivity?
  7. Find a second income. It has been more than 6 months of working part-time now. I think it’s time for me to do something more productive with my other 2 days. Simple as that.
  8. More dates with the hubby. I don’t want to take things for granted 2 years in our marriage! LOL. Have date nights. Go out. Enjoy ourselves. See the world. Do more than just sit at home and stare at our own computers doing our own stuff enjoying each other’s company.
  9. Live a healthier life. Yes, the New Year’s resolution that I’ve had for more than 10 years now (seriously)… Eat healthier. Exercise more. Sleep enough and at regular times. Sleeping is not so hard for me to accomplish, just need to regularly do that. I have improved a little bit on my healthy eating (by that I mean, I now try to eat that 1 broccoli in my meal – not the stem though) so let’s continue to do so. Plus I’ve been taking supplements! But this exercise thing is a little more difficult for me. I don’t like walking or running; and I can’t do most others (not even a single push-up, need I remind you?) so it’s a little bit difficult for me to do much. But I will continue to try. One day, I will live a healthier life.
  10. Celebrate my 30th birthday! This can’t be too hard. At least one goal that is so achievable that if I don’t achieve it, there’s no hope for me! Ha.

Ten simple resolutions. Not! But yep, this will be fun. Another year to re-energise myself and start fresh. It’s always good to have a clean slate and start over once in a while (read: annually) right?

I’ll leave you with this song:

Happy New Year people! What are your New Year’s resolutions for this year? Share them with me below! :)