Resolutions, so easy to make yet so hard to keep for the next 12 months. But if there’s anything I’m consistent at, it is in making these New Year’s resolutions year after year after year… Yep, ever since this blog started, I’ve been posting my resolutions here. But even before then, in my older blogs or in my head or on a piece of paper somewhere, I was very adamant in making resolutions.
I guess failure doesn’t impact me negatively when I don’t even expect for success?! LOL. But nah, I do try hard in achieving my yearly resolutions and this year is no different.
At this time last year, I knew I was heading to Japan but I didn’t know how long I’d be staying here. Now here we are again, I still don’t know (for sure) how long I’ll be staying here for. But at the very least, some things are certain: I am still in Japan for the time being, so let’s enjoy it and make the full use of it.
So, what will be my resolutions for this year? Let’s break them down into a few sections shall we?
Healthy mind & healthy heart
Read 6 books (at least) this year. This can be fiction, non-fiction, theology, design, or anything. But yes, reading comments online is not healthy, so let’s hope I can do less of that and do more of reading actual books. Maybe I should do a book list of what I’d like to read, maybe I should just leave it to “whatever’s interesting at the moment”, either way… I’m glad my love for physical books (and great design) can continue to spur me on this journey of reading more.
Eat better. I mean, I have been very proud of myself in 2016 for eating more veggies and actually enjoying my meals with veggies in them. I haven’t been eating a lot of fruits though, not because I don’t like them, but because they are rather expensive here in Japan. But yes, to eat healthier will definitely be good for me.
Keep walking. Isn’t it weird how a game can really make you go outside and walk more and explore your city more? Well, I’m hoping that even without Pokemon Go (not that I’m about to stop playing), I’d be able to still enjoy moving my muscles and walk. Let’s not stop the good work. You can definitely tell that I’m growing old, as this is something I’ve never even considered when I was younger (in fact, even up until a few years ago, this is still an impossible task).
Productivity vs procrastination
I always amuse myself that I can even procrastinate on things I love doing. It’s one thing to procrastinate on house chores (which I loathe), but it’s another to do so on things that I actually enjoy and want to be good at. Discipline is the key here, and it’s one that goes up and down throughout my year. So what can I do?
Continue working on the projects I’ve started, diligently. The biggest challenge was to start a YouTube channel with my face and voice on it. Now that I’ve done that (still uncomfortable at times, but… whatever), it’s time to keep going. It is not always easy to blog when no one is reading, YouTube when no one is watching, Insta when no one is liking… But everything takes time.
Waste less time on the internet. Yes, I said it. Every morning when I wake up, it’d take me so much longer now to actually get up and do work. Instead, I’d lie down and make sure I’m up-to-date with all my social media stuff, which pretty much leads me to read news, watch random videos, and waste a whole lot of time. That’s the time I can use to do other things. Let’s do other things!
Explore other ways to share my creativity. And make money doing things I love, basically. To live in Japan and not being able to speak the language means that I will need to be creative to get my Harajuku shopping money! LOL.
Be bold & be challenged
I don’t like challenges, to be honest. Ha. It’s one thing to “change”, it’s another thing to face “challenges”. But either way, I know that it’s bound to happen, life isn’t going to be all glitter and gold… So rather than encountering challenges when I least expect, let’s find challenges that I’m excited to conquer!
Improve my Japanese. Instead of beating myself up (figuratively), maybe I should just try harder every time I feel like I’m not learning fast enough? I’d like to be able to converse more in Japanese, and to share stories naturally, without having to use Google Translate every 5 seconds.
Be bold for what matters. For most people, not knowing what the future holds can be quite a scary thing. I am the same, I do get worried at times (or most of the time?). But I know that whatever comes my way, there is one thing that I am certain in this life: no, not death and taxes although those things too are certain… The only certainty is that God is God and He is the same forevermore, no matter how us humans change our minds and shift our morality and no matter how screwed up the world gets with every passing year… So this year, like every other year, I hope that I can fix my eyes not on the temporal things, but on things that will last for eternity.
Oh 2017, I am ready for you! But before then, can I please just tick a few things off my to-do-list for 2016!?