Happy New Year!! I always find myself making unrealistic New Year's resolutions, which results in me feeling defeated when I don't accomplish them. This year I really took time to reflect on what I need to work on in my life, and picked things that are doable. I'm really happy with the list I came up with and hope that by making these changes 2018 will be a year of bliss and growth.
1. Eat healthier.
This summer I ate extremely healthy and I felt and looked amazing, I want to get back to that! Instead of making my goal an unrealistic amount of weight loss, switching it to eating healthier is less daunting and assures I won't feel bad about myself if I don't lose x amount of weight even if I have been eating healthy. My plan for this is to go back to the 80%, 20% rule I followed this summer. 80% of the week I eat healthy, real, non-processed foods, and the remaining 20% (the weekends) are cheat days where I can indulge a little!
2. Daily yoga practice.
This is something I've been working on through my yoga teacher training and I really want it to become a habit in 2018. Whether it is asana, spiritual, chanting, or just not cussing out the person who cut me off on my way to yoga, my goal is to practice some form of yoga every day.
3. Go to the gym more.
And by more, I mean I need to start actually going. This year instead of setting myself up for failure by saying I'll go a certain amount of days, I used the phrase "more" because if I do more than I've been doing that is already a success. I'm telling myself to start with once a week and see where it takes me!
4. Stop saying "I can't"
I found myself saying "I can't" a lot this past year and I'm ready to eliminate it from my vocabulary. Instead of saying "I can't" my goal is to figure out first, where it's coming from, what is making me believe I cannot do it? And then second, to find a solution and work through whatever I need to in order to turn "I can't" in to "I can."
5. Create healthy boundaries.
I have literally zero boundaries in my life right now and it has got to change because it is causing me too much harm. My reminder to myself to accomplish this goal is: it's not mean. Creating healthy boundaries with people is so important and you can still be a good person and friend without allowing someone to hinder your own well-being.
6. Write daily.
Journal, blog, poetry, personal essay, literally anything, just write every damn day.
7. Go on one adventure a week.
Exploring new places brings me so much joy so I'm making it a goal to have a little adventure for myself once a week to keep me sane. My favorite form of adventuring it spending time outside, so I'm hoping for lots of new outdoor adventures in 2018!
8. Spend time alone.
Not too much, but a healthy amount in order to decompress and spend time with myself. One of my favorite things to do is to put on a face mask, put on my essential oil diffuser, climb into bed, and watch one of my favorite funny TV shows. I got so much out of spending more time alone this past year and I'm excited for more of it this year.
9. Drink less beer.
I've honestly been doing this anyway, I don't remember the last beer I drank, but since I'm 21 now I wanted to make it a resolution so I'd be sure to stick to it. I didn't make it "drink no beer" because I don't like ultimatums, so my goal is to avoid drinking beer but one every once in a while is okay!
10. Express emotions more.
If you know me, you know that I literally hate talking about my feelings and am horrible at expressing emotions, so what better time to work on it than in the New Year!? I intend to work on this by not being afraid to tell people how I feel. Small things like admitting when I'm not okay, or telling someone I love them are things that are really hard for me, but I intend to work on this year.
11. Eliminate unhealthy habits.
My goal is to eliminate the unhealthy habits I have and to find healthy replacements for them. It's hard to break bad habits, but hopefully by finding positive replacements it will be easier.
12. Get something published.
I really want to pursue this whole writer thing, and in order to do that I need to conquer my fear of submitting my work for publication. Since I'm going to be writing every day, I'm pushing myself to work on some pieces I really love, and submit them until hopefully someone publishes it.
13. Spend time with genuine people.
I've been blessed with some pretty awesome people in my life, and this year I want to make sure I spend as much time as possible with people who make me glad to be alive.
14. Get good grades.
This one is mainly aimed at that frightening math class on my schedule for next semester.
15. Stop being mean to yourself.
All my negative self talk as got to go, there is no room for it in 2018. I often ask myself if I would talk to a friend the way I talk to myself, and the answer is always no, so therefore I am no longer allowing myself to talk to myself so harshly.
16. Try something new.
There is so much potential for this one! Whether it's trying a new food, visiting a new place, acquiring a new hobby, I want to experience as much as possible this year. 2018 is the year I start being more daring.
17. Pursue photography.
I really want to start pursuing my photography career this year. I intend to take as many photos as possible and really advertise myself to try to book photoshoots. Another idea I want to explore is getting prints of my work to sell! I realized if this is something I truly want to do, I have to go for it 100%.
18. Make new friends.
I honestly just love meeting new people and all of the times I put myself out there this past year to make new friends I was rewarding with some of the most amazing people I've ever met. I'm looking forward to hopefully making some new, lasting, friendships this year.
19. Read two books a month.
This is my only resolution that is a little specific, but that's because I really need a kick in the butt to get back into reading, I miss it SO much. I have a whole stack of books on my shelf just waiting for me to read them, and two a month is very doable!
20. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
I have never been the type to ask for help, but recently I've found that when I do ask, from the right people, it is incredibly rewarding. No one can do it all by themselves. I may need a little help getting through the next year and I'm not going to be ashamed if I have to ask for help.
21. Do what makes you happy.
I want to fill 2018 with the places, people, and experiences that are good for my soul. I want to spend less time doing things that don't make my heart happy and replace them with things that do. I intend to make 2018 the year where I am 100% myself unapologetically and I live my life in a way that serves me, even if other people don't understand or like it. I look forward to filling these 365 blank pages with one hell of a story.
What are your New Year's resolutions?
Love Always,
Olivia Jane
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