Resolutions

Another end of year, another look at achievements (and non achievements).

Back in January, I was feeling optimistic. Got a new bullet journal, and I wanted to fill it with all my 2018 resolutions. At first, it was more practical and realistic, but then there's that new year, new me energy and here we are. A little disappointed, but not surprised. 

So which of those did I end up achieving?

⤷ Update blog -- yep!
⤷ Meditate -- noooope.
⤷ Drink more tea -- kind of.
⤷ Save £2000 -- a miserable no.
⤷ Wake up/Go to bed earlier -- 50/50. I had periods where I was regularly going to bed early and waking up before 7am.
⤷ JLPT N2 -- nope.
⤷ Run/Jog -- again, big nope. I maybe ran 3x the whole year?
⤷ Write more -- yep!
⤷ Go home -- yes <3
⤷ Go to 5 new places -- let's see. 1) Kawaguchiko, 2) Hamamatsu City, 3) Sakata City, 4) Seoul, 5) Akiu Onsen. Just about!
⤷ Reading Challenge -- eehhh.

This was my reading challenge this year. I did really well at the start of the year -- I listened to a bunch of audio books, and I was rereading Harry Potter over the Christmas break. Then there was a three... or six month hiatus. I didn't properly get into reading again until October and I read at least 3 books since then. I miss teenage Sheila who devoured at least two books a month. Adult me need to step it up. (At the time of writing this, I currently have 2 1/2 books I wanna finish before the year ends. Fingers crossed!)

I also had to get a new notebook for the last quarter of the year, and realised I could do with less resolutions to attempt. Still, I wasn't able to do all of them, as evident below. Past me really wanted to push meditation for some reason.

I wrote about 9 posts this year (including this one), I did work out regularly for a couple of weeks around Spring and Summer so I take that as sort of a win, and I took up knitting for a while (again, a semi achievement).


For 2019, I want to be more realistic with some expectations. (Laugh at me about having 3 months' pay savings though). I've narrowed them down to 6, and with a lot of self discipline, this will hopefully stay to just 6.

Let's elaborate.

Sleep better. 

I am terrible at sleeping well. This includes going to bed late, waking up late (on both work days and off days), napping an unhealthy amount, or even just refusing to get out of bed and falling back asleep. This may scream depression, and honestly, I start to question it sometimes. However, I don't think it's that. I do just love sleeping and mixed with my other bad habits, it just doesn't mesh well. So in 2019, I'll aim to at least have a better relationship with my bed.

Read 12+ books. 

This means one book a month. Sounds doable enough, right? You can do this, girl! Make teenage you proud! At least one of these books will be non-fiction and I already have at least 2 books for that!

Save 3 months' pay. 

So this is more than 2018's goal, but bear with me here. Finances is another thing I am very bad at. But I'm getting dangerously close to 30 and with a very very sad look at my savings, I'm really living the broke millennial life. I want to be more responsible, especially as 2019 will mark an uncertain (un)employment period. Also, this is a goal I will try and achieve up until 31 December 2019, so. Yeah. Time to play the lottery again, I think.

Text less (less social media). 

This is more for my mental health. I spend way too much time on my phone. And laptop. Thankfully, Tumblr is pretty much down now so that's one less thing I will spend my time on. Living on a different timezone as family and friends, it's also been difficult in terms of waking up to 20+ messages (and feeling overwhelmed), or feeling sad when there's none. I have to learn to stop checking my phone all the time. This doesn't mean I want to communicate less, rather I want to try and speak more.

I've called and video called so much more this year than I ever have. And it's really nice. 2019 will probably mean less of these but I do want to talk more in real time, hear people's voices, or hang out and catch up. (Also look at adult me facing my fears of phone calls. Growth! Also my friend L probably helped this since she remains to be the one who randomly calls me for either a 5 minute or 3 hour call.)

This also means less time on Facebook and Instagram and checking on people's activities. I'm nosy enough that I love knowing what people are up to, but not nosy enough to actually ask them. 

Travel somewhere new. 

Travelling is always fun, so this will always be a resolution every year. I want to do a solo trip again, and hopefully at least one with other people. If all goes well, there's already at least one trip planned. I'm looking forward to them so much!

Be more social. 

Oh boy. I'm so good at isolating myself so this will be quite a challenge. If it means just hanging out with friends or my sisters, I will count that as a win. If I meet new friends, even better. Let's see if I can bring myself to actually initiate and invite people to hang out too. 

***

2018 had been a pretty good year for me despite a lot of dips and worrying about personal stuff. For the most part it's all been worrying for nothing. 2019 is going to be a transitional year and it scares me a bit, but I'm also very excited. 

Here's to being better than our 2018 selves! 💗