Hello and happy new year, everyone! It’s a tad late, but I hope you all had a refreshing break and are transitioning into 2018 just fine. Now as cliche as I think new year resolutions are, I love making them all the same. Sure, I usually fall off the bandwagon a few months into the year. Nevertheless, the intention behind resolutions is never a bad thing! Plus I love feeding off that optimism everyone seems to radiate in January.
Anyway, ever since I read Geneva’s post about choosing one word to guide 2018, I really came to like the idea. So after some thinking, I’ve decided that my word for the year is action. Sure, in life a lot of situations come down to luck. Yet, some of the best things that have happened to me only occurred because I actively sought them out. Likewise, self-improvement doesn’t just happen when you sit around waiting around for it. With this in mind, here are some of my goals for 2018:
1. Start taking better care of myself. Or more like, try not to end up in hospital again! In all seriousness, I want to work towards being in a better place both physically and mentally this year. Just simple things like staying organised and remembering to take a breather from time to time can work wonders, and will help make sure I’m on top of my health game this year. In 2017 there were too many times I felt completely overwhelmed from stress, so that’s something I’d like to avoid as much as possible.
2. Study Lao regularly. I’ve always wished I was better at speaking Lao, but I think this feeling intensified ever since my homestay in Japan. It made me happy then sad to realise that I could converse so easily with my host mother in Japanese, but not my own grandparents in Lao. Sure, my whole family knows English – they’ve accommodated for me my whole life, and I’m grateful for it. Yet, deep down I’ve always been a bit ashamed that I don’t know as much Lao as I should. I’ve already started by learning a few pages of vocabulary, so here’s hoping I can keep up the habit!
3. Be the one to initiate plans with friends. There are so many people I’ve been meaning to catch up with, yet I’ve been too complacent about doing so. I’ve never been one to actively organise events or anything like that, but this year I really want to get better at making plans with the people in my life. If not that, being the one to start a conversation and reconnecting with others is something I’d like to do more often.
4. Start cooking more. Looking back, it’s been way too long since I last posted a recipe on this blog! I used to love baking and experimenting in the kitchen, but that passion has kind of faded with everything going on in my life recently. Don’t get me wrong though – I still love food and spend an unhealthy amount of time looking at recipe videos, haha. Here’s hoping 2018 is the year I can reignite my love for cooking again!
5. Get my freaking license! This one goes without saying, since it was one of my resolutions last year too… I think I tried to blame my failure on the things going on in my life, but deep down I’m just a) lazy and b) scared of driving. Past driving experiences always left me super anxious, so much so that I couldn’t do it without sweating all over the place. This year I really want to tackle this fear, once and for all!
I think these goals kind of deviated from my word of the year, but whatever. My resolutions, my rules right? Of course, there are other things I’d like to do throughout 2018. Things like blogging regularly and exploring Sydney more often are at the top of my list. In the meantime, what are your resolutions for the new year? I’d love to hear them, if you have any!
