18 Things I Plan to Do in 2018
Resolution lists can be so cliché. You write out a bunch of stuff that sounds cute to do, but in the back of your mind, you know you'll already have forgotten about them before February rolls around. As I started thinking about 2018 and all that I hope it brings to me, I had a revelation: Do resolution lists fail because we're not disciplined enough to work through them?
I can only speak for myself when I say that I haven't completed things I've set out to do in the past because my mind and drive just weren't there. Also, I think I was setting goals that didn't really pertain to my life at the time. I would stick to the most general resolutions you could think of, knowing good and well they didn't have anything to do with my personal.
I'd like to think that I know myself A LOT better than I did some years ago, and I'm bringing to you my new and improved, well-thought-out and specific 2018 goal list.
1. Lose 25lbs by July 1. If you work downtown, you know what I mean when I say it can be detrimental to your health. (SO. MANY. RESTAURANTS.) I don't want to begin to discuss how much weight I've gained. My coworkers and I clearly love wasting money and we buy lunch just about every day. I don't eat fried foods a lot, but processed food is processed food, no matter how you try to spin it. I became a pescatarian in July, which has helped me make better food choices, but I know I can be more conscious about what I'm putting into my body. I also need to actually utilize my gym membership because I'm just paying Planet Fitness just for the heck of it at this point.
2. Become more financially literate. In the middle of 2017, I really started getting concerned with my financial health. I had been working for the City for a few months at the time, and realized that I had barely saved any money. Where did it all go?! Meanwhile I was sporting new clothes every other week. I started searching on Pinterest for money saving tips and found a post about how you can save $10,000 in a year. If only I had found it sooner! I started putting money away weekly and definitely saw progress, but at the end of the day, I still didn't save as much as I could/should have. In addition, there are SO many things I don't know about long-term finances, and that's not cool. I'm not getting any younger, and I do plan on retiring one day, so I definitely need to buckle down about this.
3. Get a new car. This goes hand-in-hand with point #2. Once I get my everyday finances in order, I'll be at a point where I'm comfortable enough to start paying a car note every month. My current car runs just fine, but I have been in more car accidents than I'd like to admit, and the cosmetic aspects of my poor Carlito (yes, I named my car) are just not sitting too well with me these days.
4. Read 6-12 books. Reading was my favorite thing to do growing up. I'd spend hours with my nose in a book just about every day. My mom would tease me and say she was going to stop taking me to the bookstore to buy books because I would finish reading them so quickly. I stopped reading for leisure once I had to start reading for school assignments, and I became disappointed with myself that I had not continued to do what had always made me happy. I read seven books in 2017 and I'd love to read that many (or more) in 2018. If you have any recommendations, please leave them in the comment section! I like to read biographies about prolific Black men and women, books written by Black authors, books on fashion and fiction novels.
5. Move out. I still live at home with my parents. While I love them tremendously, I think I need to get a place of my own before I become too dependent and they look up and I'm 45 years old asking them what we're having for breakfast. I've been looking for about a month, but all of the apartments I like in Detroit are ex-pen-sive. Send help!
6. Drink more water. I don't drink half as much water as I should. And it's not like I'm drinking pop and juice instead of it, I just have moments where I don't drink anything at all, lol. My mom just got me a cute Kate Spade tumbler over the holiday season, so I definitely will be doing my best to take it everywhere with me so that I always have some H2O handy.
7. Stop hitting snooze. It's confession time. I hit the snooze button about five times every morning. I set my alarm for 6:30 a.m. and somehow don't manage to get out of the bed until about 7:45 a.m., which then causes me to have to rush to get dressed and leave the house. If I was to wake up when my alarm went off initially, I'd have time to pack my lunch, eat breakfast and even watch a little TV before heading out for work.
8. Get to places on time. I can be the late friend sometimes. I usually tend to underestimate how long it's actually going to take me to get ready for things. Picking out an outfit and sticking to it instead of changing five times before coming back to what I had originally laid out will for sure help me with my timeliness.
9. Be more organized. I started off this year with two planners. One big one that I was going to use to keep track of personal projects and a smaller one that I would take everywhere with me. I failed miserably with keeping up with them. I ended up writing everything down on my desk calendar at work, but once I left for the day, I forgot what it was that I had planned to do afterward. I really want to stay on top of my tasks for work and for my personal life and brand, so I'm going to try the planner business out again.
10. Stop procrastinating. My dad said something that stuck with me the other day: "The best time to do something is the moment you think about it." So often I put things off until the last minute because I "don't feel like doing it" as soon as it crosses my mind. Then I end up kicking myself because by the time I'm ready to do it, I'm pressed for time because I waited so long. This message can be applied to so many things: laundry, washing my hair, assignments, writing posts, etc. I need to do myself a favor and start my tasks sooner.
11. Start journaling again. I've really enjoy writing. I started writing poems in elementary school, and continued doing so throughout high school. Once I got to college, I started doing more editorial writing. Growing up, I had several diaries. I would write about my day-to-day experiences, who I was crushing on at the time, who was getting on my nerves....ya know, typical teenage stuff. I think writing daily logs is such a great way to boost your memory. I feel like now I can barely remember what happened last week! I want to get back into journaling and writing poems to sharpen my mind and creative writing skills.
12. Bring in my 25th birthday with a bang. I'll be turning 25 on July 1. I can't believe it! It's so funny to me because I used to think that people who were 25 had it all together, but that is so far from the truth! Since this is going to be a milestone birthday for me, I really want to do something special. I just have to figure out what that "special" thing is going to be.
13. Travel more. I'd love to start going on more trips. Going to New Orleans for my 24th was the first vacation I had been on in a few years and I had so much fun! Of course this directs back to point #2, but it's for sure something that has been on my mind for a while.
14. Blog more. So much happened in 2017, and I wish I would've recorded everything on here for y'all to read! I expect 2018 will also be jam-packed, so I'm going to do a better job of sharing my experiences with you all. If there's anything in particular that you'd like to see on the site, let me know!
15. Attempt to cook. All of my friends and family know I'm not one to really be in the kitchen. I can make a few simple things, but anything that seems too time consuming turns me off instantly. But since I'm on this new lifestyle journey, I want to try to get better when it comes to preparing my own meals.
16. Say "no" without explanation. I consider myself to be a very nice person, but sometimes I can be too nice. I have trouble saying no to people without feeling like I have to explain myself. I never want to hurt anyone's feelings or have them upset with me because I declined an invitation or said I couldn't do a favor for them, but I have to remember that my feelings and peace of mind matter, too.
17. Not be so passive. I am guilty of being passive aggressive. I have never been a big fan of confrontation, because like I said in point #16, I never want to say something that will hurt someone else's feelings. I let a lot of things roll off my shoulders, and in some cases, that's fine (because every single thing does not deserve a reaction), but in other instances, my words need to be heard and my point of view needs to be understood. I need to find the balance of how to speak up about something that is bothering me without being rude about it. Any tips?
18. Be kind to myself. I know I'm not the only one that always feels like they could always be doing more. I could run a marathon in five minutes and would still look in the mirror and be like, "I could've done this/that differently." I am my biggest critic. I don't celebrate myself as often as I should and that's not fair to me! It's perfectly fine to want to improve yourself, but it's not okay to totally ignore things that you've accomplished. I'm going to start patting myself on the back a little bit more.