On 19th December 2016 at 00:33 I made a note on my phone of my new year's resolutions for 2017. I don't use my notes app all too often so I'd actually forgotten about the list completely until I went to do the same for 2018, but I thought it would be interesting to go through and review to see whether I'd actually achieved any of my resolutions or not.
Make more of an effort with health and nutrition ie. actually cook meals consistently at uni, eat more than once a day, fruit and veg!!!
You'd think that given that this is one of the most detailed resolutions and that it was probably the most important one, I'd have been able to stick to it but I honestly think 2017 was one of the worst years for me in terms of my health and eating. In May, I was working away for pretty much the entire month and in the space of 6 weeks, I put on an entire stone. I stopped going to the gym by about March. During exams I would only eat one meal a day and more often than not, it would be a Yakinori. Honestly so, SO bad. I've been better since I've been back from uni I guess but really, this is going straight to the top of the list of resolutions for 2018 and I actually mean it this time.
Be more proactive in arranging adventures and Go somewhere new
This year I booked a cruise, a holiday to Bordeaux a month in advance and a holiday to Geneva 3 weeks in advance. I've also booked theatre trips several times and done spontaneous outings with my friends. All in all, I'd definitely say these resolutions have been achieved and I've had a good year for it!
Read more books
Nope, definitely rolling forward into next year's list, oops.
Remember that work is your career and not just something to pass the time until uni
I wasn't consciously making the effort to switch this mindset but there has definitely been a shift this year. I'm going to do a whole post about this in Feb because that's my halfway point for my training contract, but I definitely feel less like a uni student who does work experience placements, and more like someone who is training professionally. Even while I was revising for my uni exams in the summer, I was considering the material in terms of how it would help me at work.
Start a gratitude journal?
Even optimistic goal setting Megan added in a little ? because the odds of this actually happening were so slim. Keeping any sort of journal/diary/something I have to update regularly (ie. this blog...) is not exactly my strong point, but I do think I've been more aware of the good in my life and felt more grateful than ever for it this year which I guess is the purpose of a gratitude journal?
Spend less time on social media
Check! I did a social media ban for Lent this year (read more about that here) and I'm very glad that I did it.
Take more photos
Nope. Well, when I was on holiday, I took a lot of photos of any and everything around me. But when it comes to being at home, my camera roll turns mostly into screenshots if I'm honest. I need to take more photos of myself, my life, my friends, my family. Again, something to roll into next year.
Stay away from f*ckboys
Um. Haha. No. Moving on...
Stick with your gut instinct, stop asking others for advice when you already know what you're going to do
This is something I'm quite bad for doing. I'm terrible at making decisions, both actually deciding but also for always making bad choices. I think I probably did a bit better at actually making my own decisions this year and sticking with my instinct rather than trying to get friends to decide for me? Maybe?
One more that never made it to the list on my phone was actually inspired by a friend. We were discussing new year's resolutions on our drive back from uni for Christmas last year and he said that the only thing he wanted to do was to spend more time with his extended family, as he sees how much his nanny et al love when he goes to visit them and he wanted to share more of that joy with them.
I'm pretty rubbish with extended family usually but this year I've been to a wedding for one cousin, a birthday party for another, and dinner for another. I've been to visit my nana in Winchester and had her come to stay with me at home for a week. I've been to my granma's for afternoon tea, nibbles after work one evening, and we spent Boxing Day together as a family. I've probably seen more of my extended family in the past year than I have in the past 5 and I've actually really enjoyed it.
So all in all, I think 2017 was definitely a year of some self improvement, but there's still a lot of aspects I need to work on. I'm not sure I'm going to write a list of actual resolutions for 2018 now actually, but I do want to:
- Read more books
- Make more of an effort to bring happiness to my friends' lives
- Look after my health
- Be more consistent in basically all aspects of my life
And one major milestone in my life that I'm hoping to hit is possibly buying a house! At the very least I want to sort out my financial position so that I'm ready to do it as soon as possible. So sadly that probably means less travel in 2018, but hopefully it'll all be worth it.
What were your resolutions for 2017? Did you actually achieve any of them? Let me know!
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