Call this a New Year’s resolutions post of sorts.
My 2017 has been incredible. I travelled a bunch, visited new places, had a lot of awe-inspiring experiences.
Travel highlights include: Munich in Germany; Naka Island in Phuket, Thailand; Milan, Lake Como, Cinque Terre and Venice in Italy; the French Riviera; Swiss Bernina train ride in Switzerland; and finally ending the year with diving in Moalboal in Cebu, the Philippines (more on that coming up!).
According to my calendar, it looks like I’ll be collecting more travel highlights in the coming year. I’m MAD EXCITED for 2018.
I learnt stuff in 2017 as well, like how to embrace change. How to take on challenges with an open mind. How to be less fearful of my emotions. How to let go of feelings that don’t serve you. How to be ok to be vulnerable. How to be ok with being heartbroken. How to love more fearlessly and honestly. I’m constantly reminded to be thankful that I live a life of eternal optimism, and that is a choice that everyone can make.
As we welcome in the new year, I hope that we all have more faith than fear; more love than ego; more listening than talking.
Oh, and let us all laugh just a little bit more.
MY 2018 Resolutions
My resolutions may look like a hodge-podge, but principally they all fit either of these criterias: easy, achievable, stress-free. Bonus? They are all also really fun.
- Visit at least three new countries or cities.
- On top of that, visit a new country or city within Asia.
- Get my Advanced Diving certification. To go deeper and for the night dives!
- Go on at least two dive trips.
- Visit an animal sanctuary.
- Learn a third language.
- Write daily (outside of work), even if it’s just for 30 minutes.
- Set specific time aside daily to work on this blog. Let’s start prioritising our hobbies more.
- Get better at photo editing and curating.
- Practice yoga often. Get stronger and more focused.
- Finally try this meditation thing. I heard it’s good for monkey minds like mine. Be more zen and chill like my spirit animal, the turtle.
- Pad out my investment portfolio a little bit more.
- Take charge and start a new project at work.
- No complaining about work.
- Listen more. Do not interrupt.
- Spark more conversations with strangers.
- Go vegan at least once a week. Meatless Monday.
- Learn to do a mean, tight Dutch and French braid. Just because.
How to set New Year resolutions
I’m not a big new year resolutions type of person, because you can change your life and habits anytime. Like right now. But I heard 2017 was a shit show for a lot of people, so maybe resolutions can help bring in some sunshine and hope for the year ahead.
When people give up on resolutions, they don’t really fail fail. Most of the time, they set themselves up for failure. From not having an easy actionable plan, to making it so damn hard to accomplish that they just give up halfway.
My rules for resolutions or goal-setting revolve around these:
Step 1: What do you want to achieve?
For eg: “Be a better writer.”
Step 2: Break down that monumental goal into actionable steps and habits.
“Write everyday.”
Step 3: Continue breaking down the process until each step is: easy, achievable, stress-free.
The idea is to create a habit that you know you can inculcate. The basic idea here is to JUST START. Start small, but at least you did something.
“Write everyday, even if it’s just for 30 minutes.”
Step 4: Get a calendar that shows the entire year in one single page, so you can track your progress and manage expectations.
You want a wall planner that shows the entire year at a glance, instead of monthly. Something like this or this works very well.
Alternatively, you can use apps if you’re more tech-inclined. Some apps to try include Habit-Bull and Habitica, which turns the process into a fun game.
Step 5: Don’t be too hard on yourself.
Some days you can’t reach your goal or complete your habit and it’s ok. We’re all too hard on ourselves and we should stop that.
So go forth, and let 2018 be a year of fun and ~goals~.
Cheers!
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