My New Year's Resolutions

For the past month,  I've kind of been pretending that it's not 2019 already...it feels like it was only yesterday that I was gearing up for 2018. Unfortunately, despite shutting my eyes hard and wishing time didn't move so quickly, here we are, already at the end of January.


Of course, there are so many things to look forward to this year (my first show at NYU! Three new Marvel movies! Turning 20 years old!) If you know me, you know that I'm a very big fan of goal setting, so naturally, the new year is a great opportunity for me to talk all about plans without being looked at weird. As I think it is for most people, I don't have a perfect track record of sticking with my resolutions. Last year, I tried - for the first time, could you believe it? - actually writing down my New Year's Resolutions. I put them right at the beginning of my bullet journal (something else I tried for the first time last year), so I was reminded of them everyday when I opened it up. And because they were always on my mind, I was more determined to stick with them.

There is a sort of accountability when you write goals down, and even more accountability when you share your goals with others. I always feel more obligated to do something for myself if I've told another person about it. And because of my relative success of keeping with my resolutions last year, I decided to take it a step further this year and share my resolutions with all of you! Better late than never, right?

In 2019, I want to...

Live healthier. 

Out of all my resolutions for this year, this one is probably the most cliche. I think everyone wants to be healthier. They're joining gyms, starting diets, etc., etc. While, yes, I do want to continue to be healthier in what I eat and do, what I'm really committing to this year is living healthier mentally. I want to be okay with myself when I have two pieces of cake and a soda in one day, just as I would be okay with myself if I had a salad for lunch and finished my water bottle. My body is capable of doing so many things, and I want to love it no matter what it looks like!

I also want to deal with my anxiety more head-on this year. For awhile, I've justified skating by therapy sessions and the likes by convincing myself that since my anxiety issues can be pretty come-and-go, that they weren't still a serious issue. Being healthier means loving and accepting myself enough to accept help from others. And that's definitely a point I want to reach this year.

Live bolder. 

I've made so much progress this year in terms of being bolder and more confident in life and in my work, and for that I'm really proud and grateful! However, there is always room for improvement, and there is still the little critic (I had a teacher earlier this year who dubbed it "the 13-year-old" inside of you) who hangs around a lot of the time. I don't have a place for that in my life - nobody does! Fear is excellent at doing it's job. It keeps you safe in dangerous situations. But it works so well that it can keep you from doing things that will help you.

Grow the blog. 

This one is going to take a lot of work. As of right now, my posts on the blog are less than consistent. Sometimes I forget to send out my email notifications about posts, I rarely remember to make a newsletter to my followers, and advertising my posts on my personal social media doesn't always happen. For someone who is usually so good at organizing, I let this go by the wayside more than I should! That's why this year, I'm going to make sure to dedicate time specifically to making this blog everything I've wanted it to be since I first started - a little slice of my life, updated in real time, and a place that I love to come to, rather than a place I sometimes forget is at my fingertips, and sometimes feels like a chore to keep up. This is mostly a mindset (and organization) change, but keep your eyes peeled: I've been working hard at a surprise that should be coming very soon! :)

All three of those resolutions are, I feel, doable in my life right now. Of course, always one to overload, I do have some smaller ones (Honorable Mentions, if you will):

- Read more books
- Keep up with the news better
- Finally do the splits
- Try new recipes
- Continue to learn French

I know, there are a lot of points here. Maybe more than I can achieve in the span of 12 already jam-packed upcoming months. But if you know me, you know that putting too much on my plate doesn't stop me from trying to eat it all.

Tell me, what are your New Year's Resolutions? Are you excited to work on them?

Lots of love,