2015 Resolutions, Ambitions, Goals and Stuff

I've been making New Year's Resolutions since the age of twelve. Twelve (12). I was growing up piling up teenage magazines - no internet and blogs back then, we had to pay for reading fashion, organization and inspiration. I wonder what it's like to be growing up now, I bet kids nowadays have no idea about those monthly glossy magazines that taught us how to kiss. (Was anyone else freaking out over the first kiss? Good.)

Anyway, over years I've usually been good with keeping around 50% of my resolutions. To be honest, I don't know if it's a good score or a bad one. I mean, I would have never had less than 10 resolutions. So keeping at least 5 good habits over a year is a good thing... I suppose. On the other hand, I'm a bit nerdy so having 50% basically means failing. That's not what I usually do.

Now at least I know what my weak sides are. I will never be a person that hits the gym three times a week. I will never keep my room tidy at any moment. I will always have a pile of clothes on my bed that I will move onto the chair come time to sleep, and than back onto the bed when I wish to sit at the desk. I will always be the person who writes the Conclusion section of a paper 10 minutes before the deadline. But I can (try to) stick to small things, and make them count. Or even challenge myself to do some big ones. Since I'm writing them down publicly for the first time ever, I suppose (and hope) it will give me a sense of pressure to stick to them. You're allowed to unfollow should I report that I broke some of the promises. Oh, I'm joking, you're not, please don't go. So, here they are. I might inspire you to adopt some of these. Feel fee!

Run. I honestly don't know why I'd ever stopped running, because the after-feeling is probably the best in the world! And this is coming from a person who is everything but an active type. So, because of that and because I live in the center, near the uni, and walking for 20ish minutes a day is my only exercise, I'm looking forward to going back to Groningen where my running shoes are. No excuses this time. Besides the obvious benefits of a physical activity, if your mind is set on one thing the whole time - a nasty approaching exam, a bad breakup - running will help, especially if you're a beginner, because you will not be able to think about anything except "you can do it, you can do it, two more minutes, go girl". Trust me. I found a program for beginners that I think is good, so I'll try and stick to it.

Declutter. As I said, I'll never be a super organized person with that room you see on the blogs and wish it was yours. But I can minimize the amount of stuff I have around myself. I already threw away a pile of clothes from my closet here at home and plan to do the same with some things I never or rarely wear in Groningen. The same goes for jewelry. And magazines. And basically... everything. Living out of a suitcase - not literally, but quite close, because I haven't had a base for two years now - is really helping you get this perspective: things are just things! I mean, I do love my clothes and my necklaces and everything I own (I'm a sucker for cute things so everything I have is cute). But I've come to terms with the material properties of those. Everything is replaceable, and yes, some things remind me of certain events and people and that's why they are dear to me - but they only remind me, they're not those events and people themselves.

In Groningen it won't be as difficult, as I already started getting rid of stuff I don't really need. Here at home it will be challenging - we have boxes of toys, clothes, old textbooks... that are ages old! I took up the decluttering project, only to realize I need my sister's help, and she lives in another town. So I hope when I come back home in summer, we'll end that and only save those items we will need in the future.

Save money. I'm terrible with money. If I don't have it, I manage. If I have shitloads of it, I just spend, spend, spend. Travels, clothes, magazines, cute mugs, flowers for my desk, eating out... yes please! But on January 1st I sat down and asked myself where I would like to travel this year. Turned out, even though I had some vague plans of going to places in Europe where I have friends, my heart actually wants to go to America. Who am I to object?! I checked how much it would cost to get to New York City, then to Los Angeles and then back home. I was in complete shock, because it's a lot, really A LOT cheaper than I'd thought! It's totally manageable. Of course, it means I have to save a lot more for spending there, but I decided it's a travel goal I want to achieve this year. I challenged myself not to buy any clothes until the last day of June - maybe one pair of jeans could be allowed. Then my friend from Amsterdam told me that the sales are crazy in January, so I kinda revised that challenge - shopping sprees in January allowed, everything else is a big no-no! Nail polishes included. I'm crazy about those and I want to have every shade of every color - but now it's time to save some. Only if I'm out of my Essie Blanc white polish. That one's allowed. No new jewelry. No glossy magazines in languages I can't read. (Do Italian and German count? Oh, decisions, decisions.)

Little things. Whatever I do, it seems that the little things are the ones dragging me back. For example, when you pack, it's rather easy to pack big bulky items like clothes and shoes and purses; but then you have to decide on the makeup, and gadgets, and sunglasses and just annoying little things. There are so many little things I've been planning to do for ages, but I never do. Like cleaning my Downloads. And Desktop. And unsubscribing from all the annoying mailing lists. And deleting photos from my phone. And looking up the words I've been writing down (mostly in the phone) in the dictionary. Sending an e-mail to a girl from England whose lovely photo I took in Berlin. Sending an e-mail regarding a possible internship. Finishing a paper. Sending a letter to a company I might work with. Editing the contents of my Ipod Shuffle - the majority of songs dates back to 2008, no wonder I skip most of them. Learning how to use Evernote. And Prezi.
(As you can see, I've already done some of these since I wrote this post. Yay for me!)

Get up, do my stuff, make coffee and THEN look at my phone. I hate this habit of mine, but I'm not very successful in kicking it. The first thing I do when I wake up is reach for the phone, and then check all the notifications, messages and social media. I hate it, and for a while I've been feeling really determined to stop doing it. I want to be a normal person in the morning that only reaches for the social media after she's peed. Seriously.

Write. Posts for my blog, snippets of my thoughts for Facebook, long e-mails. I love writing. I'll just try to do it as much as I can, because that's the way you improve, right?

Blog-related resolutions

Post regularly. The Archive section on the right says I published 65 posts in 2014, which a) means one post every 6 days on average; b) is little, because that's what I would think if I saw that number on someone else's blog. My goal last summer was posting twice a week, and sometimes I would manage (sometimes even three times a week), but at other times I would just be lazy or uninspired. And that's totally OK if you ask me, and no, I'm not promising I will write when I don't feel like it. But I'll just try and feel like writing a bit more. ;)

Blog makeover. I really want to have a blog makeover, but I lack time and skills. I might buy a ready-made design, or just get into coding and design and stuff. I do have a vague idea of what I want this place to look like, so we'll see where it gets me.

Pinterest. Officially, I have a Pinterest account, but I don't remember ever having entered this social network. I've certainly never pinned anything. But it seems to be a good way to drive traffic to the blog and have access to great and inspirational material, so I'm a bit curious now. At least I'll try.

A borrowed resolution

NaNa from the Kulture Kween had only one resolution for the last year. It was fun and easy to stick to, and I liked it so much I told her I would have that as my own too! It was to wear lipstick more. So far I only have three or four shades, and one of them is bright red so I wouldn't wear it on a daily basis, but I really like how lipstick looks on me. I'd love to buy some more shades, but in that case I will have to wait for July. Nevermind - more lipstick it is! Bring it on! ;)

Do you ever make New Year's resolutions, and do you stick to them? 

I love this feeling of a fresh start. Even though everything is as it was few days ago, opening a blank yearly planner really feels awesome.

Love, Tihana

P.S. Here's a recap of my 2014 and lessons I learned on the way. Curious about what I will write in the 2015 one! :)

Also, here's how I did with my resolutions three months later & six months later.

Photo source: 1 / 2