Breakfast-at-Hollys

Over the last year, one thing I’ve determined that I find great value in is sticking with things. I’ve always been a very passionate and enthusiastic person so when I discover something new that grabs my attention, I want to jump right in. Of course, and I think this is true for most people, time and effort can really make various goals and interests difficult to sustain. For example, it was very easy to get excited about Bitcoin in November 2017 when the prices of it were absolutely SKYROCKETING and I was practically planning my retirement by the age of 25. Flash forward to me now at 25 (not retired) it’s a bit more difficult to hold true to my commitment to cryptocurrency, to believe it will ever make a comeback, and/or that my naysayers may have been right all along. Ouch. Regardless, I stand by my vaguely researched decision (and I’m so glad that I didn’t put all my eggs in that basket, let’s be honest). Just like I’ve stuck with Bitcoin, partially because I don’t know how to get it out of my computer, I am going take the bold step and declare some New Year Resolutions (and stick to them.)

First and foremost, I want to continue to try to be the healthiest version of myself throughout 2019. My health has improved a ton over the last year and a half as I cut down on the amount of drinking I was doing, generally not keeping alcohol around the house and really considering it as more of a treat than an everyday thing. Alongside that, I also gained a ton of experience cooking and preparing food for myself which really cut down the amount that I eat out. When I was in college and traveling I would legitimately eat and drink out with friends everyday of the week and living in a bigger city on a budget really doesn’t allow for that kind of socializing for me. However, cooking and baking have become some of my absolute favorite things to do and I love sharing a meal with others and trying new recipes. This change has ultimately given me more control over the food I eat and in the next year I want to continue experimenting and setting aside the time to cook. Once I broke the cycle of eating out constantly, I got really used to feeling better, saving money, and in the habit of cooking so this is something that won’t be hard for me to stick to. One thing I want to bake that I never have: Bread!

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Along similar lines is the commitment I’ve made to myself about being active. Making room in my life for exercise has been such a game changer, making me feel more confident and genuinely surprising myself about the things my body is capable of. I want to continue being active four or five days a week throughout 2019 and keep pushing myself to try new sports, activities, and things that I can’t do (yet!). I also want to incorporate yoga into my routine weekly because I don’t slow down and stretch as often as I should.

Part of me sustaining this goal and my wellbeing in general is maintaining a healthy relationship with exercise and sticking to my personal mantra that “doing something is better than nothing,” AKA: I don’t have to go crazy at the gym every single day, getting out on a walk or stretching at home is enough! Specific exercise related goals I have are to do a Crossfit competition within this year, back squat my body weight, work on my handstand without the wall, and to run a 5k race when the weather gets better.

Next up: Je vais apprendre le français (I am going to learn French). Learning a new language is SO hard and in a bilingual city it’s too easy to go with what I’m comfortable with, rather than challenging myself to speak French. But, knowing I should take full advantage of the unique culture Quebec offers and wanting to be a part of it, I am going to quit playing it safe and commit to actually improving my conversation and listening skills. I am going to set aside time to work on French and French only, at least four times a week and practice with my built-in teacher (Phil). This will definitely be my most difficult resolution to stick with because it’s not always fun and I haven’t yet made practicing a habit. However, each time that I invest effort into this task, I learn something new and get more comfortable listening and talking. Also I know this is something I should prioritize now while I’m not working and actually have spare time, ultimately it will make a huge difference in my life here in Montreal.

A couple small ones:

Continue my “Social Sunday” tradition – not using social media on Sunday and maybe adding Monday to the mix as well

Aquire more plants

Continue volunteering at my neighborhood community council

Send birthday cards to my close friends as a way of keeping in touch from afar and showing that I am thinking of them

Keeping my Passion Planner up to date (thank you Kat!)

Doing the things on my Every Damn Day List, everyday – worth checking out if you haven’t heard of it!

Reading more than seven books, which is what I did this year! Go me!

And writing at least three blogs a month, because I enjoy it and reflecting and appreciating my life really boosts how I’m feeling

Some of my goals exist to set into motion other goals. For example, learning French will help me to get a job, which is a huge goal for my year, and getting a job will help me to pay off some debt and will allow me to join a Crossfit gym (which means that I will also be able to do a competition eventually). Consistently using a planner will help me hold myself accountable, make plans and track how my life is going.

As you can see, all of my goals are deeply connected to each other and I think that’s the best way to go about it because each one supports another. When I lose track of one aspect that is important to me, the others come into focus. The other thing about my list is that all my goals are realistic and don’t require insane lifestyle changes, because those are really hard to stick to! You can alter your goals or make new goals whenever you want, new planners come out all year long so go get yaself one and track your ups and downs! How I see it is the First of the year is a fun time to reflect and see life as a clean slate, but really you can Start Whenever, and if you mess up one week or month, it’s never to late to get back on track. All I want to do is make incremental change in my life, to keep up on the things that make me feel good and to find ways to put more of that into everyday. 

Do any of my goals ring a bell in you? Ps. Please buy Bitcoin.

H