It's that time again, and I figured that I might as well do a short blog about my New Year's Resolutions.
I dislike the enormous amount of celebration for New Year, since it's amongst the most arbitrary of all the things we like to celebrate. However, it is convenient to use the fact that we're back to January to start a new thing, and quite frankly it's a good excuse for me to sort my life out!
So, my New Year's Resolutions in no particular order, and some more important than others:
1. A press-up for every day of the year
This is something my brother-in-law did last year, and managed to get about half-way through before failing* if I remember rightly. Essentially, I'm going to do a press-up for every day of the year that has gone so far. So on the 1st of January I did one press-up. Yesterday I did two, and today I'll do three. I suspect that when we get towards April, this one will start to get difficult!
* Upon reading this my brother-in-law (who incidentally forget that he is such) would like to make it known that he didn't so much "fail" as "stop because doing press-ups was not a priority that day in June when he was curled in a ball hallucinating after a whole night of projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhoea." Sorry for the confusion Andy, that sounds much better.
2. More pride in my appearance
I don't spend much time in a morning making myself look presentable, but I want to change that for a couple of reasons. The first being that the vast majority of people will judge you based on what they see, so I want them to get a good impression before I open my mouth and ruin all. The second is that it just never hurts to look good, and I find that I actually enjoy looking my best. I've already been doing this one slowly but surely over the past six months or so: cutting my hair and losing my flesh tunnels chief amongst the changes I've made. I'll be shaving more often and trying to get fitter with this one as well.
The nice advantage to this resolution is that I'm easing myself in. By the time getting fitter actually becomes an issue, I should have a little more will-power stored up to succeed!
3. Practise Japanese more regularly
At the moment I'm still on holiday, though the days remaining are running short and I could do with getting some revision in. But I want to start revising every day: a grammar structure, or a set of words, or a thirty minute conversation; whatever it takes to just keep my Japanese ticking over.
4. Finish Maia's Lullaby
Maia's Lullaby is a piece of music I've been writing on the piano for the best part of two years and it's high time that I got it finished. If I get my act together, I can have it done, tweaked, written out neatly and recorded in time for her second birthday. And that's the target I'm setting myself.
5. Learn a new skill, or get a new hobby
This is probably the most generic of resolutions out there, but hear me out. Whenever I talk to my brother, I'm struck by how many things he has going on: he tinkers with cars, he plays most instruments you care to name, he plays Bloodbowl, and fiddles around with magic; all the while still managing to go to work; feed himself, his girlfriend and their menagerie of animals and generally get on with life. And right now, if somebody asked me what my hobbies are, I'd be able to say music and occasionally blogging. So I'm going to learn a new skill, or rediscover an old one. I'm going to make myself more interesting!
I think five resolutions is enough to be getting on with. And I also think, that in the first week of every month, I'll do a resolution update, to let the Internet at large know how it's all going and if I've given up on any of them yet.
Tally ho!
I dislike the enormous amount of celebration for New Year, since it's amongst the most arbitrary of all the things we like to celebrate. However, it is convenient to use the fact that we're back to January to start a new thing, and quite frankly it's a good excuse for me to sort my life out!
So, my New Year's Resolutions in no particular order, and some more important than others:
1. A press-up for every day of the year
This is something my brother-in-law did last year, and managed to get about half-way through before failing* if I remember rightly. Essentially, I'm going to do a press-up for every day of the year that has gone so far. So on the 1st of January I did one press-up. Yesterday I did two, and today I'll do three. I suspect that when we get towards April, this one will start to get difficult!
* Upon reading this my brother-in-law (who incidentally forget that he is such) would like to make it known that he didn't so much "fail" as "stop because doing press-ups was not a priority that day in June when he was curled in a ball hallucinating after a whole night of projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhoea." Sorry for the confusion Andy, that sounds much better.
2. More pride in my appearance
I don't spend much time in a morning making myself look presentable, but I want to change that for a couple of reasons. The first being that the vast majority of people will judge you based on what they see, so I want them to get a good impression before I open my mouth and ruin all. The second is that it just never hurts to look good, and I find that I actually enjoy looking my best. I've already been doing this one slowly but surely over the past six months or so: cutting my hair and losing my flesh tunnels chief amongst the changes I've made. I'll be shaving more often and trying to get fitter with this one as well.
The nice advantage to this resolution is that I'm easing myself in. By the time getting fitter actually becomes an issue, I should have a little more will-power stored up to succeed!
3. Practise Japanese more regularly
At the moment I'm still on holiday, though the days remaining are running short and I could do with getting some revision in. But I want to start revising every day: a grammar structure, or a set of words, or a thirty minute conversation; whatever it takes to just keep my Japanese ticking over.
4. Finish Maia's Lullaby
Maia's Lullaby is a piece of music I've been writing on the piano for the best part of two years and it's high time that I got it finished. If I get my act together, I can have it done, tweaked, written out neatly and recorded in time for her second birthday. And that's the target I'm setting myself.
5. Learn a new skill, or get a new hobby
This is probably the most generic of resolutions out there, but hear me out. Whenever I talk to my brother, I'm struck by how many things he has going on: he tinkers with cars, he plays most instruments you care to name, he plays Bloodbowl, and fiddles around with magic; all the while still managing to go to work; feed himself, his girlfriend and their menagerie of animals and generally get on with life. And right now, if somebody asked me what my hobbies are, I'd be able to say music and occasionally blogging. So I'm going to learn a new skill, or rediscover an old one. I'm going to make myself more interesting!
I think five resolutions is enough to be getting on with. And I also think, that in the first week of every month, I'll do a resolution update, to let the Internet at large know how it's all going and if I've given up on any of them yet.
Tally ho!
I got caught-up on the word "press-up," then figured out by context it's just another way to say "push-up"! I've made it a goal to do SOME push-ups every day - either the same amount or more than the previous day. My resolutions post is in the works. Hope you can stick with all of yours! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteI know a few people who've gotten stuck by "press-up" :P
I think five might have been a little optimistic... Though enough of them are more passive than active, as it were so maybe it's dead on ^_^