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[New Year's Resolutions] have achieved lift-off, and are moving into orbit
Mortal Sky
queer punkhedge witchRegistered User regular
queer punkhedge witchRegistered User regular
What are you up to in the New Year to self-improve?
Personally, I'm finding myself at the end of 2017 looking at a lot of reasons to make earnest life improvements as I move into the post-college job market
Stuff I've got in mind:
Using the KonMari method to improve my personal spaces and decrease clutter
Write that research grant to go chase bizarre African frogs which I've wanted to do for years now
Be politically active in Virginia to help the right candidates take office
Be a bit less tech reliant
Read more scientific literature
Manage stress before it becomes anxiety
Be proactive in getting things done ahead of time
Also I have been walking a bunch and eating well so I'm not in poor shape, but I can certainly add more strength exercises and proper high intensity cardio to my life
What is on your list?
Oh, and a reminder that this is not a general mental health thread
Personally, I'm finding myself at the end of 2017 looking at a lot of reasons to make earnest life improvements as I move into the post-college job market
Stuff I've got in mind:
Using the KonMari method to improve my personal spaces and decrease clutter
Write that research grant to go chase bizarre African frogs which I've wanted to do for years now
Be politically active in Virginia to help the right candidates take office
Be a bit less tech reliant
Read more scientific literature
Manage stress before it becomes anxiety
Be proactive in getting things done ahead of time
Also I have been walking a bunch and eating well so I'm not in poor shape, but I can certainly add more strength exercises and proper high intensity cardio to my life
What is on your list?
Oh, and a reminder that this is not a general mental health thread
Mortal Sky on
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1. Don't be a dick (Restrain thyself!)
2. Exercise regularly (Yoga?)
3. Change my name(Natalie!!)
4. Change my gender markers(F!!)
5. Don't give up. (Don't. Don't do it.)
6. Start my undergrad(Fall semester)
Looking forward to 2018, to be honest. It can only get better from here.
Don't give up on hope
As it's the only thing I really have to get out of this mess
1. Relearning French to a conversational level, so I can participate in work chats in both languages
2. Getting into a new martial art school
3. Depending on finances, have either an apartment or a car by the year's end and substantial savings before I go for either
3DS Friend Code: 0216-0898-6512
Switch Friend Code: SW-7437-1538-7786
Maybe also work on the weight and budget things.
3DS Friend Code: 0216-0898-6512
Switch Friend Code: SW-7437-1538-7786
14 months later, I find myself divorced and in this apartment for at least the next year, but I haven't done anything about my belongings other than replacing a few kitchen implements that live in Houston now.
I went through my clothes yesterday and pulled about 2/3 of them to donate (or turn into dustrags, in the case of some of my more raggedy t-shirts) and I think I'll move on to my books today. I don't think I'll go full feng shui as the book seems to recommend, but I'm going to try to spend the next year getting rid of inessential items and replacing my cheap junk with badass replacement junk, as befits my new status as Eccentric Bachelor Gentleman.
Mark art that means something to other people.
Play tabletop games not just for public consumption.
Help build communities and support others when I can.
Maybe eat a little healthier.
And finish some personal projects.
Also, I bought a journal for bullet journaling. So I guess "do that."
- work on learning Spanish with consistency, because holy shit does not speaking Spanish really limit me in south Texas
- get better at money. once PAX South is over I want to try YNAB and see how I like it. I also set up Ally accounts for my husband and I - we each have an individual money market for shit we want to buy not out of the joint checking (like gifts or stupid shit) and a joint savings account. need to edit all our direct deposits.
- go back to reading more and aimlessly fucking about on my phone less
Check and see if your local library subscribes to Overdrive, the free ebook and eaudio service! That way, fucking around on your phone and reading can be the same thing!
1. Read a book per month.
2. Exercise 2 hours per week, about 15 minutes per day.
3. Write 1000 words per week.
4. Start therapy
I also want to learn Spanish this year. I'd love to get to a basic conversational level in time for the Central America trip I'm currently planning for 2019. Hopefully we get some more Espanophones (yeah that's a word) as volunteers this year so I can practice on them.
Also: read at least 36 books, do some fuckin exercise, and save £££ for aforementioned CA trip.
stop smoking tobacco
move to a blue state
to rest
they do! I can't read very well on backlight and my adhd means if I'm on my phone I'll tab out of a book about a billion times, so I have a six year old kindle that I use. it's just getting back into the habit of putting the damn phone down... I went 30 years without a smart phone, I can go a few hours of reading time
I’m pretty sure those were my resolutions last year too! Yeah consistency!
Guatemala has some really good Spanish language schools in Antigua. Like, they have a whole industry around teaching tourists Spanish via 1-on-1 tutorial lessons with locals. And it's one of those ethical tourism activities where the money is funneled back into local economy to benefit the community. It's basically how I learned Spanish when I went there for 3 months. It can be totally worth it to spend a week in a UNESCO protected heritage city just doing a mad crash course to really improve your language competency.
I wouldn't say I succeeded, but I wouldn't say I failed exactly either. I kind of came to the point where I was once again really enjoying reading and fitting it into my life, but at the same time I found that I didn't want to be always reading - just reading more frequently, and finding that balance was an important part of my rediscovery of joy of reading last year. So now I'm working on getting the balance right, and quite happy with how that turned out as a goal last year.
This year I'm tossing up several ideas, but it's important that I really only stick to one or two I think are achievable. Working around the idea that last year's resolution really worked for me, most of my ideas revolve around either concentrating on attempting to enhance the hobbies I've already got.
I'd like to do 1 or 2 of:
- Commit to watching a movie at home every fortnight. There's a long backlog of movies I've missed for whatever reason (mostly kids) and film is one of those things I really enjoy.
- Spending more time with Photography again. Last year I suffered a few technical issues which basically put a crowbar into my keeping just on top of my photography; instead I basically got overwhelmed and froze on doing one of my favourite hobbies. Not just catching up with last year but going back through into the past decade of old photos I've never got around to sorting, organising and post processing would be a big task, but one I think would lift a bit of weight and guilt off one of the ways I like to pass my time and get back to enjoyment, growth, and experimentation.
- Gaming: pretty much just digging into my Steam backlog and keeping it churning. I don't necessarily need to make it smaller, so long as things are getting crossed off. Also, Kees is getting to the age where I can really start beginning to game with him, and I'd like to explore that more. Of course, I'm pretty sure most of this will happen whether I choose it as a goal, or not, so it's really a bit of a gimme.
- This one's a bit left field, but - learn guitar? Unlike the others, this is less about finding more enjoyment in my existing hobbies and instead just adding another new hobby into my life I'm already finding difficulty fitting in. But learning new skills and talents is also an important part of keeping your life fresh and Kees will be starting to learn instruments this year also, so maybe learning together will be a fun bonding thing? I've thought about this as a resolution for 2 or 3 years now, but have put it off because it is the one that most didn't fit my life, but it's been hovering around at the back of my mind for a while now and hasn't quite gone away; however I am concerned that the longer I put it off the less likely I am to ever take it down and give it a go. Admittedly, that was also how I approached the idea of taking up Photography a decade or so ago. So I'm a bit torn on this one.
There's a few other goals that will be getting done regardless: we managed to buy a house for renovating at the end of 2017, so much of 2018 will be planning, starting, and overseeing what amounts to building our family dream home to last us the next 20 years, which is going to take up a bit of time and mental space from my 2018. And I'm looking into a year of career transitional change, although I'm not sure what form that will take yet. Finding my forward from what I've done and where I've got to at work this year will be a slightly daunting challenge, and I'm really not sure what my job will look like a year from now. All I really know is that what I'm doing now is not sustainable, so it's time for me to go out and stretch myself again.
My options are probably go into a ludicrous amount of debt to go to school without really knowing what I want to study or get some kind of job.
I mean besides trying to get active and healthy again and trying to find some more hobbies.
This sounds awesome. I already decided I want to start in Guatemala instead of Mexico so that would work out well.
God dang though I am only just starting this plan and I already feel like it's going to be impossible to fit in everything I want to do.
My 2018 resolutions:
-get 8 hours of sleep every night.
-cultivate an interest outside of game development. I'm thinking learning a language?
-go to more shows
-demand more of my friendships, and be a more reliable friend in turn
Guatemala is awesome and I can share a lot of knowledge of the country, as my brother-in-law lived there for many years and had all the connections and local hook-ups. Hit me up in the travel thread sometime and I'd be happy to give advice and recommendations.
Step up my muay thai training
Learn to play the guitar
I will make an effort to keep more regular communication with my international siblings. Already I have failed my little sister on that front. This year I won’t make that same mistake. Me being lonely is fine, her feeling that cannot be accepted.
this pretty much sums up where I'm at
ENG 101 is a requirement for every degree plan I’ve looked at, and most community colleges only charge 200-400 for 15 credits per quarter. Going to school as an adult blows, trust me, but man....gotta find an advantage anywhere you can.
I sat through a few weeks of classes I wasn’t registered for my first quarter going back to school. It helped me figure out what I wanted to learn more about. Maybe it’d work for you too?
stop drinking soda
Get more exercise
survive our impending move
Time Lords have this little trick
Sort of a way of cheating death
I stabbed Gustav, just like you asked... He ain’t ressurectincarnating, boss.
I'm also going to see about foraging a lot more food as it's fun and interesting
If we stab them and they regenerate, they're a timelord and will be immediatly shipped to Area 51 for an autopsy.
If we stab them and they die they're a human and will be given a good christian burial.
It's a totally fair system, everyone wins.
I'm not a violent person, and I try to not be hateful to people. I do, however, hold severe grudges against people who I think have "wronged" me. It's completely passive, but I hold in anger and almost obsession in ways that just build up and really make me a worse person.
Without getting specific, there was someone this year that I really felt wronged me, as well as someone who I felt was a friend. I don't want to get into specifics, but the both of them did something after I let them know how I felt about the situation that made me feel as if neither of them actually cared about me as a person. It just burned within me and I could tell I was being awful to the both of them, tried to explain my situation, and wound up losing the both of them.
This year I really want to find ways to let that type of thing go. I've taken steps in the previous situation, but still suspect that I am being used. I hope in the new year I find a way to gain peace.
30 ain't shit.
A bit of trivia: putting the shawl on her head and making the face was an improv by Lis.