I used to make New Year’s Resolutions. Sometimes they were the cliche ‘get in shape’, ‘eat healthier’ resolutions that lots of other people seem to make. Other times it was a smaller, easier to achieve goal; like the time I gave up donuts for a year back in 2007. Here’s the thing, I don’t really eat donuts, so giving them up for a year wasn’t terribly difficult for me. However, there was that one time when a former co-worker not only brought in donuts for the whole office, but he (without knowing I’d given up donuts for the year) got me a special pink donut because pink is my favorite color. I felt bad, but I kept my promise and did not eat the donut! I don’t know who ended up eating it, but it wasn’t me. It was the only time in my life I’d actually followed through with a resolution!
The reason I don’t make resolutions anymore is because I don’t like disappointing myself. I’m the type of person that likes to follow through with promises I make, and when I can’t follow through with a resolution, I get bummed out and feel like a failure. Who wants to feel like that year after year? Not me!
So instead of resolutions, I make goals. In the past, it’s been a simple and generic life goal such as “I’m going to be a better person.” Well sure, I try to be a better person every day of my life, so it’s fairly easy to reach that goal. This year I’d like to work on personal development. I’m still going to try to be a better person, that’s a given, but there are things I want to do for myself this coming year and they are as follows:
1- I’d really like to learn how to knit. I learned to crochet when I was 9 years old and I really enjoy it. I have seen some beautifully knitted items on websites like Etsy, and I would like to learn how to make those things too. I got a head start on this goal, as I went online last week and attempted to teach myself how to knit from the internet. So far I have figured out how to do one stitch, it’s a start!
2- I want to read/listen to 50 books in 2017. I set a goal for myself in April of 2016 to read/listen to 40 books this year and I read 46. So for next year, the goal is 50. I listen to a lot of books in the car and read quite a bit in my spare time, so I think I can achieve this goal!
3- I want to learn another language in 2017. I’ll admit it, I took 4 years of Spanish in high school, excelled at it and don’t remember a dang thing. It’s sad I know, but I never use Spanish, so that’s why I don’t remember any of it. I think the smartest way to go about choosing a new language to learn, would be to go back to Spanish. I feel like I’ll pick it up quickly and maybe remember it, just like muscle memory when you finally go back to the gym after taking a significant amount of time off!
4- I want to learn how to sew in 2017, on a machine. I know how to hand sew, kind of poorly, but I can do it. Sewing on a machine is also something I learned in high school but haven’t done it since and I don’t think I remember how. I also remember that I wasn’t good at it, but I was just a kid, so I’d like to give it a whirl again! I was telling my dad about this goal and he casually mentioned that a relative who has passed on left him her sewing machine! I have no idea how he, a man who does not sew, ended up with it, but he offered it to me, and I happily accepted!
So there you have it, 4 goals I am ready to achieve in 2017. Bring it on!
