It’s 2018! Finally we’ve left the absolute sh*tshow/hellscape/dystopian novel that was 2017. And although numerous bad and/or terrible things happened last year (both personal and general), I’m legitimately excited for what 2018 has to offer. I’m looking forward to a relatively successful (gotta keep those expectations realistic), hopefully peaceful year, and I know plenty of other people are feeling the same was.
But along with a new year comes the stereotypical New Year’s resolution game that we all play with ourselves — the one where we pretend that the relatively minute switch from one year to the next (aka the magical powers of time) have totally changed us into different people. As skeptical as I am about the ‘magic’ of this transformation, I do think that it has its perks. After all, there’s something about the beginning of the year that seems (to be disgustingly cliché) full of possibilities.
There’s also "new year new me", which I like better if only because there’s more responsibility — resolutions are mostly about promising yourself/others that you will eventually do something at some point to improve your life. It’s not really an active sort of thing, because you’ve only “failed” when the year is over (so no pressure until 11:59 on 12/31/18, I guess). NYNM, however, requires that you make some sort of evident lifechange. It’s not some vague promise to self-improve...you’re telling everyone that you’re going to undergo a complete personality overhaul, complete with better behavior and fewer poor habits. This, of course, is usually a lie, but it can also be a pretty good gateway into becoming a better person.
Having said all of this, I actually have a confession to make:
I have some New Year’s resolutions of my own (I know, I know). But I want to make them sort of a mashup between the two — the flexibility of a flippant resolution, with the demand of NYNM that makes it a permanent life change. In short, there are things I want to change about myself, and the time to start... is now, I guess. Anyway, a few of the things I want achieve are:
- Stop procrastinating. This is a weird one, because I’m really dedicated to maintaining my GPA. Yet I procrastinate sooooo hard. It’s not even like it’s because of difficulty; I let things sit because I a) don’t want to do them and b) know they don’t require 100% of my ability and thus can be successfully rushed. It’s so bad.... so I’m going to change it.
- Do things I like to do. I feel like most of 2017 was as follows: stress/work/stress/work/work/fun/more stress. I want to maximize the fun, okay? I work waaay too much (and at hours that are way too weird) for someone trying to enjoy college life. (This definitely cancels out my 3rd want, which was to make WAY more money. You can’t have it all, I guess.
Anyway, that’s about all I have (really, all that I’m willing to share). But I think I have a good start — they’re simple wants, with one goal in mind: making life easier (so that I can be happier).
