Around this time of year your newsfeeds are full of articles on whether you should or shouldn’t make resolutions for the new year, and if so what they should be. Although I have made resolutions in the past, I stopped making them a couple of years ago. I didn’t really have a reason to stop, in fact, I think I just kind of forgot about it or couldn’t think of anything else to add to my list of resolutions that would just carry over from year to year because I never really got around to them. However, there was one resolution that I made three years ago the last time I wrote down a list, and I happened to accomplish it in 2016. The resolution read as such, “go to Spain Madi. Don’t be a little bitch.” (I promise I normally am much nicer to myself.)
So, although I think resolutions can be kind of a waste of time, I do have one piece of advice for you as we enter the new year. You know that one thing you have always thought about doing, or that one place you’ve always dreamt of visiting? Do that, go there; whatever it is that you have been putting off for so long, make that your one and only resolution. You can lose weight, practice yoga, or eat more veggies anytime, but by putting off the thing that you really wish you could do (you can by the way) you’re putting off living your life.
I know it’s unrealistic to assume that everyone can afford to just book a ticket to their dream destination tomorrow, but that’s not what I’m suggesting. Start making a real plan. Write down the thing you have always wanted to do, but for whatever reason have kept a dream. It will take going out of your comfort zone and it will take adjustments to your daily lifestyle, but do you really want to be that person who in their old age can only talk about the things they wished they had done? I didn’t think so. So start today, write it down, start a Pinterest board, look up flights, hotels, sights you want to see, whatever planning your dream entails.
Most importantly, start saving. Saving money is sometimes hard, but most times it’s actually quite simple. My most practical advice (and what has helped me save) is to simply track your spending for one week, and at the end of the week add up the totals in categories like bills, food, booze, gas, etc. (Try to pick your most average spending week, or do this for one month and find a weekly average if your spending is very irregular throughout the month.) Split your rent and monthly bills into 4 to determine how much they cost per week. Subtract your spendings from your weekly income. Save the difference. Next, decide how much your dream will roughly cost you, decide when you realistically can afford to go, and divide that cost by the amount of weeks you have until your trip. Compare what you need to save per week with what you are able to save with the difference between income and spending, and make adjustments accordingly. For me, this meant less outings with friends, which at first was hard, but when it’s $30 for beer and mediocre food or $30 for a plane ticket in Europe, I choose Europe. Not everyone in your life is going to understand your lifestyle changes, but just remember what you’re working towards and how much it will mean to you to finally accomplish this goal.
So, although I have always let my resolutions rest on the back burner, last year I decided to take the plunge and move to Spain for four months. It was scary, and at times overwhelming, but it was the single best decision I have ever made, and everyone deserves that feeling. For you it may be simply a week-long vacation, or a road trip across the U.S., or quitting the job you hate to follow a passion you love. Whatever it may be, don’t let another year go by making cliché resolutions that you know you won’t follow anyway. Even if you will learn to golf or lose ten pounds, don’t let such ordinary things define who you want to be this year because you are much more than the stupid lists that magazines suggest you be. So this year, if you’re going to make any resolutions, make it uniquely yours, make it big, and make it happen.
