New year, new resolutions!!
Looking back, I’ve accomplished a lot in the past 6 years of setting New Year’s resolutions (read resolution result blog posts here). I’ve successfully built some really good habits like reading, exercising, making my bed, drinking water, and flossing. This year, I have some goals that kind of came up out of the blue in the last few weeks of 2024, but I’m excited to see if I can accomplish them.
- Be in bed by 10pm every day
This is a carry-over goal from 2024. I was only successful 37% of the time, and I know I can do better! The goal is to be in bed by 10pm and read for 30 minutes, then go to sleep. My sleep has been pretty awful for the past 10 months, and I’m hoping to fix it this year. - Stretch 3 times a week
Honestly, this might be the hardest resolution on my list. I hate stretching. Also yoga, except candlelight yin classes where you mostly just lay on the ground. I’ve never been flexible, but it’s something I’ve known I needed to work on since I was little (I could never do the splits in ballet when I was like 8, but my sister could). I’m looking into assisted stretch sessions on ClassPass and will probably book a few of those in addition to doing some YouTube videos. BRB, Googling “how to touch your toes in 8 weeks.” - Watch 1 movie a week from Maddy’s Movie Challenge
If you read my Mixed Bag post, you know that my friend gave me a long list of movies to watch, tailored to my preferences (no scary movies, no blood). I honestly suck at turning on the TV, but I do want to try to get through her list! - Journal 3 times a month
Last year, I wanted to journal once a month, and I think I can make it an almost weekly thing. Maybe I’ll set an alarm and try to do it every Sunday night. - Make 2 new recipes a month
I feel like I’ve had cooking resolutions every year, but this year I’m gonna do it!! I have a variety of cookbooks and I even bought Molly Baz’s Cook This Book, so I’m going to try to get through a lot of recipes instead of just having salads and my same old recipes. - Make a new friend within walking distance
I feel like making friends as an adult is so easy, yet so hard. In LA, if you live over 5 miles away from someone, you’ll hardly see them (it’s true, I don’t make the rules). I’ve had one success story with Bumble BFF (hi Sierra if you’re reading this!), so I might try that again. I also made a new friend through a neighborhood Facebook group last year (hi Stephanie if you’re reading this!). I’ll also try to go to more run clubs and community events. - Do 5 new hikes
I bought hiking boots last year, and I want to use them more! I did 3 hikes in LA in 2024, but I know there are many more trails to try. - Volunteer 5 times
I feel like I was constantly volunteering in high school and nothing fills your cup like filling someone else’s. Volunteering was a resolution a few years ago, and I haven’t really gotten back into it, but I’m excited to find some opportunities to give back and find some fun events to help out at. - Complete the Google Analytics 4 online certification course
I use Google Analytics to analyze web traffic for this blog and I got Google Analytics certified a few years ago, but now they’ve changed it, so I need to get re-certified. I know it’s going to take way longer than I want it to, but I’ll try to complete even just 10 minutes a week. If you’re interested as well, you can enroll for free here. - Learn to embroider
In my head, I’m going to start an embroidery empire. Not really, but I bought this canvas for my bathroom from Etsy for $27 and I feel like I could make them myself? I think they make great birthday presents and they can be super customizable. I don’t currently own any needles or a hoop, but I’ve taught myself a lot of skills from YouTube, so how hard can it be? - No adding books to my bookshelf or buying new clothes
My bookshelf is overflowing with books that I’ve collected from little free libraries, Half Price Books, and library book sales. I think I own like 80 books, which is far too many since I’ll eventually have to pack them and move them one day. I’d like to cut that in half by reading them and leaving them in little free libraries. I didn’t buy any new clothes in 2021 (read about that experience here) and I wasn’t planning on doing it again, but then I bought a lot of clothes in 2024, so here we are again.