It’s January of a New Year so you know what that means…time to embody the age-old cliché of sharing some resolutions for 2017. I’ve never understood why New Year’s resolutions always seem to get a bad rep. Sure, the incessant “New Year, New Me” status updates on Facebook can get a little repetitive, but I see nothing wrong with wanting to channel a little optimism and putting into the universe your hopes for the upcoming year. While 2016 was an amazing year for us here at Fish (#blessed), judging by the approximate 8 million memes about how last year was pretty crap-tastic for most of the world’s general population, I’d say it’s safe to say that many people are heading into 2017 hoping that this year is a little more generous with its good karma.
Putting karma aside, there are many ways you can use simple resolutions to set yourself up to be successful and positive for the next 365 days. I’m a go-big-or-go-home kind of girl, so naturally I’ve compiled a list of the 9 resolutions I’ve established for myself this year (plus, everyone knows that no one actually reads anything if it’s not in list form). Without further ado, here are the things that I’d like to accomplish, bad habits I’d like to break, and new things I’d like to try in 2017. Check back in 12 months from now to see the follow up post on which resolutions I actually stuck with.
- Read 52 new books. That’s a book a week, which for me is actually a pretty realistic goal since if I like what I’m reading, I’ll usually finish a book in less than 2 days (#HumbleBrag). I’m anticipating the hardest part of sticking to this one will be running out of books to read, so if anyone has any suggestions feel free to send ‘em over.
- Run a half marathon. Andie, Tiff and I are planning on running a half marathon in Chicago in July. If you’re thinking to yourself, “WTF who in their right mind would want to run 13.1 miles,” I don’t blame you. I thought the same thing when Andie signed up for a half marathon last year. However, seeing the energy of the crowd and how proud she was of herself after finishing the race made me want to do it myself. As of today, I can run no more than 2 miles at a time so say a little prayer for me.
- Always take a lunch break. If you know anything about us Fishies, you know we are full-blown workaholics. It’s a natural side effect of actually enjoying your job. However, I know that taking even a 20 minutes lunch break drastically helps with productivity and diminishes the 3 p.m. crash. So, I’m going to try and make time everyday to take a break and disconnect.
- Cut out meat from my diet. I’m not going to be “that girl” and go on a rant about how bad eating meat is for you and the environment. I’ve spent 26 years as a meat-eater so this will likely be my hardest resolution, but one I hope to stick to. If anyone is a vegetarian and has any advice on making the switch, give me a shout and help a sista out!
- Cut down on Netflix. After a long day at work, my go-to activity is to get in bed and zone out to Netflix until it’s time for sleep. While I believe that binging a great series once in awhile is essential for mental health, there are much more productive things to do after work than watching 3 hours worth of Parks and Recreation episodes I’ve seen a hundred times already.
- Do an ‘experience’ once a month. Whether it’s taking a cooking lesson or exploring a new area of Miami I’ve never seen, my goal is to do something once a month that I’ve never done before.
- Implement a “no technology before 8 a.m.” rule. I’m one of those psychopaths who wakes up at 4:50 a.m. to workout (shout out to my obsession Orangetheory Fitness #ClientLove). I work out extra early so that I can have at least an hour at home to relax and enjoy my morning before heading to work. However, I end up doing myself a disservice by spending that hour scrolling aimlessly through Instagram, responding to emails and catching up on Twitter. I spend enough time staring at a screen throughout the day, so it’s important that I give my mornings back to myself.
- Quit smoking I have struggled to control my stress forever and at some point or another it manifested into smoking. If I had a bad day, I would smoke, if I had a breakup, I would smoke, and eventually, I would smoke no matter if it was a good or a bad day. So I set out on a mission to quit smoking and after reading a vaping blog I was able to switch to vaping and hopefully, this should lead me to beat my cravings this year!
- Start writing in a journal. As someone who loves to write, you would think this is something I would already be doing, but unfortunately, I’ve tried and failed several times at keeping a journal. I start out strong writing consistently for a few weeks and then it ends up at the bottom of a drawer never to be thought of again. However, this is a healthy habit to keep so I’m giving it another go in 2017. Fingers crossed.
- Keep a positive attitude & count my blessings. I’ve saved the most important resolution for last. If there’s anything 2016 taught us, it’s that all of us are incredibly lucky to have the miniscule problems that we stress over. The situation in Syria is one that stuck with me all year, and likely will continue to do so in the New Year. All of the images capturing the destruction the war has wreaked on innocent people are seared into my brain, and have made me more conscious of my attitude when I deal with comparably insignificant problems like sitting in traffic or having deadlines pile up. If I had to choose just one resolution to stick to, this would be it.
