2010
Thoughts | December 31, 2009
I’ve always thought New Year’s resolutions were cliched and inconsequential. Nearly everyone makes them, and nearly all of them sound the same: Lose weight, find happiness, be a better person, blah blah blah. And nearly none of them get accomplished, at least not to the degree that people intended when they made them. I personally remember my resolutions until about January 10 and then shove them aside and never look at them again. This fake-philosophical paragraph is probably just as cliched as New Year’s resolutions, though, and definitely more pointless because I’m going to make resolutions anyway:
- Be more positive. I’ve always thought I was a pretty positive person, but it’s all thought and no action. I think about being positive, but then I see the negative in a lot of things, and that makes me unhappy. For example, recently I’ve noticed that I’ve been quick to criticize people and develop a dislike for them because they’re annoying, even though I have little reason to be annoyed. I need to accept people for who they are despite their flaws, instead of placing them on a pedestal and expecting them to be perfect.
- Don’t let perfectionism be a burden. I’ve always believed that “perfect” works only as a verb, not a noun, because perfection is a good thing to strive for despite its unattainability. I’m much too much of perfectionist, though, and it makes me hypercritical and inefficient. I need to understand that neither I nor anyone else can make everything perfect, so I should be a little less critical and stop trying so hard. This will be hard for me because I value hard work and excellence so much, but I’ll keep reminding myself that excellent is not the same as perfect, and settling for good enough isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
- Go to sleep before midnight on school nights. Especially since I have 9-o’clock classes four days of the week this quarter. Toward the end of last quarter, I just stopped going to my morning econ classes… bad, bad idea. I’ve learned my lesson. I’ll save late-night debauchery for weekends.
- Get a 3.9 GPA. I want a 4.0, but I’m not so sure that’s possible. It’s a little unfair that people going to some colleges have a much easier time getting a 4.0 than people at my school getting even a 3.5, but I won’t dwell on that. A 3.9 allows me to get an A- in one of my classes, I think? I’m not going to do the calculations; I’ll just give myself the leeway to get an A- in my hardest class. This goes along with #2, I suppose — attaining good enough is not settling. Maybe I’m still being too perfectionistic? It’s hard to find that balance.
- Go to the gym at least once every two weeks. I said to mi madre the other day that I would go every week, but realistically speaking, that will probably never happen. Oh, who am I kidding, this will probably never happen either, but I thought five resolutions was a good number, so I’m keeping it on here. I guess this is really only resolution number four-and-a-half.
I was going for 7 resolutions, but that was just overkill. I am going to keep my resolutions this year, damnit. I’m going to bookmark this page and keep track of my progress.
On second thought, this goes completely against my philosophy of taking life as it comes. Like I said, it’s hard to find balance in anything! Ahh! Maybe my New Year’s resolution should just be to become more assertive and decisive. But some things never change…
Good luck with these resolutions! I think they are realistic enough to do them.
Have a great 2010!
Good luck with all of your resolutions, 03 is a big one for me as well I think. I hope your new year starts off well!
Good luck with all your resolutions, I know you can do all of them (even the gym one!).
What’s that hard class that you’re going to allow yourself to get an A- in?
I’m not sure; I haven’t started classes for winter quarter yet, so I don’t know which one is the hardest
But if you’re interested, I’m taking multivariable calc, a forensics class, an intro psychology class, an advanced Spanish class, and a seminar on the history of geisha.
Good luck with your resolutions, and wishes for a Happy New Year
#2, 3, 4 are big for me too
Well, I hope you meet your resolutions anyway, whether you decide the concept of resolutions works for you or not
I really need to work on #1, too. I can be so positive, especially on the outside, but sometimes I let the most insignificant things people do get under my skin.
I hope your resolutions work out for you
I’m definitely with you on #1. I am way too cynical and pessimistic for my own good. It’s funny, cause when I was little I was such an optimist, but now I am a very glass-half-empty person. I need to work on that…
Those are all good resolutions! They seem doable, and they would definitely benefit you. (Not just you… I mean, anyone, really. *babbles on*) Good luck with them all, and have a great 2010! <3
Happy new year
Good luck with the goals. #1 in particular resonates with me; I’m a pessimist and have been told that I’m too hard to please, because I also see the negative in a lot of things.
I wish so much that I could get into the habit of working out, and liking it. It takes what, 21 days to form a habit? That’s not very long. Realistically, if we focused on achieving one or two resolutions every day until January 21st, and then starting on the next one or two. This could result in 12-24 new good habits or old bad habits broken in a year, which would be MUCH nicer. Instead, everyone picks excessive amounts of resolutions and tries to do them ALL at once, and I’m not sure anyone I know has the attention span for that!
Good luck with your resolutions! I can relate to #1, so I’m going to try and be more positive too. Although I have become more positive since I started university.
Happy new year!
You are right! Most resolutions are pretty much cliche. I know mine is. I tried to come up with a better list, but nothing I originally listed seemed to be do-able until I came up with the most cliche resolutions list ever.
I couldn’t agree more with #1. I need to learn how to be more… accepting and positive. It’s sad that my mom still has to remind me to be nice with other people when I go out.
I managed to get a 4.0 because I worked so hard in Uni. I was practically there 24/7. I’m sure you work pretty hard too, but it just all depends on the grading policy, perhaps.
Ah, I hear you on #2. For me, it’s always been that ‘good enough’ is settling, too, because I know if I put in that much more effort, some thing more ‘good enough’ is possible. I guess it’s finding a balance between spending time on that, and investing it in other things, like my friends, that are also vital. But as with GPAs, other colleges may more easily get a 4.0. but employers and even the average person will know which is the better college, so it all works out — I’d rather get a 3.5 at a top college than a 4.0 at a college no one’s heard of.