New Years Resolutions

post your new years resolutions

ive never done a formal new years resolution, but this year i want to. ive been on the self improvement train for a while, and im inspired to write down and stick to some actual ones.

Ive actually made a few:

My Resolutions

1.   Read 1 to 2 Books Per Week

I'm going to shoot for two, but if there are longer ones or life gets in the way I'll settle for one. I'll be able to gauge this more after reading a few. It's been god knows how long since I've read a book. I used to read a ton as a kid, but stopped at some point after developing the "books are lame, fuck reading" mindset. I've recently been feeling guilty about this and recognized a while ago this was childish. I want to get back into it. I believe reading improves intelligence and one's ability to communicate ideas.

If anyone has any good book recommendations, let me know. I prefer novels - something that tells a story. I've tried reading informational books, though I tend not to become as invested in them as I would with a good story, even if I find the subject matter interesting.


2.   Begin Working Out Regularly Again

I started working out regularly spring semester 2019, and really went hard over the summer. I went to the gym every day after work, lifting weights on weekdays and doing cardio on weekends. I saw visible gains by the end of the summer. I continued towards the beginning of the fall semester, but soon fell off due to a combination of schoolwork, extracurriculars, laziness, and other responsibilities/distractions. Towards the end of the semester I was going once a week at most, sometimes less. I'm still in good shape, but I've definitely seen my body degrade slightly since.

I have two goals for this resolution:
1 - Be able to bench two plates.
2 - Attain defined abs.

My pecs and abs are definitely my least developed muscles. While I've been able to develop my arm muscles with ease, I've always struggled with my chest. Improvement has been slow and slight. Since losing weight and working out, they are definitely defined and are no longer man boobs, but they have plenty of room for improvement. As for my abs, I rarely do core workouts. I'm slim, but with virtually no core development, I'm all flab and no ab in that region.


3.   Maintain a Regular Sleep Schedule

My sleep schedule devolved so much this past semester. Mostly due to my own laziness and unwillingness to do something about it, though living in a frat house certainly didn't help. I've become borderline nocturnal at times, sometimes pulling all-nighters for no legitimate reason. It's not healthy. I rarely feel rested when waking up, and oftentimes the sleep I get is poor since it extends into the day and is often irregular.

This is an issue I need to fix. I missed a ton of class this past semester and it was my worst academically, which a myriad of other reasons contributed to as well. I have early-morning classes this next semester, so I'm going to need to fix my sleep schedule if I actually want to attend them.

My long-term goal for this is to be in bed by midnight. However, I want to build up to that. I'm still brainstorming, but I'm thinking about setting 2 a.m. as my current goal and soon bumping that to 1 a.m. Once I'm comfortable with that I can try midnight. My earliest class is at 9 a.m. this semester. Ideally, I'd like to get 8 hours of sleep. If I go to bed at midnight, I can sleep 8 hours and still have time to get ready in the morning.

Also, If I want to have the energy to work out, sleep will be integral.


4.   Improve Study Habits

Like I said, this past semester was my worst. Fortunately, my cumulative GPA is stellar, and being in my senior year, it won't change much regardless of how I do. However, I still feel shitty about my performance, and want to graduate strong. I've got a mean case of seniorities, and I have the GPA to support it. I'm not looking to 4-point this semester, but I'd like to get at least a B in every class. Historically, I've always shot for A's, but like I said, I'm pretty checked out at this point. If I can get B's in my harder classes and A's in my easier ones, my semester GPA would be just fine.

My resolution is to get all my homework/studying done on campus during the day. I've got some gaps between classes I can utilize, and can always stay longer if need be. If I set aside two to three hours each day to stay on campus and study, I should have no problem getting everything done. This will help me with my sleep resolution too, since I ideally won't be up late doing homework/procrastinating. One thing I've learned since starting college is the best place to get work done and study is on campus. Studying at home will never be as efficient. There are too many distractions, especially if you live with people. I was terrible about this last semester - living in a house with 17 other rowdy gentlemen is not the best environment for getting work done.


5.   Practice Conversation

This one I'm not sure how I'm going to set a concrete goal for besides "talk to random people more." I've historically been bad at socializing outside of my close friends, but I've become a lot better at it throughout the past two years, especially 2019. I've struggled with social anxiety my whole life, which I've only recently started to overcome and seek help with. I feel like I'm years behind in terms of my social ability because I've had less practice than most people. I usually shy away from socializing outside of my circle of friends. However, I've had so many opportunities to improve this aspect of my life the past few years, and I've capitalized on every one. This past semester, my living situation essentially forced me to be social 24/7. Also, taking on various leadership positions has drastically reduced my fear of public speaking and talking to people in general. In fact, I now find myself seeking out and initiating conversation with random people and looking forward to giving speeches. I still have room for improvement, but I'm very proud of how far I've come.

What I really want to focus on now is getting better at talking to women - flirting especially. I suck at this. Take the natural nervousness most people get when talking to someone they're attracted to, add social anxiety to the mix, and you've got a recipe for disaster. This is something I've been working on but not to the extent I'd like. I can say I'm no longer as anxious as I used to be when talking to girls - I still get nervous for sure, but that's normal. It becomes a problem when it's debilitating.

A goal I have in life (not necessarily for 2020) is to eventually be in a long-term, serious relationship. I have to start small though. I'm determined not to be the clingy guy who immediately starts taking things too serious. That definitely drives chicks away.

I've found that I'm actually really good at deeper, emotional conversations. However, I suck at small talk and oftentimes find myself trying to jump into deeper topics way too soon. I've learned my lesson with that. You have to go through the motions of small talk and getting to know someone before going deep. Fortunately, most women like guys who are emotionally available, so I've got that in the bag. I've found that I enjoy listening to people talk about their feelings and being there for them when they need me. I'm also not afraid to talk about my own emotions and problems. As far as that deeper connection shit goes, I've got that in the bag. My problem is getting to the point where that kind of conversation is acceptable. Save it for the pillow talk, not the party.


Conclusion

That's all I've got for now. These resolutions will probably evolve a bit since I just brainstormed them today. I might even add a few more. They all seem attainable - I said I had never made a formal new years resolution before, but I did put together a list early on in 2019 of goals I wanted to reach to better myself, and I actually followed through with them. I've been feeling proud of my accomplishment, but also recognize I have a long road ahead. I want to continue setting new goals to further my progress. Towards the end of 2019, I began slacking on some things, I think in part because I hadn't set any more goals since early in the year. I find that if I write my goals down and tell people, I hold myself more accountable and set my mind to succeeding.

That's about it. If y'all got any suggestions for more or additions to what I've got, let me know! Also, feel free to share your own resolutions in the comments below. As you can see, it's almost 8 a.m. as I'm about to post this lol. I have a ways to go for Resolution #3. This is so sad can we hit 50 likes? I also accept money via venmo. All my patrons get special patron-only benefits based on donation-tier. Only $100 for foot pics. Hell I'd settle for $1.

Alright I really should go to bed.

Fuck if I know. Move out like I was supposed to in November, I guess. Other than that, I dunno, might still aplly for school that starts in August this year rather than wait till next seeing what with the election and Iran and whatnot

hell yeah what u gonna apply for? and where?

better do it soon so you can avoid that draft baby lmao

Still hoping to be run over by the shitty school busline

Still hoping to be run over by the shitty school busline

that is a good one fellow millenial/zoomer

Not really a New Years Resolution guy but since it's basically a new decade and I have things to improve, why not:

1. Work out: I've been lifting off and on since 2010 and have made very gradual improvements over the years. Hopefully this will be the year ya boi really gets swole.

2. Try out online dating: Seems like I hardly meet any new people now that I'm out of college. Never really given things like tinder/bumble much of a chance.

3. Appreciate time with friends and family: self-explanatory.

4. Read: I think I said this same thing last year but I also ended up reading more books in 2019 than probably any year. It's interesting how much more enlightening reading a book is than just doing online research/watching YouTube videos/etc.

Anything else is more personal than I want to share lol.

Make the girl I'm seeing and talking to right now my first girlfriend

Get a better paying job

Buy a new exhaust system for my car

Buy a weekend car

Tomorrow resolution thread:

- write proper response to this thread
- write proper response to your ama thread
- surprise my mom with alarm that I set up on my phone to wake up tomorrow on time
- ignore alarm, sleep more, because I can't go sleep right now
- do housekeeping
- try NOT to play videogames and study instead
- try to find common topics to talk about with person that is always busy with job (not you) as a person who has no job

Tomorrow resolution thread:

- write proper response to this thread
- write proper response to your ama thread
- surprise my mom with alarm that I set up on my phone to wake up tomorrow on time
- ignore alarm, sleep more, because I can't go sleep right now
- do housekeeping
- try NOT to play videogames and study instead
- try to find common topics to talk about with person that is always busy with job (not you) as a person who has no job

i approve lmao

hey it took me a month to reply to u so no rush lol

If you're into scifi I highly recommend The Expanse books

i'll slap it on the ideas list. thanks!

Quote from: Casper on January 03, 2020, 02:49:21 PM

Quote from: basically GOD on January 03, 2020, 11:06:46 AM

Quote from: Casper on January 03, 2020, 07:21:22 AM

Fuck if I know. Move out like I was supposed to in November, I guess. Other than that, I dunno, might still aplly for school that starts in August this year rather than wait till next seeing what with the election and Iran and whatnot

hell yeah what u gonna apply for? and where?

better do it soon so you can avoid that draft baby lmao

Gonna apply to the university of Iceland and get a practical degree in Icelandic and German, just to get a footing and then hopefully move onto so etching else and end up staying there.

The only issue tho is that I need to apply in January and the school year starts in August, and that's every year. And with me trying to move, the timing is weird if I go to school this year. But homelife doesn't really work with waiting it out until August, especially since I'm paying rent on a place I'm not even living at because my mom threw a hissy fit about me moving out

ayy icelandic is a unique choice. any reason in particular?

also, weird your mom is so keen on you staying home... seems extremely overprotective/needy if shes pissed about you literally leaving for college

Iceland cuz I like the language, and cuz Germany and America are lost. Also yes she is excessively overbearing, especially considering I'm 24.  Not that I don't love her, I'm more afraid of wasting my youth in this shithole with her, never living, and then Day of Pillowing her ass when she's 63

Quote from: basically GOD on January 05, 2020, 05:04:21 AM

Quote from: Casper on January 03, 2020, 02:49:21 PM

Quote from: basically GOD on January 03, 2020, 11:06:46 AM

Quote from: Casper on January 03, 2020, 07:21:22 AM

Fuck if I know. Move out like I was supposed to in November, I guess. Other than that, I dunno, might still aplly for school that starts in August this year rather than wait till next seeing what with the election and Iran and whatnot

hell yeah what u gonna apply for? and where?

better do it soon so you can avoid that draft baby lmao

Gonna apply to the university of Iceland and get a practical degree in Icelandic and German, just to get a footing and then hopefully move onto so etching else and end up staying there.

The only issue tho is that I need to apply in January and the school year starts in August, and that's every year. And with me trying to move, the timing is weird if I go to school this year. But homelife doesn't really work with waiting it out until August, especially since I'm paying rent on a place I'm not even living at because my mom threw a hissy fit about me moving out

ayy icelandic is a unique choice. any reason in particular?

also, weird your mom is so keen on you staying home... seems extremely overprotective/needy if shes pissed about you literally leaving for college

Iceland cuz I like the language, and cuz Germany and America are lost. Also yes she is excessively overbearing, especially considering I'm 24.  Not that I don't love her, I'm more afraid of wasting my youth in this shithole with her, never living, and then Day of Pillowing her ass when she's 63

"pillowing her ass"

um excuse me what

actually finish my degree

hell ya scholarship u feel me

what u degreein?

Yikes

I don't think I've ever given new years much thought. Closest thing I can think of is telling myself that I'd manage my time better and keep working no matter how tired I am.