New Year's Resolution

January 1, 2021

I know every New Year millions of people say “this is going to be my year,” but this year is actually going to be my year. What’s different for me? I’m going to make it my year. Yeah, I know that everyone makes a list of New Year’s resolutions that they abandon by the end of February, but this is different. I’ve created a foolproof formula for a New Year’s Resolution that can be held for a full year and I’m already implementing it. 

Instead of setting a series of specific, measurable tasks to add into my life like everyone else, I’ve established a system. “Go to the gym once a week” leaves no wiggle room or interpretation. It can’t be adjusted or re-evaluated if it needs to be. It just fails the first time you can’t make it to the gym for a week. Then, once you’ve failed, it’s abandoned forever. That’s why I’ve decided to create one, blanket resolution, personally weaved with intricate steps and extra ideas and various plans for implementation. 

The resolution itself: become a better me. Easy right? I have an entire year to simply improve myself in some way. As long as on December 31st I can name one thing about me that’s improved from the year before, I’ll succeed. But I’m not taking any chances. I’m covering all my bases and taking steps towards improvement in various areas. That way, if one fails, it isn’t an end to my improvement. I just refocus it. 

Obviously, this resolution is too vague on its own, so I’ve identified some areas with room for improvement and jotted down ideas for how to work on each one in little ways. Also, I’ve decided to journal my progress so that I am holding myself accountable. Initially I was thinking about journaling once a month, but that seemed too similar to those doomed resolutions I’m trying to avoid. So I’ll journal when I journal and that’ll be enough. 

February 5, 2021

I’ve been taking notes all month for this entry of progress, but I wanted to wait at least a month to journal so I didn’t set up a journaling pace I couldn’t sustain. After all, we need sustainability to last all year. I even pushed it an extra few days to relieve any pressure to journal on the first of next month. That’s how much I’m killing it with this resolution. 

First, I’ve been washing my face every night and applying anti-aging cream and this serum that’s supposed to brighten my skin. By the end of the year I’ll be glowing. Not to mention the long term effects this is sure to bring! Improvement of appearance is looking promising. 

I’ve also been doing nice things for strangers regularly. I try to give a compliment a day, but I don’t really keep track, for obvious reasons. I’ve taken to buying the homeless man on the corner a coffee every time I go to my favorite coffee shop. I’m becoming such a giving person. 

Still, I’m doing more. I have 5 different daily brain games I play. I look forward to each one each morning, so I’ve yet to miss a day, but it wouldn’t be a big deal if I did. Doing them at all is really strengthening my brain, and that’s sure to last. 

I’m even becoming more adventurous. For one, I’ve been trying new coffee places instead of always going to my same spot. I know they’re a little pricier, but it’s still less than the two coffees I get at my go-to, so I feel like it’s worth it. I can’t wait to see what new things I try next!

March 7, 2021

My progress has been so impressive that other people are starting to notice! My boss even called me into his office to say “What is going on with you? This is not the person I hired!” I was so thrilled he noticed how much I’ve changed. He even started giving me less projects to work on as a show of support, giving me more time to work on these personal changes. 

I’ve continued with the cream and serum, but I’ve decided I really don’t have to wash my face anymore since they make it so I won’t have to wear makeup. I also kept up with my compliments, though they are distributed more randomly. Instead of one a day, I’ve taken to just giving seven at a time at least once a week. It’s crazy how we live in a world where people can’t take seven straight compliments without getting suspicious. Maybe I can change that too. 

The daily puzzles are my favorite thing. I can’t help but do them everyday, without fail. I can’t even think about work until they’re done! Luckily, they’re making me smarter so I can do my work better after, making it a true investment of my time. I’ve even ~adventured~ into adding more puzzles on a lot of days. You can tell it’s working just reading that great transition into my adventurousness improvement. I almost never go back to my old favorite coffee shop. I have a new one I go to regularly. I’m like a whole new person! Just ask my boss. 

April 1, 2021

I’ve failed ALL of my endeavors!!!

April Fools! Not only am I going strong on all four of my ongoing improvements, I’m finding it so easy that I’ve decided to work on becoming funnier too. What’s to stop me from being the pretty friend, the smart friend, the kind friend, the smart friend, AND the funny friend?! I think my friends are noticing me moving into their territories though and trying to hold me back. I overheard them once complain that I’m “only focused on myself” lately, so I know my self-improvement is bugging them. Oh well, I don’t need friends who don’t want me to better myself. Maybe new friends can be the next way I improve myself! Plus, adventuring into new social circles can be my new adventure now that I’ve settled into this new coffee shop. I can even bring back my compliments to initiate conversation. I had to pause them because I was getting annoyed by how suspicious and weird everyone was about them. Like, just be grateful! I can’t wait to see where these new ideas take me! This brain improvement is seriously amazing!

May 15, 2021

I’m writing this a little later in the month because I’ve been soooo busy with my new friends. That’s right, I’ve already succeeded in that endeavor. This plan was the best idea ever. I don’t know how everyone else hasn’t figured out how to keep their resolutions. I met them at a bar when they just came up to me after my coworker went home and said they overheard us and were in the same business! We have so much in common, working at the only two companies in the city that do what we do! We’ve been spending a lot of time together and they are always asking about me and my life, like they truly care. It’s so sweet. They even push me to be more adventurous, breaking policies at work because they’re curious about the differences in our procedures. They’re such nerds, but I love them. 

June 16, 2021

A new, unforeseen improvement: I get to look for a better job. My boss was not happy about me giving company info to the “competitor” even though I tried to explain they were just my friends and they were curious, not trying to steal anything. I think they got in trouble too because I haven’t heard from them recently. They must have had company phones or something. Oh well, I need a career that’s more challenging. I spent most of my time goofing off anyway. 

Still, I have my brain games, though I’ll need to go to a library or something to play those since my laptop and smartphone were company property and I just have a flip phone now. I’ll buy my own once I get that new job and income. I also will have to suspend my skincare until I have a cash flow, though, once I run out. I’ll give compliments to interviewers to knock out two birds with one stone! Not to mention, the job hunt is an adventure in itself. 

July 18, 2021

Improving my romantic life was unintentional, but it’s such a big improvement. I met Blaithe at the library, also using the public computers. It was love at first sight, which I think just demonstrates my physical improvements have outlasted my supply of skincare products. He moved in almost immediately. He already had all his belongings packed up when I met him. It’s fate! He’s so sweet and he keeps the apartment up while I’m out searching for new jobs. It’s taking awhile since I did have to take a job at a coffee shop to pay for groceries and now that there are two of us living there, I had to start Ubering on the side. It’s kinda scary as a woman, but I have pepper spray and I tell them there’s a dash cam in my car live-streaming, so it’s been alright so far. Blaithe needs time to work on his art, but once it takes off, he’ll take care of me and I’ll be the one staying home all day! For now, I have enough savings to keep up with rent for a few more months until I find a long-term job. Maybe Blaithe’s art will take off before then so I don’t even need another desk job! We’re both optimistic about it.

August 20, 2021

I’ve been trying to take on too many endeavors, and to be sustainable I have decided to narrow them down. After all, we are in the final stretch and I don’t need as many things to fall back on. Plus my romantic improvement takes a lot of time from other areas. I’ve already dropped the physical improvement, since Blaithe assures me I don’t need it and money would be better spent on more art supplies to invest in our future. I also am no longer looking for new friends. I don’t need them now that I have Blaithe. I’ve decreased my puzzles to just the ones in the daily newspapers of the coffee shop, but I continue to improve my mind. I also use the comics to get ideas for humor, and Blaithe laughs at my jokes all the time so I know it’s working. I keep trying to get Blaithe to go on adventures with me, but he made the brilliant point that nothing is more adventurous than trying to make it as an artist in the city and I am a part of that adventure. He really does make me better. 

September 24, 2021

Obviously, Blaithe has been a huge help in my own personal improvement. After all, he is a part of me and I am a part of him. Since he is a part of me, I’ve decided to improve him too, as a thank you for how much he’s helped me. I wanted to start by really pushing him in his ambition, so I stopped buying his supplies. If he has to make what he has count, I just know that will be the push he needs to make it his best work yet. I’ve also been giving him more time to work and resuming my quest for improvement through new friends by spending time with my coffee-shop coworkers outside of work. Working in the customer service industry has made me drop the pursuit for kindness, though, as it is never met with positivity. Plus, I’m doing so well with my mind improvement, social improvement, and romantic improvement. I don’t need it at this point in the year. 

October 26, 2021

I know it’s ambitious to bring on another endeavor this late in the year, but this month I’ve really grown in my independence. Blaithe left for another woman who would pay for his art supplies, but really it’s just another opportunity for my growth. Plus it shows how against growth he was. I didn’t need that negativity. My coffee shop friends also gave me more independence when I got fired for constantly trying to sell art to customers without permission. They didn’t really care that I wasn’t going to do that anymore post-Blaithe. This does give me the chance to really focus on finding a better job. It does, however, take away my access to those newspaper games. I guess I’ll turn my attention to becoming adventurous and independent for the remaining couple months. 

November 28, 2021

With one month remaining, it’s time to focus my attention on my most promising remaining improvement. I found a stable job in a mailroom and I hope to work my way up, so I’ve decided it’ll be best to play it safe and not be adventurous. Living alone in the city and making it on my own makes me feel so powerful. I am truly thriving as an entirely independent, self-reliant woman. Look how much I’ve conquered this year already! My independence is improving ten-fold and I don’t intend to abandon that. 

December 31, 2021

It’s been a full year and still I’m journaling my progress. That’s a success as far as keeping my resolution. I’ve grown so much in my independence, though I can’t say I wasn’t independent at the beginning of last year. That was more of making up for lost ground. I feel like I look the same as ever and, as we know, I’ve abandoned kindness and adventure, so that leaves my mind. I’ve learned a lot this year, through not only my puzzles (which I still often do when the recipient of mail isn’t at their computer), but my experiences. I will use this improvement of the mind I’ve achieved to formulate my resolution for 2022. Now that I’ve proven I can keep one for a whole year, I can’t wait to start on this next one: set lower goals.