The Year That Was and the Year That Will Be
Just slightly late to the New Year’s Resolution party, but better late than never right?
The Year That Was
2009 was a year of firsts. Moving out of my parents place for the first time, moving in with my boyfriend, moving across the country, having to fend for ourselves for meals, dealing with household bills, starting a new business, making new friends, going to new places. It was scary, it wasn’t always easy, I didn’t always get it right, but looking back I think overall it was a great year. You learn so much faster when you have to strike out on your own – which is what I had to do with both my living situation and work – and even though it’s tough in parts, if you survive you come out with a ton of knowledge and confidence that you didn’t have before. And it’s exciting, especially when things work out right!
These were my resolutions from last year, and this is how I did:
- Get fit and healthy – Okay, failed and went backwards with this one. No wonder it’s always on my resolutions list.
- Learn to cook – I’m not going to claim to be a brilliant cook, but between Jeff and I we’ve been cooking and eating pretty well for the past year (with only the occasional instant ramen or baked beans on toast). It’s become more than just a necessity, and turned into a hobby that we both really enjoy.
- Run a successful business – While I earned a little less than I might in a full time job and didn’t save quite as much as I would have liked, I’m still going to call this one a success. I love the freelancing lifestyle, and now that I’ve gotten the hang of things I think things will be going up from here.
- Keep on top of paperwork - Sort of? I still hate paperwork and am incredibly happy with my decision to hire an accountant so I don’t have to deal with the complicated stuff, but the rest I have pretty much down.
- Keep improving – I think my design work, business skills, crafting skills and general interpersonal skills have improved last year, so gonna call this one a success too!
The Year That Will Be
While 2009 was a year of firsts, 2010 will be a bit of an in-between year. We’re spending another year in Canberra before moving back to Perth and getting hitched, which means that a big part of this year will be preparing for next year – saving money, working hard to build a solid business, planning a wedding… Doesn’t sound quite as exciting as last year, but you never know what life will throw at you.
Here’s some resolutions for this year:
- Be healthy, drop a couple of dress sizes and stay there – every year I aim to be more healthy, and every year I seem to get worse! This year I’ve joined a gym and have a more clearly defined goal than ‘be healthy’. I’m sure some people who know me might say I don’t need to drop any sizes, but the fact is that I’m 1) very unfit, 2) bordering on overweight and 3) not completely happy with my appearance. In the end it’s an incredibly personal thing, and I’m not at all judging people who are comfortable at a weight and size larger than mine – I’m just not happy with the way that I am, and the direction I appear to be heading in. Likewise I need to stop assuming that skinny people talking about losing weight are judging me!
- Eat fruit – yeah, I rarely eat fruit. It’s not that I don’t like fruit, I’m just… lazy? Undisciplined? I think mostly I need to get into the habit of eating fruit regulary.
- Save money - moving interstate, weddings (both our own and all our friends who seem to be getting married around now), going on holidays, buying a place and everything else costs money that we don’t currently have enough of. Just need to be more disciplined this year and save save save!
- Work more – to help with the above.
- Work and manage time more efficiently – again to help with the above.
- Keep improving – gotta keep improving!
- Get out more – because spending days at a time where your only communication with people is with your fiance whom you live with and a ‘hi’ to the check in lady at the gym is probably not healthy.
- Be awesome – I think this is self-explanatary.
2009 was a tough year for a lot of people that I know, so I really hope that 2010 treats you better!
