New Year, Not That New Me.

Somehow it’s already January, which means another round of adamantly announcing your resolutions to anyone who will listen—and avoiding your inevitable failure by February.

But not this year.

Before anyone thinks I’m trying to claim that I’m special in any way, it has nothing to do with suddenly acquiring an iron willpower to be a better person. Instead, my approach to resolutions this year has less to do with changing myself, and more to do with trying to be more involved and interactive with the world around me.

As most of my NYC-based friends know, I spend 99 percent of my time working. When I’m not at one part-time gig, I’m at the other. And if I’m not in the office, you can guarantee I just spent another Friday night babysitting small children in hopes of stressing a little less about my financial situation.

But in doing this, I’ve quickly discovered the horrible downside to focusing on consistent cash flow is that my friends come second to a night with 2-year-olds, and an extra hour at work comes before a quick class at the gym. It’s not that I’m money obsessed, but I think career obsessed would be a better adjective. I work, and work, and work, putting my relationships with my friends, city, and most importantly myself, last.

In 2018, I wanted to create a plan that let me actually adjust this mindset without adopting an unrealistic overnight approach. Which is what led to my 2018 monthly resolutions. While I did create one yearlong goal—to write on my blog and in my personal journal at least once a week—the rest of my resolutions revolved around monthly adventures or goals to become more present in my life.  I’ve shared this plan with quite a few friends and many agreed it was a great approach with a few even outlining their own resolutions (and it also helps that some of the monthly goals are actually fun instead of serious).

So if you’re looking for a doable way to approach resolutions, I’ve created a rundown of my own monthly goals. While they definitely might not match yours, I think there’s plenty of space for figuring what you want out of life and putting those desires to action with this type of plan. Personally, I plan to check-in at the end of the month to share my findings and reveal what I liked or didn’t like about the experience. That way I not only have #content for the blog (52 entries is a lot….), but a way to hold myself accountable.

Here’s the rundown:

January: I want to watch one documentary every week. While I spend hours browsing Netflix before indulging in movie marathons on HBO, I rarely watch something educational. Realistically, I don’t want to spend a ton of time outside in the winter, so I figure this is a good way to at least learn something between binging F.R.I.E.N.D.S. episodes.

February: It’s the end of #fitfam2018, so I figure the gym will have cleared out exponentially by this time. It’s not that I have zero faith in mankind, but I’ve been there. Which means, it’s the perfect month to go hard in the gym on the adventure to finding a sense of balance between work and my personal health. This entire month, I plan to go to the gym at least four times a week. Not only will the return on my gym membership be overdue, but hopefully this also gets me through the February funk.

March:  But before I can overdo the fitness routine, March will come to the rescue with a goal to go on an adventure with at least one friend every week. While this might seem minuscule, and even normal to some people, I can’t remember the last nice dinner I had out catching up with someone I haven’t seen in awhile. And because it’s my birthday month, I think my friends will have a harder time refusing.

April: The arrival of spring, and occasionally high temperatures, means April is the perfect time to take on a stack of solid reads. I plan to read at least one book every week, which means I’ll likely read more books in April than I did during my freshmen year of college. How depressing for a former bookworm…

May: At this point it’ll almost be spring, which means it’s time to get out and giveback. For the entire month of May, I want to volunteer at least once a week. Unfortunately, my current priorities do not include volunteering. While one month of trying to make a change in the world can’t wipe away my empty slate, it's definitely a push in the right direction. 

June: Throughout June, I want to push myself to be much better with keeping a journal. So for the entire month, I want to write every single day. Who knows, maybe I’ll actually finish a journal this year?

July: In July, it’s hot. Which means the last thing I want to do is hang around my roasting apartment. Instead, I plan to try a new restaurant every single week. I’ll take advantage of the air conditioning while downing frosé. What more could you want?

August: In August, it’ll be the one-year anniversary of moving into my second Brooklyn apartment. At this point in time, neither Sarah nor I have plans to move out. Realistically, we’ll be headed into year two, which means it’s time for some “spring-cleaning.” For the entire month of August, I want to get rid of one thing a day that I no longer need and donate it. This suggestion, from Fotini, is a great way to ensure I’m not emphasizing material items too heavily.

September: After a month-long cleanse of items, I want to use September as an opportunity to cleanse my body. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll cut out sugar, ditch the alcohol, or simply focus on a whole-foods based diet with lots of home-cooked meals. But, I do know this month is about investing in my physical health and trying to make it a priority.

October: After a month of focusing on myself, this month is all about getting back out there to explore the city I love. Throughout October, I want to attend one cultural event or visit one cultural place a week. For example, I want to finally go to the Whitney, attend at least one concert, and wrap it up with a walk around a new neighborhood I’ve never bothered to see. I live in a bustling, beautifully insane city. I need to appreciate it.

November: For the month of November, I want to keep a strict budget.  Christmas is just around the corner, which means December is a time of seeing friends, buying White Elephant gifts, and spoiling my loved ones. I’ll plan ahead by packing lunch, avoid unnecessary spending on that coat I absolutely do not need, and focus on staying affordable. At the end of the month I’ll take a look at my spending and try to see where I can cut, and where I can maintain going into 2019.

December: I want to make December about the people I love again. To wrap up my year of resolutions, I plan to handwrite a letter to a loved one every week. I’m not sure if I’ll pick one-pal, a handful, or simply write just one letter to each person. But I think this is a great personal way to remind the people around me that I truly do care about them and value their place in my life with something I love— words.

I know that every year, you already learn a lot about yourself and continue to grow into the person that you want to be. For me, these goals are a way to feed that growth and continue to develop pieces of myself that can easily be pushed aside when they're not a priority. And who knows, maybe I’ll have started a new annual tradition.

Or I may hate myself on December 31, 2017 for ever thinking this was a good idea.