You spent the first five years trying to get with the plan
This is not a list of resolutions. Resolutions are empty promises. This is a list of five things I want to do this year and the general theme is to simplify my life:
1) Purge things: CDs, clothes, things I've not used in the past year. I have too much furniture and too much stuff right now. For the next month or two, I will be decluttering and will soon have boxes of things I am donating or throwing out.
2) Keep track of my spending: I've started recording everything I spend my money on and I hope this practice will help me find ways to reduce it once I see bad habits forming in my expenses.
3) Make my home my home: This is related to the Great Purge. In the past three years, I've moved eight times (including moving twice in Hong Kong alone). It's time to settle down and make my apartment my own. Last night, three months after moving into my current apartment, I attempted to put curtains in my room. Turns out the drill is broken and I failed, but it was a step in the right direction. Anyone have a working drill?
4) Walking: Of course, no New Year's goal list is complete without a reference to exercising. Yes, I plan to play squash more regularly (anyone need a partner?) But even more than that, I'd like to walk around the city more. I've been pretty good with it lately, even in the colder weather it feels great. It's about the physical activity but also the interaction between pedestrian and environment. I feel much more a part of the city when on foot than I do in a vehicle.
5) Stick to my schedules: This is the hardest because it relies on other people but I guess I have to be a bit of a bummer and say no more often. I like to map out my own schedule days in advance, whether it's in my head or in my agenda. Unfortunately, with the way people make appointments with each other, they're rarely concrete plans. I blame the cell phone, people just say "I'll call you later" instead of making a plan that moment. I need to balance the spontaneous with the schedule and the key, I think, is to stick to my priorities, which are, more or less, mapped out above.
