New Year Resolutions

It's that time of year again where we all promise to do things to improve our lives.

New Year Resolutions.

I look back at the list I made at the start of 2010. I made 10 resolutions (I'm not gonna tell you them all) and this is how they panned out.

1. Save money - well, I didn't exactly fail at this. I mean, I saved enough to go to Malaysia, Singapore, Kyushu twice, Nikko, NY, LA, Miami and Australia. I also managed to send a little bit home, which is something I haven't been able to do for a couple of years. The first 6 months of last year were definitely financially challenging, with the company I worked for going bankrupt and having to find a new job, but I have definitely come out on the other side smiling.

2. Get healthy - fail. I'm eating more crap than ever.

3. Go to the gym at least 4 times a week - fail. Ever since I started this new job, I've just been too tired to maintain any regular exercise schedule. There's no denying though that everytime I went, I felt fantastic afterwards.

4. Do sit ups every day - fail. Think that lasted for a couple of weeks tops!

5. Stop smoking - kind of fail. I didn't buy any AT ALL in 2010!!!

6. Not telling you!

7. Take better care of skin, hair and nails - half achieved. I've definitely been taking care of my skin but have been way too slack in getting my hair cut often enough.

8. Study Japanese everyday - EPIC fail!!

9. Not telling you!

10. Stop being so lazy - FAIL!! But that's mainly down to being knackered from work.

So yah, as usual they didn't work out. But this year I really am determined to turn things around. I heard some sad news about a close friend's father recently and it's made me realise that anything could happen to anyone at anytime, so it really is time to start reaching goals instead of plodding along and taking time for things to happen.

So these are my resolutions for 2011!!!

1. Enrol in a Japanese language school and pass N2 of the JLPT this July.

Being in Australia, I spoke to so many people who asked me what I was doing here. It's so easy to get caught up in a comfortable routine and lose sight of our goals. Not this year. I came to achieve Japanese fluency and that isn't gonna happen without some seriously hard work on my part. I actually spent the last couple of hours checking out schools online and from next month, I actually wanna start studying again. It's expensive, but it's what I came here to do. Hopefully I can start some trial lessons in a couple of weeks.

2. Get fit

Drinking 15 days straight and eating everything in sight has defintiely taken it's toll on my body. Today was no exception - I went to MacDonalds for breakfast on my way home from the airport and then ended up ordering 2 pizzas for lunch (it was a special deal and in all fairness, I haven't actually eaten them yet!!). I love the way you feel after a workout at the gym and you always sleep so well. I'm adjusting my work schedule so that I'll be able to work out 4 times a week without feeling too knackered to work the next day.

3. Save money

For both travel and towards buying a house. This year is definitely going to be a big travel year for me, so I know that that's where most of the money will be going, but I still wanna send a little bit home every couple of months so that I'll be able to start thinking about getting onto the property ladder in a couple of years.

4. PERMANENTLY stop smoking

I don't want a single cigarette to pass through my lips this year. Anything that happened in OZ stays in OZ! Haha! I think this one is the hardest out of all the resolutions that I make every year but I really wanna get healthy now that I'm getting on a bit.

5. Spend more time with friends instead of being completely consumed by work

A really important one which hit me today, when I arranged to meet a friend tomorrow. I worked out that I haven't seen him since last AUGUST!! How crazy! I've noticed that some people have stopped inviting me to things because I ALWAYS say no because of work. I wanna cut back on my hours so that I can resocialize and actually spend some time with my friends. I don't want my life to be all about work!!

Yep - so there you have it. Just five this year but they are all really important for me. As of now, I'm on a detox and won't be drinking any alcohol for the rest of the month. Another one which is easier said than done but I'm gonna do it. Oolong tea is awesome!!! Haha!!

What do you think?

xoxo