pogoism

I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions, and I don’t normally do posts like this, but I thought I’d give it a go and use it as a chance to look back and think ahead. Plus, I figured if I write them down, and show them to the world, there will be more of a motivation to actually do them.

Be better at responding to e-mails.

Just before I came to the US in August, I set up this blog as a way to keep in touch with family and friends, as I thought it gave me a bit more flexibility than writing the same e-mail to different people. However, I’m well aware that hardly anyone who I intended actually reads this, and people still email or Facebook message me. As a result, when people email me, I find it difficult, and to be honest, tedious, to send an email that contains the same things as I wrote in a blog.

Have a go at saving some money.

UNR don’t really pay me that much, basically just enough to cover my living expenses. But I’m going to have a go at saving $100 a paycheck, so I can do fun stuff I have planned for the coming few months, like skydiving.

Eat out less.

The thing about the US is that it’s really cheap to eat out, and eat out well. Meals here are about the same in £ as they are in $, so roughly half the price. Mix that in with the fact that buying groceries in here is really expensive, poor quality, and difficult to find many things, eating out is really tempting.

Don’t judge people so quickly.

I have a nasty habit of making my mind up about people within a few minutes of knowing them, and if I don’t like them, I don’t bother. So this year, I’m going to give people more of a chance, just in case I’m wrong.

Work harder at Uni.

I’m going back to Queen’s in September, and it’s going to be final year. No resits, no screwing up. I need a 2:1 to do anything I want to do in the future. Time to knuckle down. No more last minute cramming either!

Continue improving my writing skills.

That’s part of the reason I started this blog. I noticed that when I was writing papers at Uni, my writing probably wasn’t as good as it could have been, and it still isn’t great.

Get good at snowboarding.

I tried snowboarding a few weeks ago, and I loved it. But I was bad at it. So, in the next few months, I want to take advantage of both living near so many ski resorts, and the good snow.

Do something totally crazy.

I’m not sure what this is going to be yet. All I know is that I want to do something really, really crazy. Suggestions?

I’m hoping that I stick to at least some of these – they’re not so challenging that they’re unachievable.

For you cynics out there, here is the science behind why so many New Year’s Resolutions fail…

Photo from Flickr user solgrim.