My New Year Resolutions

Hello everyone,

In my last post, I mentioned that I had come up with some resolutions for 2025. I wasn’t planning on elaborating further, however I feel like I need to write them down to keep me motivated because I’m basically declaring all the things I want to do on a public forum and I don’t want to “fail”… but mainly, it’s to really to hold myself accountable for the things I would like to achieve this year.

I know that there are a lot of people out there who don’t believe in resolutions, or think it’s a waste of time, but I like to make them as I feel that I’m always striving to be the best version of myself that I can be (ie: there’s always room for improvement!) My resolutions have always been thought out and meaningful, so I start every year with good intentions and embrace openness, and see how I go.

This year, I did structure them a little bit differently. Ok, here goes nothing!

START

1. Paying Cash

With this ease of paying for things on my phone, I do struggle to keep track of what I have spent my money on. So, I have decided that each pay I’m going to withdraw a set amount to see me through until my next pay, and whatever I have left over (if I have anything remaining) I roll onto the next round.

I have a feeling that this is really going to make me think about how I spend my money, as I plan to use it for essentials including groceries, medications and petrol, as well as meals out, gifts, or to buy a little something to spoil myself.

The cost of living crisis has made me realise how some companies can price gauge customers, so if I don’t have to pay them that extra 1 or 2 cents (Australia uses a rounding system between 5 cent intervals), then paying cash really ensures that they aren’t getting anything extra from me.

2. Using Public Transport

Yes, I’m a full grown woman who owns a car and can afford fuel, but I catching the bus or train is somewhat liberating… and probably more cost effective in more ways than one. At the moment, I travel far to get to work, and by the time I get there I’m just in a filthy mood because of all the traffic and terrible drivers on the road.

I feel like catching public transport will help reduce my road rage, but also give me back some time in transit where I can just shut off, listen to music or a podcast or even read a book! Plus, it’s not a bad way of getting in some passive exercise.

But this doesn’t just extend to the work days. I plan to use it when I need to get somewhere, such as visiting friends or going out for a meal. Grocery shopping is the exception because it can get very hot in Australia, and I don’t want to risk spoiling my food!

3. Reading

To clarify, I do read, but I haven’t read a good book since the 7th Harry Potter book came out. I do miss getting immersed in a book, rather than bing watching Netflix, so I’ve managed to find my library card and I’m going to borrow a book, rather than buy one.

I feel like it will help become a better writer and improve my conversational skills, so I see such a great benefit to adding reading into 2025.

However, I’m absolutely pacing myself when it comes to reading though – I do want to read at least 5 books before the end of the year. For some, this would be a walk in the park, but I get distracted so quickly with other things that I could easily let this one slide without even realising.

STOP

1. Bedrotting

It is SO easy for me to wake up and reach for my phone first thing in the morning. The next thing I know – 2 hours have flown by! And when I go to get out of bed, it feels absolutely draining… not a great way to start the day. Plus, I don’t think that it’s good for my eyes – I already spend most of my waking moments looking at screens; I don’t think it’s good to expose them to bright light as soon as my alarm goes off.

Anyway! I did this a lot last year and I just don’t want to waste my down time bedrotting anymore. Life is just getting more busier, so I want to reclaim that time back (at 4 hours per weekend, this literally equates to 8.6 full days!) with activities that I enjoy (or chores that are overdue… lol).

2. Late Nights

I do not get the recommended 8 hours of sleep a day. In saying that, I have always been a night owl, but in recent years I’ve been getting tired earlier, which in turn has resulted in somewhat “earlier” nights (if you can call 11.30pm early). As long as I get a minimum of 6 hours sleep, I can function for the day. But that shouldn’t be the norm, and I don’t think that’s sustainable. And yes, there will be nights where turning in early will be impossible, but I’m aiming for an approximately 85% success rate. Hopefully it won’t be too overwhelming!

3. Stockpiling

I have ALOT of products that I stockpile. I don’t know why I do this – I think psychologically, when I see something on sale that I use all the time, I just buy it – even if I don’t need it right away. I’m talking about makeup (blushes, foundation), skincare (moisturiser, body wash) and household items (soap, aluminium foil).

Funnily enough, this is currently trending under the term ‘Project Pan’, so I guess I’m not the only one that has this on their resolutions list for 2025. I plan to use what I already have on hand BEFORE I go out more. This is going to be easier said than done – I am a sucker for a good bargain!

CONTINUE

1. Balancing Diet and Exercise

This is a journey that I have been on since the middle of last year. I had some medical issues that made me realise I have to start prioritising my health. I ended up changing my diet to incorporate more whole foods and increasing the amount of exercise that I did.

I’ve definitely noticed some improvement, which means it’s working… right? I have more energy, and I’m not craving really unhealthy food or takeaway, so I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing.

And as always, I know at some point I will plateau, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it. The main thing is that I continue to keep healthy habits that will eventually become second nature, and I won’t have to actively think about it so much 🙂

2. Learn Bisaya

Learning a language is never easy and I started to learn Cebuano last year. However, life things happened and I wasn’t able to keep going. Needless to say, most of what I learnt last year feels like a memory and unfortunately I have retained very little.

I believe that learning a language is very important, especially if it’s spoken within your own family. So, I’m picking it up again this year. I don’t expect to be fully fluent by December but I hope that I’ll be able to at least have a general conversation with my family.

3. Reduce Debt

2025 is going to be the year that I pay down my debt! Not that I’m drowning or anything, but I don’t like it hanging over me. I think that I’ve done a good job so far to reduce it, but I could be more disciplined for sure.

Credit cards are the devil! That’s why once I’ve paid in full I’m going to revisit my limits and if need be, cancel them altogether. I was actually thinking of going back to university to study again, but I don’t want another HECS debt – I’d much rather pay upfront (but that might be for next year!)

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I hope the above wasn’t too much of a read! If you’ve made it this far, you can probably tell that most of my resolutions are interlinked. I really did think about how I could improve myself and my life, so this is where I landed. Some of them are very ambitious, but I’ll keep you updated on how I’m going. It is human to fail, so I’m not going to get too upset if I don’t achieve what I set out to do.

Did you make any resolutions this year? I’d love to hear them 🙂

Much Love,