Copied and pasted from my old blog the girl from hk, ldn & sf. Just as a reminder to myself that I must try my best to follow through with these resolutions. It's easy to set goals for yourself, but to achieve them is a different story. I know we're already half way through February and we're quickly approaching the third month of the year, but I still want to keep these resolutions. The two things I'm most iffy about are exercising and growing out hair. I'm most proud of starting this blog and losing weight!
Come on 2011! Please, please, please let me get what I want!
#1. Don't find love. I'm 22, I'm young, I'm resilient, I'll bounce back. But you know how people want to find love and fall in love (because supposedly love will solve all your problems, but love will only let you down?). Well this year, I want to focus on myself. I don't want or need love. I don't even know what love is anymore, all I know is that I can't put myself out there and expose myself to "love". I just want to focus on myself and build a career for myself.
Even if (big if), I end up meeting someone and "love finds me unexpectedly" (because that's the best way to fall in love is if love finds you) in this glorious year of 2011, I don't think I could put a person before my career right now. If anything, I need someone who wants to be my rock and actually mean it. I don't need someone to tell me they want to be my rock and then take it back. I've always been traditional in a sense that I want to get married and have children, but it just seems like these dreams won't be coming true any time soon in the future.
#1 1/2. Focus on building a career. I really hope I will be able to find a job. It doesn't have to be a great, amazing and well paid job, I just hope it will be a great stepping stone onto a better job.
#2 1/2. Exercise. Along with losing weight, eating less and more healthy aren't enough, I really need to think about my health. Exercise is very important and I've really neglected exercise for too long. I've never been too athletic, but I always did enjoy a few certain sports at boarding school, like tennis, rounders, athletics and netball, but now I rarely do any exercise. Exercise is not only good for the body, but good for the mind. Endorphins. I've been talking about yoga since last summer and I never actually got around to taking yoga classes. Maybe 2011 will be the year I take up yoga... and maybe kickboxing.
#3. Spend less money & save up. I've never been good at saving up. I don't even understand the concept of saving up. I'm usually broke by the end of the month, because I'm not good at pacing myself with money. Since I'm about to graduate and if I get a job, I will really need to learn to spend money wisely. I have to spend less and then save up. This is a really big issue for me and now I really have to do something about it.
#4. Eat in more often. You could say I can be a pretty lazy person, therefore, I end up going to restaurants more often than I should. I end up spending quite a lot on eating at restaurants and therefore, gaining weight at a more rapid speed. I should go grocery shopping more often, this will help me control my diet.
#5. Be better at staying in touch with friends. Since this will be my last semester and few months in San Francisco, I will be saying goodbye to some really dear friends. It's sad to even think about it, but I have to prepare myself for it. I already have some friends in Hong Kong and London and my brother's in England, so I really need to get better at writing them, skyping them and even WhatsApping them (since we all have iPhones now). It's really hard to have thousands of miles of land or ocean between us, but that's why we have phones and internet. So I have to put in more effort into keeping in touch with all my friends no matter where they are.
#6. Shoot more videos. Now that I have my baby Canon T2i, I have no excuse. I must shoot more videos for work, school and myself. I do have some ideas brewing in my mind, but it's just a matter of developing the ideas and then executing them. Having ideas is not enough, I must actually follow through these ideas. Laziness is not an excuse. I hope this semester, I will finally write a screenplay and maybe shoot it by the end of the semester.
#7. Watch all Woody Allen movies. Last summer, I told myself I have to watch all of Woody's movies. I've probably watched 75-80% of his movies, but this year, I must watch all of them. I end up getting distracted by television shows and since they are easier to watch, because they're short and it's easier to watch more, I end up neglecting movies. I can't neglect movies now, since I'm about to enter the world of filmmaking.
#8. Start an etsy shop. I guess if I manage to find a job in New York, I'll get a work visa and then I want to start an etsy shop selling vintage clothes. I think it will be a fun side job and an excuse to go thrifting and vintage shopping. I think it will be a good opportunity for me to do something a little fashion and business related on the side. This will also help me keep my wardrobe to a minimum, I do have way too many clothes.
#9. Respond to blog comments. I was so good at commenting and responding to comments for the first few months and suddenly, the amount of comments I was receiving got a little overwhelming (which is meant to be a huge compliment), so I started to lag behind and then I stopped commenting back altogether. I feel so bad for not responding, especially when I say I'm so grateful for all my comments. So this year, I will be a good comment responder, I truly appreciate and respect every single person who comments me and I have to return that respect.
So I had some names in mind, but after I told my brother, Shy and Caro, they're not too keen on them and even I agree with them. My brother thinks my current blog name is a "trademark", a "brand" and unique to me and that's why it's memorable, but if I change my name to something generic, then it won't be so unique. I think I'm fine with it, what do you guys think?
Even though some beautiful memories were made during my time with the girl from hk, ldn & sf, I think it's time to move on. Anyways, it was always difficult when I told people what my blog name was, so I guess I'm doing myself and readers a favor by starting a new blog with a more straightforward name. So I'm considering hiring a web designer and programmer to create a layout for me. I guess despite my sadness, I am excited for a new beginning, a new start. I've decided to launch my new blog on February 11th, 2011 (2.11.2011). I hope you will decide to follow me on my new journey and thank you in advance.
#11. Listen to your friends' advice. I guess your friends (or rather my friends) are almost always right. I guess I really had to learn it the hard way, but now I guess I'm really a stronger person. My friends and brother expressed their opinions on a certain situation and even when I agreed with them completely, I decided to dive in head first into something that ended up breaking me once again a few months later. Really... seriously... listen to your friends' advice.
#12. Listen to Barney Stinson. Barney Stinson is always right! Well, sometimes, especially when he said, "When I get said, I stop being sad and be AWESOME instead. TRUE STORY!". True story indeed, Barney! I really believe these words. I was following this mantra for the entire summer last year and it really helped me. But sometimes you fall back into a daze and then you forget them. But now I finally remember these words again and I will live by these words forever. Thanks Barney, you're my hero (minus the womanizing and degrading of women)!
#14. Stand up for myself. I've been told that I'm too nice, which means I get "bullied" from time to time. As in if someone says I can't do a certain thing, I will back down and not say anything. I mean anyone else would probably say something and maybe even cause a scene, but I'm just not the type of person to cause a scene. I was at the airport and I was running late and I wasn't allow to jump the line, I was forced to line up for 30 minutes, which was totally unnecessary, since everyone in front of me had hours to spare. Anyways, I didn't say anything and just obeyed the agent and lined up. I should have demanded to go ahead, but I didn't, because I'm too nice and I don't stand up for myself. And that's just one example. I guess I don't have to be a bitch in order to stand up for myself, but I just have to be a little more assertive.
#15. Change my bed sheets for better Feng Shui. This may sound so silly and arbitrary, but I think by changing my bed sheets, I might change my luck. Feng shui, anybody? I don't know. It's also an excuse to get new pretty, smooth, Egyptian cotton sheets.