Spring cleaning, birthdays, break-ups, graduation, getting out of jail, New Years.

What do these things have in common? They inspire the need for change, renewal, and purging past negativity as we welcome a new beginning.

(You can also probably count on alcohol and an impromptu haircut that we later write off as a “phase” BUT not the focus here.)

A round of applause for those who have made a resolution for 2018 and actually kept it up to this point:

I, for one, am not included in this group BUT January is a free trial month!

As I plaster my phone background with pictures of Victoria’s Secret Models as motivation for my ever-so-original “get fit and eat healthy” resolution, I was thinking of some resolutions that might be worth trying (and might last longer than a week).

So here is my list of resolutions to try, fail, try again, forget about, think about, and then start fresh for 2019 with:

Write more handwritten thank you notes.

It’s so easy to take for granted when a co-worker covers a shift, or your sister lets you borrow her clothes, or a  front desk lady was nice to you when she really didn’t have to be. A handwritten thank you note could be the difference between someone having a bad day, and someone feeling like they really made a difference to you.

Pay attention and be intentional.

I have two very bad habits: 1. Taking it very personally if people aren’t intentional and thoughtful and  2. Not taking the time to be intentional and thoughtful myself. It means so much to me when people show me that they consider me, so I would like to put more of an effort towards that.

Remember birthdays.

This goes along with the considerate thing. It doesn’t make you a bad person if you forget- but it makes you a little better if you put in that effort of remembering.

Offer to help more

The worst they can say is no. Make dinner, feed the dog, wash the car.

Take more pictures.

This one doesn’t need much of an explanation. There’s a difference between “wanting to live in the moment and not through a lens” and “i’m too lazy/I forgot/I”m sure someone else will take some”.

Give genuine compliments more often.

I always stop myself from complimenting people because I’m afraid I’m going to creep them out when in reality, unless the compliment is genuinely creepy like “That’s a nice bra strap”, a compliment will never fail to make my whole day. So why not hand them out a little more?

Speak kindly of others.

Quit talkin’ shit. If I wouldn’t want it said about me, why would I say it about someone else? A lesson I learned in preschool I should certainly be capable of doing now.

Strive for self-awareness: What influences my mood?

Is it when I get more sleep? Eat past a certain time? Have only one cup of coffee? Who in my life is a common denominator for my good days? Bad days?

Finish a whole stick of Chapstick before losing it!!!!!

TBH I just think this could be a cool fact to tell people as icebreakers?

So cheers to you, 2018.

Here goes nothing…