Resolved

According to Franklin Covey, one of the things you have to do to help make your New Year's resolutions stick is to go public with them. So here goes:

Resolved, that I will do my best to exude positive energy.
K & I like to watch the Dog Whisperer. (Actually, for several years, K has been preparing himself for getting a dog by studiously reading every dog training and psychology book under the sun) After watching several shows, it's easy to get the gist of what Caesar Millan preaches. One of the basic tenets of his philosophy is that dogs read the energy you put out there and adjust their energy accordingly. For example, a neurotic owner often can lead to a neurotic pet, whereas a calm owner instills calmness in her pet. I thought about this principle and realized that many of my social problems stem from either my negativity or lack of action. I automatically assume people don't want to talk to me and hence don't talk to them and it all becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The people I get along with are those that are sunny and very secure with themselves, making me open up and be just as sunny and secure. My goal is to be one of those people, so that my smile gets matched with another smile instead of my indifference being matched with equal indifference.

Resolved, that I will be in bed before midnight on worknights.
This gives me around 8 hours of sleep a night, which will help me to function normally during the day.

Resolved, that I will be on time to work, leave to take my lunch break and leave on time unless I take overtime.
I've struggled with this in the past and I do believe that not doing these three things adds more stress than necessary to my day. I am hoping that getting enough sleep will help me to get to work on time and that stepping out for a breather in the middle of the day will help me to keep my perspective. Leaving on time seems like it would be easy, but I can get caught up in work, especially design work, around quitting time, which usually coincides with my peak performance time. Also, if I get to work late, I usually try to make up for it in spades by working much later.

Resolved, that I will not wait until the last minute to do my work and homework assignments.
I always underestimate the time it will take to complete a project. The final project for my Elements of Design I class last quarter took at least 2-3 days of work and I naively thought I could knock it out in less than a day. The point is that I have to be realistic with my goals and recognize that a little time padding helps when the expected unexpected occurs.

Resolved, that I will reach out to friends and family when stressed and not withdraw inwards.
If you take a look at my cell phone records, you'll notice that K accounts for 95% of all my calls. Since we're on the same network (Verizon), that means that I'm not using the actual anytime minutes that I'm paying lots of money for. So, there is no reason I shouldn't be calling and chatting up the people I care for, right?

Resolved, that I will find a physical way to blow off steam.
Since I stopped dancing (for various personal reasons), it's been difficult to find something physical that I like to do with regularity. Lately, I've been really missing dancing and have been considering starting up again with tango and perhaps learning ballet. Other physical activities I've been thinking about involve forcing myself to go to the gym or walking to work in the morning.

Resolved, that I will actually do the things I put on my calendar.
Unless I'm sick, I am not going to flake out on the events that I thought were cool and important enough to actually put on my calendar.

Resolved, that I will go abroad this year.
Even if it's just to Canada or Mexico, I am itching to leave the country for a week at least.

Resolved, that I will make my home an inviting and comfortable place.
This involves redecorating my apartment to create a good work/project space, improving the lighting and purchasing a vintage (art deco or mid-century modern) hardwood dresser. On the maintenance side, this also means that I need to clear out the clutter and keep everything clean and tidy.

Resolved, that I will pay down at least 15% of my credit card debt.
I've already created my plan for doing this, which absolutely takes into account the fact that I am paying for school out of my own unlined pocket and that I want to go on a trip this year.

Resolved, that I will write in my blog more regularly.
So far, so good.

These are my resolutions... what about yours?