Saturday, February 28, 2015

1st Month of the New Year: Resolution Review

These were my New Year's resolutions. I want to check in to see how I'm doing a month into the new year.

  • Walk outside every day

  • Exercise for 30 minutes daily

  • Journal daily

  • Draw daily

  • Intervene in negative spirals

  • Vote! Volunteer! Be politically active!

  • Study smarter and more regularly

  • Ask for help

  • Take photos

  • Local or organic food


I just read an article that explains that it takes more than 21 days to form an new habit, on average. But I still think that it's good to have a periodic check in on how you are progressing on forming a habit.
On average, it took people 66 days for a new healthy habit to feel automatic — things like eating a piece of fruit with lunch, or drinking a glass of water after breakfast, found the 2010 UK study, led by University College London research psychologist Pippa Lally. (via today.com)

Read more for the details of my resolutions in review.



Since we've had all of this really excessive snow, I have not been outside everyday. I do have a good handle on how to dress for the overwhelming cold wind and snow. Still, I don't feel as willing to go outside when the weather is below 0 and throwing frozen water at my face. But I have still been opening my window to get sunlight and fresh air. One really cute thing that Prilla does is sit by the window when I open it. She loves to carefully track the movement of the snowflake through the air. Anther thing I've been doing is burning candles in my apartment. Neither of these are replacements for the movement of being outside in the fresh air. But I think the blizzards are extenuating circumstances. I hope that I can get outside in some warmer weather.

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I have been doing my yoga more often and I made it into a Pilates/Yoga mixed gym class. While I haven't been performing everyday, I'm glad to report that I've been working out much more often. I think I'm starting to feel some difference as far as the ease of repetition. Also, the more I do yoga, the easier it is for me to recall the routine. I think I might even learn a second more challenging one.

I've been journaling twice a week on average. I've also been checking in with my emotional state far more often. I don't count my little tumblr rambles, but that's still an improvement for 2015! By raising my awareness of my emotions, I'm able to get a different sort of feedback than my rational mind can provide.

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I have not been drawing daily. Total failure on this resolution. My only defense is that I've finally displayed a lot of the art that I've already made. I'm also planning to print out some photos of friends and family to hang in my apartment.

I have been intervening in negative spirals! I'm so proud of myself for working on this. Hopefully I'll go into some details and advice on this topic in a separate post.

I have been studying smarter for my classes. I have a great routine of doing my class readings on the weekend. I often get too stressed or busy to study or read during the week so doing them at my own pace on the weekend is great for me. I've also been getting back into making flash cards. I want to work on improving my writing this semester and finding resources for this.

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I have been asking for help. I've been keeping in contact with friends. I've also been working on transparency and honesty as far as when I'm struggling or confused. Obvious but difficult for me: hiding your problems is not the same as fixing them.

With my new phones I have taken lots more photos. Mainly of my cat. But many more photos. I've been fiddling around with the phone camera. I want to take more photos of my friends and I together.

and finally!

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I have been eating local or organic food. The only thing I don't get local or organic is Lucky Charms cereal which I pick up from CVS. I have no shame that this cereal is worth giving up my values for. So much marshmallow-y goodness that I just don't care!

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