Hi Everyone,
I know for some people it is probably a little late for a resolutions post. Because I am on holidays from work, I don't feel like the year has properly started, so I think it is the perfect time. People should make new goals whenever it suits them and if you are going to make new goals for a new year, it is probably smart to wait a bit, so you can let the procrastination start before you go making any crazy plans to "better yourself".
Some of these are goals that I want to achieve and some of these things are important things that I learned that I want to remember. I had some of these on my list last year. I am repeating them because I want to continue with those goals, because I did make a little progress with them and I want to continue doing that. Who says you only have 12 months to achieve these things?
I feel like I learnt a lot about life and I changed a lot last year. I am looking forward to this year, for many reasons. My sister is getting married this year, some friends might be travelling back my way this year and there are a few other smaller events I hope to go to. I think there might be a few possibilities for things to improve in 2017 so I look forward to those!
Here are my resolutions:
1. LEARNING THE GUITAR:
I already know a couple of basic chords and strumming patterns. For years, I have just looked up songs with easy open chords and played while I sang along. I call this DIY karaoke. It is awesome because you can slow the fast songs and do your own thing. I decided to invest in a more expensive guitar at the end of last year (an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Pro in Trans Blue to be exact) with the condition that I would try and improve my playing and actually learn some riffs.
I have already learnt to use a Capo and learned a couple of really slow riffs. I have a list of songs I want to learn, I also want to learn some harder chords, get better at quick chord changes, transpose some piano songs for guitar and get to know the notes on the fret-board a little better. I would also like to continue purchasing cool guitar pedals and learn how to get the best sounds out of them. I have been nerding out over famous guitarists and what techniques/gear they use to get their sound, So I can't wait to learn more and start experimenting.
2. GO TO THE BEACH MORE OFTEN:
I love going for walks along the beach and even though I live in a good spot, where there are quite a few nice beaches at a very short driving distance, I still don't tend to go very often. It is such a shame that I don't go more often as I find that walking along the beach is very relaxing and is pretty good for the skin on your feet.
3. STOP WORRYING:
I don't know if this is just me, but I seem to have this problem where I think about all the things that can go wrong and I actually try to prevent some of them happening and end up creating a problem that wasn't even there. I don't know why I worry. I wish I didn't, because I think it is stupid. If I worry about something it usually doesn't happen. If something bad does happen, then it is usually not what I thought it would be anyway. Sometimes I will guess that something is going to happen, And it does happen, but those are usually things that don't affect me, therefore I didn't come to those conclusions because of some random fear.
So in 2017 I will be trying not to worry. What happens will happen. There is no point stressing about it. Stressing is bad for your health and uses up time that could be spent focusing on something more interesting...
4. REMEMBER THAT I AM MORE CONFIDENT THAN I THINK I AM:
This is kind of a weird one. I have always been one of those people that thought I wasn't very confident. I get told a lot that I need to be more confident and I decided against doing future pin-up competitions because I'm not really confident enough to get up in front of people and try to fake the charisma that I just don't have. At the very beginning of this year (about an hour in) I was talking to someone and they reminded me that I am a lot more confident than I originally thought. While I may not be very outgoing, I do wear vintage dresses, apply bright lip colours, get up in front of people at karaoke and sometimes go out alone. A lot of people wouldn't do those things.
I also realized that being outgoing and being confident are not necessarily the same things. I'm not an outgoing person by nature and I don't know if it is really possible to change that about myself. However, I will do something that a lot of other people wouldn't do, because it is uncool and they would be embarrassed. Some of those people are the chattiest, most outgoing people I know. Just something to think about...
5. DO FUN THINGS WITH NICE PEOPLE:
Last year I decided to be more social and make an effort to go to things. I ended up meeting some really nice people and I had a lot of fun hanging out with them. I want to continue having fun in 2017 and find some people that enjoy some the same kind of "fun" as me. My kind of fun is hanging out at the quieter pubs (versus the one with the blaring music) or hanging out at the beach or just chilling in general.
6. ENJOY MORE OLD MOVIES:
I really enjoy old movies, but sometimes I will choose to watch something that I have already seen instead of one of the unopened classics taking up residence in the TV cupboard. Most of the old movies I watched in 2016 were pretty enjoyable and in 2017 I hope the same is true.
7. CONTINUE TO BE 100% ME:
In the past there have been many times that I have toned down the way that I dress for other peoples benefit. It wasn't because they wanted me to tone it down, but it was because I thought that is what they want. It wasn't really until last year that I took the plunge and started buying more vintage style reproduction dresses and deciding to actually wear them. I noticed that people actually like me more when I wear what I want to wear.
The same goes for a lot of things. There have been times where I would be careful what I said, so that I didn't offend anyone, or I wouldn't talk about the things that I actually wanted to talk about because I would scare other people away with my weird interests. Once again, I think I realized that people actually like you to have your own opinion. I think the moral of the story here is that people don't want you to be something you are not. People want you to be the person that you want to be and they can tell when you are being authentic or not.
8. GROW MY HAIR
So I started this last year. I had a really short pixie cut and it has taken me a very long time to get it to what is almost a bob. Even at this short length I have found some interesting new ways to style my hair. I have been setting my hair as often as possible and learning the best way to brush out the curls and pin them into place. I hope to resist the urge to cut it all of again, so that I can continue trying out new styles.
9. BE MORE ADVENTUROUS WITH STYLE:
So last year I wanted to "Dress my Age" more often and I feel like I did that. I also wore a lot of things that I had never worn before. This year I wanted to continue with both of those things, but I also wanted to try going for things that I usually wouldn't go for, such as a different colour or a different cut.
10. BE MORE ASSERTIVE:
In 2017 I am giving up on subtlety and people pleasing. Firstly, subtlety does not work. Some people don't know what you are telling them when you are speaking right to their face, so why would a subtle hint be any better? Also, trying to be careful how you say something, just means that you aren't saying it clearly. If the person is pushy they will just think that you are indecisive and argue with you about it. Finally, I want to give up on procrastinating my true feelings. Sometimes I will agree to something because that is the easy thing to do, so that I can find away to get out of it later. Which just means that I will stress out about it until I find a solution. Stress that would have been avoided if I had just been honest from the beginning.
11. GO TO THE HORSE RACES:
I haven't been to the horse races in a couple of years. It hasn't stopped me from accumulating pretty dresses and matching hair pieces. I really wanted to go last year. I had a list of events written down that I was going to make myself go to and I managed most of them except the races. At the start of the season I couldn't find someone who wanted to go with me and at the end of the season I had to work. I honestly don't know that I will enjoy it that much, but it is one of the few things you can do for fun in this town and I'm going to give it a go.
12. BE LESS SERIOUS:
I am a very serious person and I don't think there is anything wrong with that, but sometimes I would like to be a little less serious. Have a bit of fun and just care a whole lot less about what anyone else thinks.
13. BE LESS CRITICAL OF MY CREATIVE EFFORTS:
Sometimes I start doing something creative and I give up on it pretty early because I am too critical of it. When I think about the creative people that I admire I forget that they probably had days when they felt the same. If they criticized themselves as much as I criticize myself then a lot of the artworks, fashion designs, songs, books and movies that I like probably would not exist. This year, I would like to post-pone all self-doubt until after I have created my ideas.
I get that sometimes I have to make the effort to organize things with people if I want to be social, however, If I find myself in a situation where I am the only one making the effort then I'm out, because one-sided friendships are not real friendships. It is really that simple. If you have to constantly chase up people, then those are not your people.
15. TRY TO PERSIST:
I don't want to give up on things too easy, just because it is hard or because it seems like it isn't going my way. I want to give things a chance before I give up completely. Some of the best moments of 2016 wouldn't have happened if I hadn't persisted.
16. LEARN TO MANAGE TIME AND MONEY:
So this one covers a lot of different aspects of my life. I have always been good with money in the sense that I am rarely ever broke and I still manage to buy a lot of things that I want, but I would like to improve on what I buy to make sure that I am making purchases with research behind them and not just buying the cheapest thing.
As far as time goes: I want to procrastinate less, waste less time on the Internet/social media, waste less time putting up with people that I don't want to put up with and less time waiting around for other people to do the things that they said they were going to do. I would also like to spend more time sleeping and less time running late for things.
17. ACCEPTING THINGS:
I have decided to look at the past from a new perspective. There were things that happened in 2015 and 2016 that I wasn't happy about. I have realized that these things happened for a reason and changed me a lot as a person. So I accept them. I want to put more energy into the present and the future. I also want to remember what happened and who was responsible, so that I can avoid making the same mistakes again in the future.
So of course I still want to read more books, write blog posts, and do some fancy nail designs, but those 17 resolutions listed above are the main goals for the year. What are your goals for 2017? Have you started on any of your goals already?
Your Favourite Blogger,
Natalie
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