As part of the resolutions I’ve made (I don’t care if it’s cliché), I’ve decided to call 2013 the shameless year. While I’m going to do a lot of things differently this time around, I’ve come up with 10 main goals that I think are reasonable and attainable:

Blog every other day.
I used to blog a lot when I was in high school; I would put aside an hour or two just to write out my day and I did so religiously, to the point that my boyfriend then felt ignored. I stopped when I got into college. It’s a shame, since blogging is such a great writing exercise. While I don’t plan on blogging as obsessively as I did before, I want to update my blog regularly and reliably. It’ll be a good writing exercise for me, and it’ll give me a great outlet to think about my days and reflect.

Read a book a month.
Last year I tried to do 3 books a month, but then I stopped (again). After 3 months, I realized I was cheating by choosing short books to meet my quota, and speed reading through them instead of enjoying them. For me, reading should be like drinking coffee or tea; it should be savored. This year, I’ll go with something more realistic, and less stressful.

Exercise at least once a week.
I may not be overweight, but I am far from fit. While I do believe in the mantra that strong is the new sexy (because empowerment is a good thing), being fit is also practical and most importantly, healthy.

Do painting, drawing, and photography exercises.
I’m afraid of experimenting. No, it’d be more accurate to say that I’m afraid of doing.  I’ve lulled myself into a comfort zone of not-doing. In all of my artistic endeavors I’ve been afraid of failing, and that has to stop. Like all my earlier mentioned goals, I just have to get back into it, without any reservations. I know I can do it, so why the hell not?

Study.
I’m taking my MA in Counseling Psychology now, and I resigned from my job to focus on it. The new time that I have isn’t so I can relax or mess around, it’s so I can study. I have to keep that in mind.

Try new food/new restaurants.
One thing I know about myself very well is that I am a picky and a safe eater. I will always go for something that’s tried and tested. And I don’t get sick of it. Which is great in its own way, but if I want to really really love food, I have to put my mouth in danger. Take risks. Or, read reviews and take less risks. But what I’m sure about is that I need to go out of my way and explore; find new restaurants, try new food, make new mouth-watering experiences.

Cook.
Because someday, I want to be the ultimate housewife.

Learn basic Japanese by the end of the year.
Being bilingual is great. When I was learning how to speak Filipino from American English, it was hard. As a kid being thrust into a new language, I always questioned myself with what’s the point? Why am I even doing this? Years later, here I am trying to learn a new one. Language is amazing and being able to speak and understand more than one is amazing. So why Japanese? Whenever I tell people I was born in Okinawa, the first thing they ask is if I can speak Japanese. I’m going to change my answer by the end of the year.

My own style; not what is in, but what’s real to me.
While I like fashion and cosmetics to a certain extent, I am undeniably lazy, and practical. This year, I want to create a wardrobe that doesn’t just look good, but represents who I am. I want to have the confidence to go with it, even if it goes against the flow. Again, I have to try new things and go outside of my comfort zone, but I think it’ll be great. Looking good isn’t as satisfying as feeling good.

Simplify.
I’m going to get rid of the things I don’t need, and let go of the things that aren’t good for me.

These are my goals for 2013. Wish me luck!