Monday, June 2, 2008

My Mid-Year Resolutions



I don’t think you need to wait until the new year starts to think of resolutions to make a change in your life for the better. We all know that those resolutions made during the end of the year or the start of a new one are normally forgotten by the time summer rolls around. So here are my mid-year resolutions:


Stop procrastinating and apply to grad school. Going back to school has been a goal I have had since I graduated from college two years ago. I need to stop procrastinating and just do it! I intend to go part-time, so it could take a few years for me to complete my degree. But I enjoy learning and think going back to school will help me in the long-run in my career.

Learn how to sew. I’m afraid to actually add up how much money I spend annually on alterations to my clothing. I happen to be short and have a small frame, so I have to get many of my clothing items altered. Even petite sizes are sometimes big on me…Learning how to sew would save me so much money. Maybe I could even start making my own clothing. I’m not trying to be a Project Runway contestant or anything, but a lot of the trendy clothing these days is simply made and wouldn’t be a problem to create if I actually had some sewing skills. I am in awe of my grandmother (and the countless others of her generation) who made clothing for their children when they were small; that’s a skill I need to develop to pass on to my future children.

Write every day. Practice makes perfect and strengthening my writing skills is something I want to do for career and personal reasons. So be it blogging, working on a short story, or doing some writing for the non-profit organization I’m volunteering for, I plan to write something (non-work related) every day. Here are a few writing skills I want to develop in the near-future:

--Grant Writing – this is a great skill to have and could really be useful for my work with the non-profit I volunteer for. I’d eventually like to take on clients and make this my side-hustle (potentially more lucrative than retail!)

--Short Story Writing – I have so many story ideas, but have never actually sat down to write them in story-form. I want to start doing this and may even look for an inexpensive writing workshop that focuses on this type of writing to take in the future.

--Media-related writing (communication plans, feature stories, stronger press releases, etc.) – for my career, writing is a vital skill I need to hone and I plan to take some type of workshop before the year ends (and get reimbursed by my job hopefully!) that will give me useful info on how to improve my writing for media/communication purposes.

Exercise on a regular basis. I have time on my side right now and have been blessed so far to not have to diet and exercise to lose weight; but just want to maintain good health for the future. I’ve heard your metabolism starts slowing down when you get in your mid-twenties, so I better start getting into the habit of exercising regularly: My hips and my heart will thank me decades from now if I do this.

Learn how to style my own hair. Like other females, I love being pampered and having someone else do my hair, but hair styling is another leak in my budget I need to plug. Instead of going to the hair dresser regularly, I’d like to just go to get trims and for special occasions (thank goodness I don’t have a relaxer or coloring to maintain). This alone would save me hundreds of dollars a year (I know…I said hundreds).



So I pose the question to you, what would your Mid-Year Resolutions be if you were going to make them?

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