As opposed to starting my New Year’s Resolutions halfway into January last year, I would consider it to be impressive that I got everything down pat only three days late this time around. Maybe next year I’ll be early to the party – who knows. Since my biggest focus in 2023 was securing a full-time job after graduation, I kept my resolutions pretty attainable, and I was finally able to become a flosser, nose breather, beginner-level Swedish speaker, and more presentable human over four fiscal quarters. This year, I’m taking a different approach, and am instead going to work on a number of resolutions throughout the entire year, while also delegating some that can be achieved in a shorter amount of time to a specific month.

Finance

Learn how to properly budget

Similar to how much I resisted incorporating flossing into my daily routine because of a lack of ease, this year I am making it my mission to find a simple and effective way to keep track of my finances. On top of that, although I am a material girl living in a material world, I will hunker down and get into the habit of telling myself no when it comes to buying that going-out top or lipgloss that I already have plenty of.

Contribute to money-growing accounts more consistently

Learning how to properly budget and better manage my money will then have the domino effect of enabling me to supply accounts that will help stretch my paycheck over time, like a HYSA and Roth IRA.

Personal Growth

Get involved in the Cbus community

Now that I finally have my bearings and am acclimated to the new city I call “home,” I want to spend more energy getting to know the community aspect of Columbus. To work towards this, I got myself a membership to their art museum, which requires you to volunteer 6x a year there to maintain it. Sometimes, you just have to find mediums that force you to get a specific resolution done, and that’s okay.

Learning journal

As someone who strives to be a lifelong learner, this year I want to get into the habit of researching words, references, etc. that I’m not familiar with by keeping a journal that’s devoted specifically to holding learnings that I pick up along my daily journey.

Try a new recipe each month

This past year I got really into perfecting staple recipes that I could meal-prep and have for lunch at work. This year, however, I would like to experiment and try to learn how to cook things that aren’t as practical but serve as a fresh way to experience cultures and lifestyles I’m not as near and dear to.

Read 20 books

Add me on Goodreads.

Reduce average screen time to 2 hours

I’m going to BFFR, I won’t be able to achieve all of the things that I’m writing about right now if I don’t get it together and stop spending hours on end scrolling aimlessly on TikTok and Instagram. Ironically enough, I saw a TikTok on how to reduce screen time, and the creator advised re-framing going on social media to be an exciting treat that you have specific office hours for instead of something we constantly center our time around. This mentality takes me back to the days when I would sprint off the school bus to log into my Google Plus account to revive me after a long day at elementary school.

Health & Wellness

1 Week of sobriety a month

Reducing my alcohol intake is the biggest change I want to make in my life this year. Although it has drastically decreased since I graduated college and don’t drink on weeknights anymore, for four years since starting college, alcohol has been a consistent factor in my life from how much social events centered around it. With time, my hangovers and hangxiety have also taken a turn for the worse, to the point where I now deem this change to be necessary. This year I am challenging myself to go one week out of each month without having a drop of alcohol so that by the end of the year I’ll be at least three whole months sober.

Career

Get promoted

Yea I said it.

Post 15x a month on TikTok and bi-weekly on LPOL

2023 was a big experimental year for me when it came to finding my definition of consistency. I’ve found myself feeling so much lighter and fulfilled when I express myself on these mediums, but I’ve also discovered that there’s a line that needs to be drawn when it comes to how much I commit myself to these endeavors when I already have so much going on in my everyday life.

L💘ve

Approach more men out in public

All my mother wants for me to work on this year is getting a man. To give her peace of mind, I’m going to challenge myself to start making money moves when I’m out in the wild since I’ve sworn off dating apps. You’re welcome Petra, and if I do end up leaving 2024 with a man, you heard it here first.

💘 Hanna