Real Life Resolutions for 2013

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Madge
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Real Life Resolutions for 2013

Post by Madge »

EDIT: Since I was the only one to post for 2012, let's just reuse this thread. Save the e-trees and whatnot.


Felt like chucking the real life resolutions thread up a little earlier this year, just because I am eager to look for ideas of things I can strive to do myself!
2011's thread:

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=11679

My 2011 goals:


1) Continue skating at least once a week, aim for twice a week. Continue with my pole dancing lessons, or similar exercise. Visit the gym at work whenever possible. Perhaps join a laser tag league?!

My skating motivation was and still is rather variable; I'd do well for a few weeks then lapse and then do some more. Kept up the pole dancing a bit. Haven't visited the gym at work all year; been too busy with my social life. Completely forgot about joining a laser tag league. Whoops.

2) Concentrate more on my studies - I don't want to have fears that I won't pass units again. If possible I want to worry about "Asian failing" rather than failing.

HA HA HA, I actually failed a unit on 46% (out of 50%) and had to do a second exam to get a pass so I could graduate on time. I was never good at uni, and now it's over so yay for me.

2.5) Work on my final year project well before the damn thing's due.

I DID THIS. I actually super succeeded! For the three weeks before it was due I wrote 300 words a day of the thesis at a minimum. I printed it out three days before it was due and went roleplaying and partying while my peers were frantically figuring out how to format their tables and whatnot. I ended up getting a distinction for the thesis too which was a very nice surprise.

3) When university is in session, have lunch with my francophone friend once a week and speak french in order to get back into the groove. And/or actually join the french meetup group.

Didn't happen. Francophone friend is not co-operative. French language meetup group is intimidating even though I know I can go there and rock it out.

4) I should have to cook a meal once a week, minimum.

I've been too bloody busy with social life to do that, but I have definitely been cooking whenever I can. I've become a cooking nerd or something. Love making curry, and am in love with this mock duck this weird chinese vegetarian warehouse sells. I think I acheived the intended goal.

5) Try and get assigned to a regional office for work ASAP, since I'll have to be there for a year and want it over and done with. At all costs try to get Paul to come there so I'm not alone and we can see how we'd go with the whole living together thing.

HA HA HA! Success!!!!!!!! Got assigned to Bunbury (two hours south of where I live so barely "regional" at all), with Paul coming down with me. Assigned to a beautiful 4 bedroom house in Dalyellup which is a brand new suburb 10kms out of Bunbury. Excited to begin living together in a real "adult" relationship FINALLY, and all on the government's dime.

6) Get a fish tank and some rats.

Fish tank will be a no-go because I'm not transporting a fish tank from Bunbury back up to Perth, HOWEVER I AM GOING TO GET SOME RATS ON THE FIFTH, SIXTH, OR SEVENTH OF JANUARY!!! THey will live in Bunbury with us and they will be AWESOME. Thinking of getting 3 if I can swing a cage that's appropriately sized. Gonna check out gumtree (essentially australian craigslist oh god how stereotypical) and see what I can find in the cage department!!! eeee!

We do still have the 2gal tank that Paul's betta lived in until he met his untimely end earlier this year, and I'm going to stock it up with some guppies that one of the ladies at work bred and offered me and who would I be to refuse?


My 2012 goals:

1) Find and patronise the skating rink at Bunbury. Join their derby team.

2) Be awesome at my job. Go out and make sure people are building lots of bridges, or something. Make sure I have a higher work:slacking ratio. Be more proactive when I'm underworked.

3) Keep my desire to improve my French in my mind. Try and learn song lyrics.

4) Learn new recipes and cook lots with Paul in our new house. Try and see if I can try out one new recipe each week.

5) Don't be one of those naggy girlfriends or whatever.

6) Keep the house clean (oh god!!!!!!!!)

7) Make sure we have friends over LOTS to stay with us in Dalyellup and do cool things like camping.

8) Learn the names of all of Paul's Bunbury/Australind based family members.

9) Buy a house. Oh shit, shit shit. Aiming to buy a house in may/june/july. We have enough for a deposit and we earn enough, BUT NO PRESSURE RIGHT. Be super frugal and start working on that interest.

10) Tony Abbott. No, not THAT Tony Abbott. I am being deliberately vague, but I want to make sure that when I look at this post I remember that I put Tony Abbott on my list of new years resolutions to make sure that it happened or something.
Last edited by Madge on 26 Dec 2012 03:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
Usul_Princess
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Re: Real Life Resolutions for 2012

Post by Usul_Princess »

I haven't gotten around to making any concrete ones. Mostly because the agony of unemployment has subsided now that I have a reliable paycheck.

(2011):
-Keep the weight off, and keep losing. Check-ish....This is so much harder when you spend 8 hours a day on the phone. We are tied to that cubicle, but I do have a tiny routine so I won't go over 185. (Those hefty pictures are embarrassing.)

-Get my GPA up to a 3.0. Missed! (I think I posted in RL AaTOW that I graduated already. Missed the 3.0 mark by 1/10.)
-Have $2,500. in savings to move out of state.(Went over and above (3 grand)! Saved it for Lasik, found out I was a bad candidate for the surgery, and then set it on fire between the move/doll collection/more furniture for my apartment).
-Get a renewable scholarship for a Master's program.Semi-Check! Not going back! What's Grad School? "LALALA!!" :x (I did get a scholarship, but it was to complete a second undergrad at another University.
-Secure a real job that can support me. Check!

That's 2.5/4! Not bad.

The only thing in 2012 would be is to enroll in a Master's Program that I would feel was worth getting into more debt over. (More than likely it would be one the company highly encouraged their employees to get.)

Maybe I will get that 2nd undergrad degree in French.....

Madge, I will not let your speaking skills decay! Envoyez-moi un PM en français! (Why did I use the vous form?)
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Re: Real Life Resolutions for 2012

Post by Wingsrising »

I didn't post New Year's resolutions here, but I did make two last year:

1) Don't get anything from the vending machines in the building next door except when they have egg salad sandwiches and maybe the occasional chocolate milk. But no soda and no junk food. -- Kept this one all year! My soda consumption had been creeping back up, and I wanted to get it back down again. I think the sugar reduction helped -- my cholesterol went back down this year, which is excellent (last year my doctor was threatening me with statins if it stayed high.)

2) Use a pedometer and walk more. -- Sort of. I never got on board with the pedometer and I pretty much lapsed on the walking more until late in the year, when I discovered Zombies, Run! (an iOS/Android/Windows Phone exercise app) and used it while walking. (So it's Zombies, Walk!) Hopefully I can keep it up once I finish this season's missions until they come out with new ones in the spring.

For this year... haven't thought about it yet.

-I'd like to start doing more yoga above and beyond the one class a week, but I'm not sure if I want to commit to that. ;-)

-I definitely need to keep up with the walking and once its nice enough to do it outside I'm thinking of trying the Zombies, Run! 5k training app. Not actually thinking I could run 5k, but being able to mix some running in with my walking and build up some stamina would be nice. :-)

-Knit more, play video games less. (I've spent more time on Diablo 3 than I'd like to admit this year!)
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Fury
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Re: Real Life Resolutions for 2012

Post by Fury »

Good going you guys, it sounds like you all did well keeping to last year's resolutions!

Madge: by skating are you referring to skateboarding or inline skating? Just curious!

I didn't make any last year (except perhaps Neopets related ones - lol) but I've been thinking of a few for 2013:

1. Crank up the work-out routine: I started going to exercise classes in the summer and I've completely caught the bug. I'm up to 3 classes/workouts a week minimum but would like to make it a steady 4 with a home work-out every evening. I'm also toying with the idea of moving to the free weights room and properly starting weight-lifting. For anyone who's interested in that sort of thing:
Spoiler: open/close
Tuesday: Spin
Thursday: Bodypump
Friday: Spin & Pump
Saturday OR Sunday: Squash

Every evening:
20x Push-Ups
20x Tricep Dips
10x Bicycle Crunches (each side)
10x Mountain Climb Crunches (each side)
10x Ab Pulses
Various arm/shoulder exercises with dumbells
Squats/Lunges with dumbells

Either that by myself at home or I'll be brave and join the big boys at the gym...
I'm luckily naturally slim so I'm looking to build muscle and tone up.

2. Get an article published in a local newspaper: I don't know why but I feel the need to do this. I want to write an article on atheism. It's been a fascinating subject for me over the past few months and I've been reading a lot about religion and atheism on the internet recently. I think I just want an outlet to express my views in a dignified manner. And also slightly because there's a Christian columnist who submits an article every week relating everything to God and I want to play devil's advocate to see what kind of response I get.

3. Really push my art stuff, stop being afraid to make mistakes and try new things: I'm an awful perfectionist and am never happy with anything I draw. I know I need to expand my limitations and experiment with different styles but I get so discouraged whenever I make a mistake. It's detrimental to my progress so I need to learn to get over that.

I may think of some more later but these are the top 3!
Madge
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Re: Real Life Resolutions for 2012

Post by Madge »

OK, let's see how I went.

My 2012 goals:

1) Find and patronise the skating rink at Bunbury. Join their derby team.
Done and done! Became a regular fixture at the training sessions.

2) Be awesome at my job. Go out and make sure people are building lots of bridges, or something. Make sure I have a higher work:slacking ratio. Be more proactive when I'm underworked.
I failed hard at this. Not proactive enough when underworked. Shit. That was my planned resolution for 2013, so I really need to get my shit together.

3) Keep my desire to improve my French in my mind. Try and learn song lyrics.
Ignored, though I did a bit of that duolingo website. I did just join another french meetup group for learners, and actually intend on going to their January meetup, so that's something, right? :)

4) Learn new recipes and cook lots with Paul in our new house. Try and see if I can try out one new recipe each week.
Not sure if I got the "one per week" quota but I've done LOTS of cooking with Paul. Tried several lasagne and soup recipes, and risottos. Not to mention curry, of course. Om nom nom.

5) Don't be one of those naggy girlfriends or whatever.

Mostly successful. I have not been nag-less but it's more a case of the standard communication that happens in a household. I try not to make battles over things when it's easier just to do the work myself.

6) Keep the house clean (oh god!!!!!!!!)
Yes. House has been fine. Panicked cleaning for rent inspections may have been the only reason though. Will see how we do without the pressure.

7) Make sure we have friends over LOTS to stay with us in Dalyellup and do cool things like camping.
Didn't go camping specifically but did cool things. "Lots" is not quite what we had, but had lots of friends stay over including in the romantic sense, so we weren't lonely which was my worry.

8) Learn the names of all of Paul's Bunbury/Australind based family members.
Considering we never went to see them, this didn't happen.

9) Buy a house. Oh shit, shit shit. Aiming to buy a house in may/june/july. We have enough for a deposit and we earn enough, BUT NO PRESSURE RIGHT. Be super frugal and start working on that interest.
DONE. Frugality has been mixed, but comparing to my friends who go into credit card debt to buy a new board game we're not doing too badly at all. Early days as far as the loan goes but I anticipate we'll be paying it off early.


10) Tony Abbott. No, not THAT Tony Abbott. I am being deliberately vague, but I want to make sure that when I look at this post I remember that I put Tony Abbott on my list of new years resolutions to make sure that it happened or something.

Done. Actually happened on New Year's Day, so how's that for progress. Was a disappointment but that wasn't my fault. :P

So, I guess my 2013 goals:

1. Become bout-ready at Roller Derby, either with PRD or WARD. I'll miss my WARD friends from 2011 but PRD's venue is about 10 minutes from my house.

2. Be awesome at my job. Go out and make sure people are building lots of bridges, or something. Make sure I have a higher work:slacking ratio. Be more proactive when I'm underworked.

3. Attend that French meetup group.

4. Properly manage the Perth Atheists meetup group. Ensure that monthly lunches continue to be held.

5. Run for secretary of the Freethought Student Alliance and try and do a good job.

6. Keep the house clean.

7. Plan meals every week in order to more efficiently use resources.

8. Ride bike to and from work every day.

9. Finish unpacking (I, uh, never finished unpacking all the stuff for the house we lived in during 2012. This probably means I could have just thrown everything in the bin. :P)

10. Fall in love with somebody.



@Fury - Neither! Quad skating, for roller derby :)

@Usul - Peut-etre. ;)
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Re: Real Life Resolutions for 2013

Post by Fjorab_Teke »

Hah, mine seem to be about the same every year, but this one has a twist which i'll explain as the first one.

FOR 2013...

1: Work on the long-term future of my childhood home which is now officially permanently our home base. Since my whole family loves my parents' 7-acre farm AND i'm the only one among my siblings who actually wants to live there forever, my husband and i are working on how to gradually "buy" it so that my parents will have money to do the renovations that we all want for the house/pasture/driveway.

2: Old continuing resolution - restore my beloved 1985 Toyota Supra. I have WAY too much emotional connection with this car and my history with it and its passengers. And it's the only car i want and really LIKE to drive (everything else is ugly, too "springy," horrid visibility, pitiful handling, likewise too expensive/rare, etc.). Some of the prognosis is bad, due to some deep rust and tricky wiring issues, as well as being a 28-year-old limited production import and thus only repairable by finding likewise-rare spare parts from somewhere. BUT we've done some major work this past month, and it's running the best it has in a long time. I might not get to drive it cross-country yet, but it'll be good enough to drive close to home until we can get it completely restored.

3: Another continuation - be active, lose weight. Kind-of achieved. I've been going on walks since the city we're living in has some great sidewalks - up to 4-5 miles on a good day. I also sometimes play touch football with my husband and his work buddies. I've gotten back into horseback riding, but i'm on break at home, and it as been WET and cold and sloppy outside, when i haven't been utterly busy visiting people. My riding instructor in California has been great. I'm learning "reining" - but right after i left to visit home, she was in a bad accident and might not get to ride/teach much for a few more months. My weight hasn't "changed," but i'm feeling better and have more stamina, and my old pants have gotten more comfy again.

4: *sigh* CD collection ripped to .mp3 on the computer...again. This thing is still a mess. I have too many projects, and this one keeps getting put to the side. I've gotten disheartened by all the times i've had to restart it, and i'm still looking for the cluster of CDs i've misplaced somewhere.

5: Clean, organize, and reduce clutter...again. Haha. :-p

6: Keep a better journal...again.

7: Kick bad habits...again. I'm getting better, but i still have to work on this.
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Re: Real Life Resolutions for 2012

Post by Larkspurlane »

Fury wrote:Tuesday: Spin
Thursday: Bodypump
Friday: Spin & Pump
Saturday OR Sunday: Squash
Glerp... you do spin AND Pump on the same day? You're crazy. My legs are so shaky after spinning there is no way I could endure the squat and lunge punishment of Pump!
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Fury
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Re: Real Life Resolutions for 2012

Post by Fury »

Larkspurlane wrote:
Fury wrote:Tuesday: Spin
Thursday: Bodypump
Friday: Spin & Pump
Saturday OR Sunday: Squash
Glerp... you do spin AND Pump on the same day? You're crazy. My legs are so shaky after spinning there is no way I could endure the squat and lunge punishment of Pump!
Ohhh neither could I probably, haha! Spin & Pump is actually a really cool 1 hour class in which you do spinning for the first 30 minutes and then pump for the other half - but you just do chest, triceps, biceps and abs, no legs. It's a really good class, I love it!

I have only done one full one hour spin class before and it is hell. But it's a great workout. Do you do Bodypump too? :D
Larkspurlane
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Re: Real Life Resolutions for 2013

Post by Larkspurlane »

Yeah, I do RPM (the Les Mills spinning class) which is only 50 or 55 minutes (but very intense minutes) and Pump as my regular workouts. That combo class sounds awesome, none of my gyms offer anything like that. I still think it sounds exhausting, 'cuz for e.g. the abs track, if they've got you doing planking (like that Mr. Saxobeat track) then my legs would just be like NOPE. Plus I would be so disgustingly sweaty... haha.

To remain on the resolutions topic, I currently do x1 spin and x2 pump a week, and would like to make it x2 and x2 instead. But I have trouble finding the time, with 2 dogs to keep tired, dear boyfriend, and a social/family life... there are those 6am spinning classes but that seems brutal. I'd have to get up at 5am to walk the dogs first, then get there on time... ugh.

Also I would like to increase my Pump biceps weight to 5 (am at 4.5 currently, and it hurts... it burrrnnns...).

I don't have very exciting resolutions.
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Pulse
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Re: Real Life Resolutions for 2013

Post by Pulse »

Hey there, noticed all of you talking about fitness and health. Just wanted to let you know that I am actually at university for Kinesiology and am a certified personal trainer. If you ever have any questions about anything, feel free to ask!

Anyways, my personal goals for the year are to maintain and get a 4.0 GPA in my courses. Put on about 10 pounds of lean muscle, and just enjoy life! :P
I'm only 19 though, and am a guy so a lot of the stuff all you have for resolutions don't really apply to me (yet) lol!

P.S. I am a 19 year old guy who plays Neopets lmao, I don't even care hah
Fury
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Re: Real Life Resolutions for 2013

Post by Fury »

Larkspurlane wrote:Yeah, I do RPM (the Les Mills spinning class) which is only 50 or 55 minutes (but very intense minutes) and Pump as my regular workouts. That combo class sounds awesome, none of my gyms offer anything like that. I still think it sounds exhausting, 'cuz for e.g. the abs track, if they've got you doing planking (like that Mr. Saxobeat track) then my legs would just be like NOPE. Plus I would be so disgustingly sweaty... haha.

To remain on the resolutions topic, I currently do x1 spin and x2 pump a week, and would like to make it x2 and x2 instead. But I have trouble finding the time, with 2 dogs to keep tired, dear boyfriend, and a social/family life... there are those 6am spinning classes but that seems brutal. I'd have to get up at 5am to walk the dogs first, then get there on time... ugh.

Also I would like to increase my Pump biceps weight to 5 (am at 4.5 currently, and it hurts... it burrrnnns...).

I don't have very exciting resolutions.
Oh nice, I tried RPM too! The instructor was slightly insane but I will definitely go back.

x2 spin and x2 pump sounds nicely balanced. The good thing with BP is that it works a range of muscle groups instead of just one.

More pumpy-spinny-exercise talk:
Spoiler: open/close
The abs track at Spin & Pump doesn't involve any planks, thank goodness, because like you say, anything involving legs would be nasty! I can't remember exactly which track it usually is but it's just crunches/bicycle crunches and twists with a weight on one shoulder. And the extending one to finish, where you extend both of your legs and stretch the weight out behind your head at the same time.

For your bicep weight, is that KG you are referring to? I'd love to hit 10kg (5 each side) for biceps too but I'm a little way off of that at the moment. I started Bodypump in the summer and I set myself targets for the end of the year:

Warm-Up: 7.5kg
Squats: 17.5kg
Chest: 10kg
Back: 12.5kg (I wanted to hit 15kg but can't manage that just yet)
Triceps: 7.5kg
Biceps: 7.5kg
Shoulders: 2.5kg (free weights)

I'm gonna set myself some new targets for summer 2013 and see if I can reach them. Weightlifting is really addictive, I'm so tempted to go heavy in the weights room but I'd have to regulate my diet a little more and blah... I'm not sure if I want to go down that route!
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Re: Real Life Resolutions for 2013

Post by thelonetiel »

This topic is actually a great review to see what people are up to. It's fun to see the developments in people's lives. I'm glad to see so many people doing well! Like Fjorab, getting your family's place sounds super awesome! And being proactive about aethism, Madge and Fury, is really cool, I wish you luck with it. :D

The exercise discussion is making me feel guilty that it isn't on my priority list. But I walk to school, it's uphill! Both ways! (In seriousness, good on you all for making time for exercise! You'll live longer and healthier for it. I'll follow in your footsteps when that sinks in better for me)



I think my number one goal for this year is to get better at flirting. It's come to my attention (shocking!) that it's more effective to be proactive about flirting, which is so much social stress and I get so awkward. But I've used Christmas break to keep up flirty online correspondence with a couple guys back in Seattle, which has been rewarding practice. One of those convos was even entirely proactive ("Hey, you're awesome, I should flirt with you more!" and it worked!). (For anyone concerned about multiple guys - all of them already have partners and are polyamorous/have open relationships, which makes things surprisingly less stressful) I'm hoping to keep this up in the new year, less awkwardsauce, more actual communication.

Similarly on the front of sending unambiguous compliments, I'm also hoping to get better at getting in touch with people in general. One of my goals is to send happy messages to the people I care about, even those ones I don't talk to often - kinda in the style of Warm and Fuzzies. Hopefully I can make that happen and not get paralyzed by the fear they might somehow misinterpret "You're cool and I like you!".

Also I need to apply for jobs and grad schools since I graduate in June and don't know what I'm doing next. I have a senior synthesis project to start and finish this year (basically: Write a paper to answer a question using your 4 years of university knowledge!). And other school things - make high as possible GPA, survive Quantitative Analysis, etc. NBD. Two more quarters and I'll have my Environmental Science BS.

I'm not sure I can even think of goals beyond June, since moving back to NM (or another grad school) or staying in Seattle is a pretty big divide. Eeep.
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Re: Real Life Resolutions for 2013

Post by Jessi »

My big resolution this year is to lose weight, though I'm not setting a goal weight for myself. This is such a generic resolution that people make every year (including myself), but this year I decided enough was enough and I joined Weight Watchers. Yesterday was my first day, and I honestly felt pretty hungry, but I also didn't have any good zero-point snacks on me (like fruit), so that definitely didn't help. Going shopping today to stock up on all the good things!
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Re: Real Life Resolutions for 2013

Post by Cranberry »

I think you'll like the Weight Watchers program, Jessi. I never joined any kind of program, but back in... 2003, 2004, I guess, I decided that I wanted to lose about 30 lbs and I pretty much used their system. I didn't go on any kind of diet, but just watched portion sizes and tried to keep my total calories below a certain number every day (1500-1600), with only 25% calories from fat. I used Fitday.com to keep track. I found it easier to lose weight that way, as I could still eat what I wanted, just not a ton of it! I lost that 30lbs (I think I went from a size 12 to a 6) and have kept it off since then. Nine years now, wow!

I never really make resolutions, although I suppose I HAVE to get a job soon, so we'll go with that. :P
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Re: Real Life Resolutions for 2013

Post by Tom »

I will be very happy this year if I figure out what I want to do with my life. I graduate this year so a job is incoming. I just don't know what, at all. There's way way waaay too much choice. How are you supposed to know what you want to go into with so many choices? Pah. All I know is I want to be done with my degree.

And that's about it! Generic degree rant. :P
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