akemmer

My successes with my resolutions:​

• Box every week:

  • This past summer I tried kickboxing for the first time, and decided to give it another go with the start of the new year. I will admit that originally my goal was "box every day", but I soon discovered that was not realistic and reframed my resolution to a weekly basis. Up until the end of April I stuck with this weekly resolution...and then final projects and presentations happened. So, although I've been slacking a bit the last couple of weeks, this is something I am proud to have stuck with and will continue to do because it's a killer workout and is extremely empowering.

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• More in-person interactions:

  • I'm the type of person who is extremely independent and likes having her "me" time. Which is fine. However, I feel that I miss out on strengthening certain relationships due to my preference of being a homebody. By focusing on these in-person interactions, I succeeded at this goal by redefining it and setting a goal of having 2-3 in-person interactions a week. This could include grabbing food or coffee, working out, or doing another activity with friends. By setting up these "friend dates" at the beginning of each week, I found myself becoming a lot closer to my friends, and just a better friend in general, since I was more aware of what was going on in their daily lives.

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• Get more sleep

  • Surprisingly, the general nature of this resolution was not limiting. I would remind myself that I needed more sleep, which helped me structure my day much better and assured that I was in bed by 11pm. ​In having knowledge that 8-9 hours of sleep a night is ideal, I made sure that I did this, and ultimately felt much better. My mom even commented when I visited home that I looked more rested than I had in years. AND, to think, I still got all of my work done...regardless of getting more sleep. This goes to show that one does NOT have to have a sleep deprived college experience if they make a point of valuing it.

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• Try new experiences

  • This was another goal that was not limited ​by the general nature of it. As a result of challenging myself to try new experiences, I said yes to way more activities than I would have otherwise. I went to date parties, went to a paint and pour, played on various IM sports teams, and went to concerts. All these experiences made my semester so much more memorable, and I am grateful to have been pushed to say "yes" to invites versus always playing the "I'm too busy" card.

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My failures with my resolutions:

• Be on my phone less: 

  • Okay, I will be the first to admit that I am an addict. I am the type of person that cannot stand to not look when I hear my phone buzz. BUT, I did get better because of this resolution. With the start of 2017, I took my obsessive relationship with my phone and turned it into a more serious, stable relationship. It's hard for me to "be on my phone less", since I am very close with my family and am almost always in contact with them on a daily basis. Plus, I have a bad habit of checking social media on the regular. So, I think that in order to address some of my more unhealthier habits, I would need to redefine my resolution and make it more specific. Because what exactly does "be on my phone less" mean? This lack of clarity allowed me to continue justifying certain behaviors that I could have addressed had I used more specificity.

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• Eat a well-rounded diet

  • This one was a huge fail for me. When it comes to my eating habits, I have always been a bit off. I am very structured and habitual with what I eat, and challenging myself to "eat a well-rounded diet" was way too general for me to actually push myself to make any changes. Out of all the resolutions I made, this is definitely the one I would like to continue to address in the future. Although I have become a lot better with my diet, I think that I still have a long ways to go.

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