2014 New Year’s Resolutions: Update!

I can’t say I’ve been keeping track of my New Year’s Resolutions too closely but I am pleasantly surprised to see I’m doing well.

1)      Finish reading the Bible

I’m not reading from start to finish. Instead I am skipping around so I don’t stall and lose momentum (usually around 2 Chronicles). I likely won’t finish since I’ve on completed seven books but at least it is almost a habit now.

2)      Drink 1L of water per day.

That was overly optimistic. I’m not drinking 1 L of water but I am drinking at least 1 glass-full every day. Those who know me know this is incredible progress! I am seeing the health benefits already including one I didn’t anticipate: my menstrual cramps are significantly less painful.

3)      Do something social with people at least once a month.

This has been great.  Once a month doesn’t seem like a lot but for a homebody like me, it made a huge difference.  It helps me strengthen my relationships with friends and feel less isolated. The corollary was a bit harder to do but this past month I’ve spent more time alone with my mom and it’s nice to see how our relationship is evolving now that I’m an adult.

4)      Reduce student loan debt by $8K

In retrospect I should have written my starting point. My records show I started the year with $11,650 of student loan debt. As of July 18 my debt was $9056. I am immensely proud of being under 10K but I won’t be able to reduce the debt as much I planned to.  Several big expenses came up this year that I slowed down my debt repayment. I also shifted my priorities to give more importance to savings.  My new goal is to be at or below 7K by the end of the year.

5)      Reading challenge. Check out my update here!

6)      Publish 60 posts

As of July 19, I had 25 posts up. That puts me behind on my goal but not by that much. If I publish 3 posts every two weeks I think I’ll hit my 60 post target.

7)      Complete 1 short story

I had forgotten about this goal. I’ve been writing (it’s REALLY hard for me) but I have fifteen stories in progress. I think I need to reduce it to 2 or 3 to have any hope of finishing one this year.

8)      Unwritten goal: Get paid

In the back of my mind, I wanted 2014 to be the year I got paid for some of the work I do outside of my day job. Then I talked myself down to simply “increase my profile.” Somehow, just by doing what I do daily, I accomplished both. DiverseCanLit has received a lot of coverage, and this summer I wrote my first paid article for The Toast. It’s a huge milestone for me and I hope it leads to more opportunities.

Did you make resolutions? Did you keep them? Share  in the comment section!