New Year, New Resolutions

January 1st brings that ages old tradition of making resolutions for positive change in the new year. I know a lot of people are soured on the idea of “New Year Resolutions” because, they say, why should you wait until the first day of a new year of start changing your life for the better. Although I can agree logically with their argument, I still like the idea of making New Years Resolutions. It give me a day to reflect upon my life and the ways I’d like to make it better, and then codify them into a list I can carry with me all year.

So without further ado, here are my resolutions for 2011:

  • Stop biting my fingernails
  • Blog once a week (minimum)
  • Develop a healthy personal diet
  • Continue losing weight and toning my upper body
  • Make finals in a Novice West Coast Swing competition
  • Learn to shave with a (non-electric) razor
  • Enjoy being single for a while
  • Get a job
  • Move back to Sacramento
  • Travel outside of the country for the first time
  • Watch 1-2 new movies per week
  • Read through my backlog of books

With a couple exceptions, I feel like these are all reasonably achievable goals. On the job front, I have a few good leads and I’m very hopeful that one of them will pan out. Once I start working, moving back down to Sacramento is a foregone conclusion. Like everyone else, I’m always striving to be healthier and lose weight, but unlike some people, I started a gym habit back in September, so maintaining the momentum should be hard. And finally, I have tons of friends who are going traveling this year to places like Japan, France, South Korea, Italy, etc., and my friend Lisa just got back from six months in Australia. I’ve never been outside on the continental United States, and I feel like now is the time to go!

Perhaps the strangest item on my list is to “enjoy being single”. I’m not one to define myself by the person I’m dating, but after more than a year of being in a serious relationship, it’s been hard to transition back. Love is like a drug for me, and I’ve been going through some serious withdrawls. So unless someone truly spectacular walks into my life (or a certain girl starts showing signs of interest again), I’m going to kick back and enjoy my commitment-free life.

What are your resolutions? Are there any that are on your list year after year without progress? I’m convinced that I’ll never stop biting my fingernails, which has been on my resolution lists for over a decade.