Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone! Like most of you, I spent the night partying with some good friends… but now it’s time to get down to business. What’s in store for me in 2011? And what are my New Year’s resolutions?

My theme in coming up with my New Year’s resolutions for this year is to be the person I want to be. I’ve wasted too much time waiting for one thing or another before I just do want I want to do (e.g., waiting to meet someone before traveling, waiting till I move to a house in the suburbs before hosting dinner parties, waiting till I stop traveling to lose weight, etc).

I decided to put this list into the form of “things your mother would tell you.” (Note, however, that none of these are “quit drinking”; this is Absolut(ly) Fit, after all!)

STAND UP STRAIGHT!
-Improve my posture, trying to correct it as often as I notice it’s lacking.
-Take some sort of dance/yoga class at least once/month.

LOSE SOME WEIGHT!
-By the end of the year, I want to be able to do at least 5 unassisted pullups.
-I also want to be able to do a 5 minute plank.
-In the first month of 2010, I’ll come up with a few other goals for actual weight lifting, but I’m not really experienced enough yet to know what’s good and still achievable.

READ A BOOK!
-Read at least 100 books this year. I started tracking on GoodReads about halfway through the year and got through 42, so I’m thinking if I step it up a bit I should be able to do 100 in a year. That’s about 1.5 per week, plus the extra ones I read when I’m on vacation.

GET SOME CULTURE!
-Speaking of vacation, another of my goals is to visit four new countries this year (aka not Mexico, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Canada, Poland, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, or the UK… it’s sad how little I’ve traveled outside the US). Hopefully one of these will be on a different continent too, so I can branch out from North America and Europe!

WATCH YOUR MOUTH!
-While I don’t swear nearly as much as most of my friends, I’ve caught myself cursing sometimes out of habit than out of true anger – totally trashy. No more! Hoping I can banish this habit completely by the end of the year, perhaps by replacing the curse words with some cute little sayings.

BRUSH YOUR TEETH!
-Actually, make that floss your teeth. I just had a dentist appointment yesterday, and while I didn’t have any cavities, I did get the ol’ flossing lecture. No more! By next year, I want my dentist to be able to tell that I’ve been flossing and comment on how sparkly my teeth are.

GO TO BED!
-Get at least 7 hours of sleep per night.
-If I don’t get 7 hours of sleep on a night, I must make up the difference the following night, with no exceptions.

CLEAN YOUR ROOM!
-By December 31, 2011, I will have cleaned out my room and streamlined my possessions. (I have way too many!)
-I also want to finish my redecoration of the living room, so I can host dinner parties with my friends. And hey, that might help me out with…

GO GET MARRIED!
-Okay, I’m not going for marriage yet, but I want to start trending in that direction (meaning: finding a cute guy to date). And that starts with putting myself out there more. My goal: I don’t necessarily need to go on a date every week, but I want to go to some sort of event that is “putting myself out there” at least once a week, even if it’s just going to a bar for a football game. Hey, maybe I’ll even learn a little football in the process!
-(Hosting a dinner party and having friends invite their friends counts as putting myself out there.)

Now… what are your New Year’s resolutions?