On a personal note: Goals for my 23rd year

As I am in the last 45 minutes of my 22nd birthday, I think it is important to have a few goals in mind for the upcoming year.  I think we can all agree that self-improvement is important, so here are the things I am looking forward to changing or continuing to change for my 23rd year of being a person.

1) Waste less time

I think this is a common goal for people because there are SO MANY distractions. I know I feel better as a neurotic person in New York when I am productive with my time. So I will try to spend less of it on facebook (so hard to do!), or watching trashy TV, so I have more time to do things that I like and less time stressing about things I wasn't doing when I was wasting time.

2) Stop buying clothes

H&M has gotten the best of me, and I have a lot of cheep clothes that look like crap after a few washes. However, I go to fashion school, so I should really make an effort to be more resourceful and mend my clothes when they break, take time to hand-wash things I know won't fare well in the machine, and take old things and remake them to be new when I get sick of them. (exceptions include tights, undergarments, shoes if they break, and if I am in a bind like I need to look good for a job or event)

3) Grow some of my own food

I wanted to do this last summer, but I didn't get back to America until late June so I thought it was too late to start. I think it would be a good experience to grow some of my own fruits vegetables and herbs this summer. I was thinking of getting some plastic bins and having a little fire escape garden in Jersey City (if anyone has an experience in this, I would love advice). I hope that any occasional traveling won't get in the way. Also, I have an inconvenient fear of bugs, so I hope that the fact that this will be on my fire escape will minimize my risk of unwanted encounters. This may be ambitious, but maybe with the help of a good book or two it could work.

3.1) Make and preserve more of my own foods

Closely related, this is a constant goal of mine. It is also particularly hard since I am constantly being tempted by tasty food that is all over the city and conveniently located on every block at all hours of the night or day. I think the better I get at cooking things myself, the less I will want to pay others to cook for me. Also, I would like to be able to go even further and continue to explore the world of preserving foods with fermentation and even making my own condiments and ingredients that you would normally buy like yogurt or mayonnaise.

4) Exercise Regularly

Can someone explain to me what this was supposed to do?

I already do this, but sometimes I slack off or just stop enjoying myself. So I want to make a conscious effort to just move more during the day, and perhaps find something fun to do rather than just going to gym. While I have been on the West coast I have been taking some dance classes so I hope to find something like that which can fit into my schedule during school. Also, I need to pay attention to how I feel and try to do workouts that energize me, rather than make me feel like I want to eat a ton or sleep the rest of the day, which is sort of counter-productive.

5) Read more

Closely related to waste less time, everyone needs to read more, so I need to read more. This will include the tedious task of making an effort to read on the subway, but it's a good habit to get into. 

6) Keep my apartment cleaner

Sigh, this is my least favorite goal. However, it's important and keeping my apartment clean definitely reduces my stress level during school so I will make a sincere effort!

So here's to turning 22 and trying to be an adult with habbits that make me feel good about myself!