Goals for 2010

2010 is just two days away. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. I'm not really sure whether I enjoyed 2009 as much as 2008, but either way, it has been a pretty decent year. I don't know why, but I am really looking forward to 2010. I think it might be because I can't wait to start school again...? I'm not sure. It's really weird that I am actually looking forward to school. I guess it's because I'm looking forward to living on my own again instead of being under my parents' roof. I've come to realize that even though I do miss my family and friends when I am away in school, I really like the feeling of being independent/responsible and not having to rely on my parents for food, laundry, cleaning up around the house, etc. I don't know, I'm just ranting now.

Anyway, I've set a list of goals for the new year. I hope that I can actually accomplish them... or at least find a way to motivate myself to accomplish them. :P

1) Raise my GPA
- Right now, my overall GPA is pretty embarrassing, and I admit that it's my fault. Although it is not super low, it definitely can be better... at least to a point where I can actually tell people what my GPA is. -___- In my own defense, it has gotten better than when I first started college.

2) Study more
- Okay, I can honestly admit that my study skills are pretty much null. I hardly ever study on school nights and I save most of my studying for the day before a test. I am amazed that I have actually passed all of my classes without studying/doing any of the reading. Despite that, i know for a fact that I can get better grades if I actually start studying. I think this may be one of my hardest goals to achieve considering my notorious reputation of being a huge procrastinator.

3) Go to sleep earlier/wake up earlier
- I go to bed really late. And I mean REALLY late. During Fall quarter, I had a class at 9AM that I hardly ever went to because I often went to sleep at 4:00 in the morning. This is one of my worst habits and I need to break it. Winter break hasn't been much help. In fact, this bad habit worsened due to the lack of responsibility I have when I'm at home in L.A. I am also one of the hardest people to wake up in the morning because I go to sleep super late. Hopefully, when the new quarter starts, I will be able to sleep at a semi-decent time (maybe around 12AM-1AM) and wake up 1 1/2 hours before my first class (10AM M-Th).

4) Go to the gym at least 4 times a week
- Ah, yes. The cliché resolution that pretty much everyone has on their list. Over the summer, when I was taking classes at UCSB for a month, I managed to go to the gym everyday for the last two weeks of session A. When I got home, I stopped working out altogether for the rest of the summer. When Fall quarter started, I promised myself that I would start going to the gym again, but that only lasted for two weeks. Hopefully this time I can actually go through with it, especially now that I am sort of motivated to not only lose weight, but also become healthier. My family has a history of hypertension (which is a fancy medical way [not really] of saying high blood pressure) and I do not want to put up with that when I am older. I also do not want to put up with being super overweight when I am older. I'm actually sort of proud of myself because instead of gaining the infamous "Freshman 15" when I started college, I've actually lost weight... around 25 pounds to be exact (not that much, but it's still progress) and I am making it a goal for me to lose more during the new year.

5) Eat healthier
- It's really hard to eat healthy when you're a college student due to A) lack of money to buy healthier food, B) the constant yearning for homecooked Filipino food, and C) pure laziness/lack of time. While point A is probably the hardest reason to overcome (due to not being able to obtain a part-time job in this economy), points B and C are the easiest to fix. I can try to allocate my money to buying healthier food, but it can get pricey sometimes. I spend most of my money on food anyway and during the Fall quarter I started buying healthier food, but I know that I can do better. I hardly bought that much junk food, anyway. :) Although I do miss homecooked Filipino food a lot when I am in SB, which prompted me to start cooking it (authentically laden in all of its oily, fatty, and caloric goodness), I can try to cook healthier. Point C I can try to fix by actually waking up earlier to actually eat breakfast instead of waiting to eat until lunchtime. I can also try to eat five small meals a day instead of eating two large meals and a snack (which I had been doing during Fall quarter).

6) Be more positive
- I think that I am a pretty positive person, but I know that there are times when I am super pessimistic, especially when midterms and finals come along. I have gotten better at being thankful for having what in life, but I also think a lot about material goods that I want and don't really need. I really need to change that way of thinking. >_<

7) Participate more in church
- I am proud that I have started to get more involved in my church in SB and that I have made so many new friends there. I am also proud that I have been going to church every Sunday (I only missed one Sunday because I was sick), I've been getting closer to God, and I have strengthened my faith. Despite this, I know that I can participate more and help out with the activities they have. Participating more will help me feel better about myself... and the fact that a cute boy who is really into human rights and activism goes to my church helps, too. ;)

Well, there is my New Year's resolution list. Hopefully I didn't bore you to death with my long ass rationales for each goal. I really hope that I can stick to these resolutions. It shouldn't be that hard with only seven goals, right? ;) Just kidding. I mean, how many people do you know have actually stuck with and accomplished their new year's resolutions? I don't know anyone who has done that. Oops, that was a negative thing to say and not a very good start at being more positive. >_< Okay, I'll shut up now. :)

What are your New Year's resolutions?