New Years typically is celebrated with joy and false promises to do an insane list of new things. Well I have made New Years resolutions that have been half kept. I’ve certainly started and maintained the resolution but not always achieved the full goal. After listening to a podcast my sister sent me however I decided to try a version of it.

For the curious, the podcast/episode is NPR Life Kit’s December 29th 2020 episode “Trying to Form a Habit? Start Small” . The main takeaway that influenced me was the idea that when we are asked to make lists of positives and negatives often the two lists are extremely different in lenght. We are all too good at criticizing ourselves. If we celebrated each task or accomplishment with the same vigor as we criticize ourselves perhaps more habits would stick, more resolutions would be realized.

The test then is to see if I can switch from my lists and constant scrutiny to one of personal cheerleader. In doing so I hope to achieve the following resolutions:

• Become a better runner. I have started running. I have progressed greatly from when I started but can’t say I am all that great at it. However instead of berating myself for each failed run instead I plan to celebrate each attempt. Even when I don’t hit the miles I wanted or the time I can celebrate that I made the decision to run. That I did the support workout to build my base. That I can run so, so much more than when I first started. And maybe then I’ll really improve to the ultimate goal of half marathon!
• Read more, read again, read, read, read. Somewhere in purusing my architecture education I lost my habit of reading. When I do it tends to be for class, work, or for the profession. It seems that all other kinds of writing have been cut out of my life. So while I don’t have the time to devour whole books in one sitting like I did as a kid, I can certainly make the time to read a little bit each day. Starting with the books I was gifted for Christmas and moving on from there. I’ll finally finish all those half started books from last year.
• Write more. Much like I used to love reading, I also used to write constantly. I have no goal in mind. No word count. No storyline. I simply want to write more of anything: Short stories, informative articles, better blog posts, poems, speeches, etc. Perhaps the foundation of this years writing exercise can be next years great literature endeavour.
• Sketch better by sketching more. Sketching has always been a way of analyzing and studying places or ideas that interest me. However this is typically in plan, section, maybe a small perspective detail. I’d like to improve my general drawing skills to better depict everyday scenes. To be able to draw things other than buildings and a small range of plants. Generally the more confident I am in sketching the clearer my drawings and spur of the moment presentations will be. I can’t wait to fill up my pocket sketchbook with drawings!

This is by no means all I hope to achieve. However these seem like the simplest to change and the most obvious to impact a greater range of my life and opportunities. Excited to see how this goes!!