As 2018 comes to a close, I want to check in with you guys on your resolutions. Did you make any? Did you stick to them? I wrote a blog last year where I challenged you to make a few, and it’s only fair to tell you guys how I did with mine, as well. Quick refresher, my three resolutions were:

1. Plan myself less; have 1-2 FREE nights/week.
2. Get back in the pool and start swimming again.
3. Do more weight training to become stronger. 

The first one was a half-win. I booked myself permanently for Tuesday nights as “date nights,” which made my free time 1/7^th less. However, I told my emoji-bf that our date nights didn’t need to be excursions all the time; it could be Netflix & chill. Sure enough, we did that a lot. I did a better job of not making plans on Fridays, which I always regret when I make them. I am so busy all the time, especially with travel (another blog coming soon on my 2018 travel recap), that it’s nice to sit at home and veg out every once in a while. I think I will continue this resolution and roll it into 2019.

Speaking of rollovers, my second and third resolutions were actually leftover from 2017. I did a much better job at these! For swimming, I moved to an apartment that was closer to a gym with a pool, which was incredibly helpful. Before Tuesdays became date nights, I was swimming every Tuesday. Also, after I unfortunately sprained my ankle AGAIN over the summer, swimming provided a great alternative cardio workout. I even swam for weeks using a buoy between my legs, and only using my arms. I felt so much stronger, and my ankle always felt better after stretching just by dragging through the water resistance. I have fallen off the swimming a bit in the past 2 months because of date night and because it’s COLD! I don’t like being wet and walking the (albeit short) 9 blocks home.

My last resolution to weight train more has been incredibly successful, again thanks to my proximity to a new gym. I found two classes a week that I enjoy: A Sunday morning boot camp class, and a Wednesday evening TRX interval class. Between these two classes, I have increased my strength and I have gained self-esteem by realizing I can do things I didn’t realize before (like hold a handstand against the wall for a full minute!) Adding non-cardio workouts to my routine has helped me stick to a diversified schedule, and the secret was just finding instructors I liked, and small classes to keep me accountable.

I get down on myself when I fail at resolutions, so it’s important to recognize success where I can find it. I am all about positive reinforcement, even for myself. I like to recognize and pat myself on the back occasionally. Some of my ongoing resolutions that I have been able to stick to are:

• Make coffee at home. I prefer iced coffee, so I used to buy it out every day. I have been incredibly successful at making it in advance at home. I have spent a mere $169 on coffee shops in 2018. This may seem like a lot, but I used to spend $75/month! That’s a reduction of $731 for the year.
• Speaking of saving money and budgeting, I have continued to stick to my mint. I may not be saving yet but, but at least I know where each of my dollars is going. That’s the first step.
• Travel more internationally. As I mentioned before, a blog about my 2018 travel is coming soon. I have fallen off a bit with my travel blogging, but I did make it to three countries outside the US this year, and two of them were new!
• Tweet more. Last year at this time, I had about 510 tweets. Now I have 1,147! Not bad! I’m still working on it. Follow me @longlegsbigcity!
• Save for retirement. My work has helped me with this; they have an amazing plan where if I put in 6%, they put in 8%! It’s basically unheard of. I was doing really well before our Commander in Idiocy crashed the market last week. Oh well.
• Read 4 nonfiction books/year. I have succeeded! This year I read 41 books so far, and 12 of them were nonfiction. My nonfiction selections were: Becoming, The New Jim Crow, Tuesdays with Morrie, Lean In, So You Want to Talk About Race, So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, Lucky, Wild, When, Shrill, The New Rabbi and What Happened. Follow me on GoodReads for recommendations!

I’m excited for 2019, and I will try and continue these resolutions, as well as add on a few more. My two main resolutions are:

• Food prep more and bring lunch to work. This means traveling less on the weekends, so I have Sundays for food shopping and cooking. We’ll see if I succeed. I have my doubts because I already have 3 weddings on the calendar.
• Get BraidInManhattan.com up and running and monetize the braiding hobby into a braiding business! Right now, I purchased the domain and I have it redirecting to my Instagram (I’m up to 1,336 followers!). For 2019 I want to do more hair for weddings, prom, events, etc. Do you know anyone who needs a stylist?

What are your resolutions? Do you have any? Leave them in the comments or let me know how you did with your 2018 ones!