Vignette: The ten resolutions you never did

Wake up, it’s December! It’s been twelve months since you made your New Year’s resolution. So, how did you do? Oh, you forgot? Well, let’s just say that none of us are surprised. No matter how convinced you are that you will actually get around to making that one change about yourself, for some reason you never actually do it. Whether it’s because we forgot about it or simply because old habits die hard, breaking these resolutions is as ordinary as it gets. Before you think of making one for next year, take a good look at this list of resolutions that almost everyone failed at doing – maybe even you.

Stop procrastinating

You have a paper due tomorrow and you haven’t started. What’s the first thing you do? Go on Facebook and swear to do it later. Fast forward to midnight when you find yourself cramming that paper with every ounce of willpower left in your system.  This has been the way you get things done and it’s been a vicious cycle. If you want to get things done, get off Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for a change and start on the tasks that you need to do. You’d be surprised with the amount of work that can be done with your undivided attention.

Make it in the Dean’s List

The elusive 4.0 and the Dean’s List certificate: an aspiration of many students that only the masterful can achieve. While there is nothing wrong with wanting to reach this goal, it requires more than just sheer desire. Yes, that means lying down and staring into the nothingness will definitely not make you part of the Dean’s list. It is things like this that take hard work and if you are willing to exert enough effort, you might just get what you’ve been looking for.

Do more risky things

This year is going to be different. You vow to be more adventurous because the last couple of years of your life have been a routine of eat, sleep and Youtube. You listed down some exciting things you want to try: Bungee jumping? Sure. Backpacking alone? Okay. Trying exotic delicacies? Definitely. As you prepare yourself for the most unforgettable experiences of your life, the opportunity presents itself and you suddenly chicken out and get cold feet. Word of advice: take baby steps next time so as not to get overwhelmed because getting out of your comfort zone is easier said than done.

Lose weight

It’s arguably the most gasgas resolution of them all, especially for those who normally chomp and gobble their way through the Christmas season. Unsurprisingly, fitness clubs take advantage of this redundant resolution by offering irresistible annual gym packages to people who want to shed unwanted weight. Still, for those who have tried it, gaining ten pounds is easier than losing a single pound or two. Instead of tying yourself up to an annual gym subscription that will end up being unused, attack this resolution on a daily basis by cultivating a healthier diet, then up the ante by engaging in a sport.

Start reading good books

Dragging through your required reading for HUMALIT? Envying the wide vocabulary of your seatmate? This resolution is just for you! Year after year, thousands of good books are chugged out by publishers. With the ascent of e-readers and e-books, the opportunity to read has just widened. Just like any other resolution, treat this one moderately by lapping up readable and interesting books. No need to go all philosophical. After all, one cannot subsist on games forever, right?

Save money

“How do I save for my future, when I think I have nothing to save?” is the favorite question of people who find saving money at the top of their resolution lists annually. After all, the equation “Income – Expenses = Savings” has been screwing up people’s lives for a long while now. Thus, for a change, an equation mix up is needed. For optimum savings, use “Income – Savings = Expenses” as a cure for this potent dilemma; the financial experts at the recently concluded DLSU Banking Summit seem to agree.

Fix my room

There is no law that mandates a person to act like he or she has OCD at all hours of the day. As a matter of fact, maintaining the cleanliness of one’s room, or even study table appears to be a sheer impossibility these days. Clutter has become a frenemy that is hard to get rid of. Instead of hearing the constant nagging of your parent or guardian for you to declutter, listen and dance to upbeat music. This will get you in the mood to fling unnecessary items out, and finally cross out this item from the gasgas resolution list.

Sleep early, wake up early

Before you hit the sack, you check your smartphone’s alarm clock to make sure you don’t get FDA’ed in your morning class. And just when you are about to put it under your pillow, you decide to tweet “Goodnight y’all.” The next thing you know, you’re already pressing the Snooze button. Stop blaming everyone in the Twittersphere for your wrecked body clock because browsing your smartphone before sleeping is definitely a no-no. Put the culprit somewhere you’ll be too lazy to pick it up.

No more Happy Thursdays

When was the last time you said to yourself it’s the last shot you’re drinking or the last cig you’re smoking? Was it last Thursday? Or was that the Thursday before the last Thursday? Whenever it was, you can’t help but admit that your Thursdays aren’t just happy with these gone. You drink because you feel that a week of acads is too intoxicating, but unless you forget that when you drink, you’re literally putting more intoxicating substances to your body. Why not try some other stuff that’s really stress-relieving? Movie dates? Shopping? Sports? You don’t have to be unhappy on Thursdays though, you just need to redefine it. By the way, you still have until 26th, -the last Thursday of December.

Spend less time on the internet

You’ve always had the urge to cut the time you spend in social networking sites and participate more in the real, tangible world.  You may have not realized it yet, but having quality time with your laptop for five hours a day equates to almost three months of Facebook-ing, Youtube-ing, and Instagram-ing in a year. It’s inevitable, but still manageable. You just have to let go of the character you’ve created in these social sites and make them appear in your real, corporal self. And when that finally happens, you’d enjoy more the company of real beings than late-night online conversations.

Thing here is, you don’t need to wait for 2014 to arrive before making all of these resolutions happen because basically, it’s the very reason why you never get to accomplish them. By now you might have thought that this article would fit more in the fireworks-and-trumpets month issue. You thought wrong, because we’re telling you – now is the perfect time to read this. So there, you have a month to prepare yourself for we all know well that this ain’t as easy as the 31st of December transpires to the 1st of January. By then, there’s no need for us to do an “Extremely Gasgas Resolutions” write-up next year.