Hundredth post! \o/

Anyway, remember my new year’s resolutions?

Here’s how they’re going, and in true project manager (PM) style, I’m traffic lighting it.

Blog twice a week using at least 600 words of creative writing.

Green! Yep, on track. Already this might have been the most challenging so far, given the amount of free time I really have and how I half burned out from the weight of things. 600 words takes me, on average, about an hour – I typically do four ten-minute bursts of about 150 words with varying breaks in the middle. But while two hours a week is manageable – plus a regular blog post – I have found it challenging as it’s the first thing I bump to the next day if I’m tired.

Gym three times a week.

Green! Super green, actually. I’ve gone at least three times a week – in fact I’m averaging 3.5 so far in the year – I go to three classes: a circuits class, a core focus (or kettlebells if I’m busy Friday evening) and a bikram yoga class, then I add in a full body workout (using a program from my gym trainer) every other week (because I don’t have time to do that every week). So hurrah! I’ve also lost 1.8% body fat since the start of January (17.4 to 15.6) so fingers crossed it keeps dropping but I’m enjoying it and I’m glad I chose the gym I did – it’s slightly over the odds price-wise but the community feel is so nice and I really like seeing the same faces!

Read a book a month.

Amber… January – did this with a day to spare. February: haven’t started yet! Eek – and half of February is already gone! So 14 days to read a book. Doable, but I will definitely drop this if I’m feeling overwhelmed and try to catch up in March!

Learn at least 800 kanji by June.

Amber/Green: Wanikani is telling me that I currently know 308. In reality I know several more than this because I studied nearly 450 using the textbook we use in class. But otherwise, I think this is green. There’s definitely time for another 500, right?(!)

Moderate my alcohol intake.

Amber. I slightly overindulged a couple of times in February because I got quite upset by a couple of things, but even then I didn’t go nuts. Whereas I’d set rough limits of 1 for a weeknight and 3 for a weekend, I did a couple of weekdays with 3 and a weekend with a 5. I’m monitoring it, staying accountable for my choice to try to keep a lid on it – but I’m not going to beat myself up for having two extra drinks on a bad day!

Learn one new song on the piano.

Amber. Not started this yet, but I kind of see this as a second half of the year thing, when wedding admin is done with and the kanji learning can calm down a bit.

So it’s going okay! Small steps to achieving some greater things. There are some other things I want to focus on, like being happier at work, perhaps doing a new PM qualification — but those things rely on a personal decision and extraneous factors outside of my control. So resolutions for those when I actually know what I want!

Otherwise, here’s one more:

Enjoy the wedding planning process!

Too often I’m thinking of wedmin as a chore – so maybe it’s time to address that!

Join me in March when we’ll see how I’m getting on. Maybe next week it’s time for another Cocktail recipe – I know a few of my regular readers have been asking for one!

xRaph