2021 New Year's Resolution Thread

Tram

Ring, ring!
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I know it's only Christmas as of starting this thread, but that means we're exactly one week from the beginning of 2021 and I've already been contemplating what I want to achieve in 2021.

I'm tired of the 'new year, new me' bullshit people keep promising to themselves and everyone else each year as much as the next guy, but I still think writing goals down and having sort of an accountability list is a good idea, whenever you create it. If it happens to be when the rest of the planet does it as well, so what?

Also, why am I doing it fairly early? I thought about giving my ideas of what I want to achieve or improve in the following year, and I thought it'd be a good idea to get other people's perspectives in order to see if I'm being too unrealistic with my expectations, if any of the goals are not in accordance to the other in the list, etc. Some tips on how one's goals could be achieved wouldn't hurt either.

The basic idea behind making this thread where we could see each other's goals, discuss them, give each other ideas and so on. So, without further ado, here's what I had in mind for my goals:
  • Start actually caring about my physical shape. I've been doing pre-lunch/afternoon walks since October, and I thought it was a good start and that it'd be a good idea to up the game as the new year comes. My body would probably best fit in the so-called skinnyfat type, as I don't have much muscle mass, but I do have some belly fat. If the things were normal, I would've started going to the gym, but given the current pandemic situation, I'm looking at alternatives. Running would be a good alternative, but there are two cold months coming up for us, so I don't know if it'll be actually plausible. Some basic exercises such as sit-ups, pull-ups and push-ups would be also a good idea, but unfortunately, due to the fact I'm pretty constrained with space, that's currently not exactly an option. Therefore, my plan is to intensify the walks and probably do some light hiking during the winter months, and then go running afterwards.
  • Start eating healthier. By that I mean changing my breakfast habits, which consists mainly of cereals, usually those with high sugar content, combined with milk. I thought about replacing cereals with stuff such as boiled eggs, fruit, water, maybe some yoghurts or cups of milk. Ideas are welcome here. Also, I'd need to cut down on deserts, stuff like chocolate and candy, unhealthy snacks, and mindless eating. Oh, and add more fruit, as I have a feeling I don't eat enough of that.
  • Start with actual skin care. I must admit, I have all the products, I just don't use them. Well, it's time to change that. My face is still somewhat damaged from a severe acne situation I had going on as a teenager, and I still have some pop out once in a while. It'd improve my appearance and make me feel better about myself.
  • Stop with all the unhealthy habits. Apart from the aforementioned ones, that includes stalking people on social media, wasting my time on random internet stuff, and wasting my money on useless stuff I don't even need. There's probably more that I can't think of at this moment.
  • Focus even more on uni and just not give up. I'm already on a good path there, so the only wise thing would be to continue with my studies, give my max and strive to finish the uni in two and a half years from now.
  • Get rid of stuff I don't need, save some money, and start spending it on stuff that really matters to me. I've got to be honest, my money management skills are weak, mostly because of my impulsive and impatient nature.
  • Inquire into new hobbies and improve the current ones in my free time. This one is pretty self-explanatory. Play some more with photography, start drawing once again, further broaden my music taste, watch more movies and TV shows, etc. Obviously, not go too wild with it, as education should still be a priority.
  • Finally, stop caring about what others think so much. It just ends up paralysing me and not doing things that I want. Being more assertive would help here as well. Generally, getting more self-esteem and self-confidence would do wonders for me.
Okay, now that I posted that, and that I'm sure I missed some goals, I encourage others to post their goals. I figured, it might give us some ideas on what we could add to our lists, how to achieve our goals and generally discuss them.

I hope nobody minds the fact I opened a new thread for this, as I did find some older New Year's Resolution threads, but none of them survived for more than a year or so. Anyway, let's discuss, and then in one year's time, see what we've accomplished!
 
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Perhaps lose some weight I guess.

Actually get fucking fluent in German.
 
Some heard him speaking German during Ringmeet. I'll let those people share their impressions of him speaking German. :D

And thanks for reminding me of this thread! I shall go through what I achieved, what I haven't, what I still need to and what I have realized during 2021.

Start actually caring about my physical shape. I've been doing pre-lunch/afternoon walks since October, and I thought it was a good start and that it'd be a good idea to up the game as the new year comes. My body would probably best fit in the so-called skinnyfat type, as I don't have much muscle mass, but I do have some belly fat. If the things were normal, I would've started going to the gym, but given the current pandemic situation, I'm looking at alternatives. Running would be a good alternative, but there are two cold months coming up for us, so I don't know if it'll be actually plausible. Some basic exercises such as sit-ups, pull-ups and push-ups would be also a good idea, but unfortunately, due to the fact I'm pretty constrained with space, that's currently not exactly an option. Therefore, my plan is to intensify the walks and probably do some light hiking during the winter months, and then go running afterwards.
Umm... I tried some basic exercise, and while I didn't suck at it, I didn't stick with it either. It was mostly some pull-ups, sit-ups, running and whatnot. Nothing to write home about, so I'd say mission failed, but this year, I shall do more about it.

Start eating healthier. By that I mean changing my breakfast habits, which consists mainly of cereals, usually those with high sugar content, combined with milk. I thought about replacing cereals with stuff such as boiled eggs, fruit, water, maybe some yoghurts or cups of milk. Ideas are welcome here. Also, I'd need to cut down on deserts, stuff like chocolate and candy, unhealthy snacks, and mindless eating. Oh, and add more fruit, as I have a feeling I don't eat enough of that.
Well, this plan has more or less failed. I did eat healthier for like two weeks max, and then went back to cereal for breakfast. Since I think it's closely connected to caring about physical shape, shall I start working out this year, I'll start exercising as well.

Start with actual skin care. I must admit, I have all the products, I just don't use them. Well, it's time to change that. My face is still somewhat damaged from a severe acne situation I had going on as a teenager, and I still have some pop out once in a while. It'd improve my appearance and make me feel better about myself.
This one I failed completely. I didn't even try that much, to be honest. But, it is on this year's bucket list now.

Stop with all the unhealthy habits. Apart from the aforementioned ones, that includes stalking people on social media, wasting my time on random internet stuff, and wasting my money on useless stuff I don't even need. There's probably more that I can't think of at this moment.
This I managed to partially get under control. I still splurge out every now and then, and occasionally check what some people I haven't heard from in a while are doing, but for the most part, I'd say it's under control. I'm talking about internet stuff only, of course.

Focus even more on uni and just not give up. I'm already on a good path there, so the only wise thing would be to continue with my studies, give my max and strive to finish the uni in two and a half years from now.
This one I fully succeeded at, even if I had a bit of a breakdown about a month ago and wanted to drop out. Luckily, that crisis was only temporary, so I'm (hopefully) on my way to finish this semester in a couple of weeks, and get a bachelor's degree in IT by Fall of 2023.

Get rid of stuff I don't need, save some money, and start spending it on stuff that really matters to me. I've got to be honest, my money management skills are weak, mostly because of my impulsive and impatient nature.
This one is a story for itself. I'll talk about it some other time, but let's just say, for now, that I didn't completely fail at it.

Inquire into new hobbies and improve the current ones in my free time. This one is pretty self-explanatory. Play some more with photography, start drawing once again, further broaden my music taste, watch more movies and TV shows, etc. Obviously, not go too wild with it, as education should still be a priority.
Another one that I semi-succeeded at! I now have a DSLR camera, which admittedly, I don't use as much or as well as I'd like to, but I am taking it to trips and do some photos with it. I did some digital art (like my avatar, hehe), but I haven't drawn a single line on paper. My music taste is broader, but when it comes to movies and TV, I'm still quite bad at it. And all of that didn't take from education, so I guess you could say all good?

Finally, stop caring about what others think so much. It just ends up paralysing me and not doing things that I want. Being more assertive would help here as well. Generally, getting more self-esteem and self-confidence would do wonders for me.
This I somewhat worked on, at least on self-esteem and confidence, but I'm still quite submissive in interactions, and I do care way too much about others' opinions, even if I care less. So semi-achieved.

Okay, that's it! I don't think I've particularly failed at any given goal, but I do still need to work on them. I won't be setting any new goals for 2022 as I still have last year's goals that I'm yet to achieve, and I realized even more how much 'new year, new me' bullshit is not only a scam, but outright toxic to a certain degree.

So yeah... I won't be opening a new thread or renaming this one, I'll just periodically come back and visit this thread as some sort of motivation by oath or whatever.
 
So how did that go?
It didn’t. I tried getting involved in discord groups, read, watching media in German and it wasn’t helping. Mostly because of self doubt and the feeling it’s pointless to attempt. I can get around and stuff, but tk hold a conversation? Forget it.

I don’t use it in daily life and it’s only a few hours in my spare time. why bother?
 
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It didn’t. I tried getting involved in discord groups, read, watching media in German and it wasn’t helping. Mostly because of self doubt and the feeling it’s pointless to attempt. I can get around and stuff, but tk hold a conversation? Forget it.

I don’t use it in daily life and it’s only a few hours in my spare time. why bother?
It's good brain exercise!

(I've taken to having Finnish radio streaming in the office while I'm there alone, and had some, "Hey! I know what they're talking about!" moments, which, considering I havent had formal classes since 2019 (and I miss that), isn't bad going.
I wish I could concentrate online to be able to study that way, but I can't. I need a book and somone talking to me in person, with no technology around to distract me, in order to concentrate long enough to actually retain anything.
 
It didn’t. I tried getting involved in discord groups, read, watching media in German and it wasn’t helping. Mostly because of self doubt and the feeling it’s pointless to attempt. I can get around and stuff, but tk hold a conversation? Forget it.

I don’t use it in daily life and it’s only a few hours in my spare time. why bother?
Exactly, you should jump directly to Swiss German. :LOL:

Seriously, I would keep on it. I learned English here on FG. First few FG roadtrips I felt like a 5yo, almost unable to hold a conversation. - The main problem was the inability to understand and especially make jokes, because when you are grasping for words you're so far from quick-witted it hurts. But it got better. I still make faults now and then, but hey, I'm fluent now.

Also there are a lot of ze German sprechende Leute here. Use us. In every post, write a sentence in English and then translate the same into German as far as you know. - It's called German baiting: You can be sure some Germans will turn up, very happy to be able to throw in a NeinNeinNein and correct you. = Steep learning curve.

But back to Trams original post: Very detailed and impressive. The keeping it focused on Education/Uni is probably the most important one. That really helps you for the rest of your life. I'm 48yo now, and my good work education still plays a role and still has a positive influence in my life, even after all these years.

Myself, the only achievements I want to reach this year are: drinking mineral water instead of Coca Cola (started Jan 1st with it and so far so good), and cleaning up my HDs by deleting porn I downloaded years ago but never watched. :LOL:
 
YOOOOO @93Flareside, don't beat yourself up so much, especially trying to learn something you don't speak daily. I think the most German I attempted to speak in person was drinking with a bunch of people at that AirBNB in Stuttgart last summer. And attempted is...the right word. You're way better at figuring out that language than I am, and if you're going over there for a while, it should get a lot better.

Fluency might be too big an expectation. "Get better at it" is a good place to start, and that's actually what you did.

---------

My 2022 resolution is the same it always is: kick some ass.
 
Sorry if I came out harsh, @93Flareside. I didn't mean to mock your foreign language skills. I get that it feels pointless at times, hell, there is a reason why I'm not learning any foreign language at the moment, but you should expect that learning a language has its learning curve, just like everything else in life.

What I'd do is try to learn it still, after learning that Switzerland opened its job market for Croatians starting this year, so I'm thinking about taking some German classes myself. Also, I'm planning to go to Switzerland in late February/early March, so I might just start practicing some German there as well, I know Swiss German is a bit different, but in the beginning, I think just starting to speak German is a right step.

The point being, don't get discouraged. The learning curve is a bitch, it will seem pointless sooner or later, but it might be worth it in the end. After all, taking risks is worth it, and some mental exercise is always good.
 
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Sorry if I came out harsh, @93Flareside. I didn't mean to mock your foreign language skills. I get that it feels pointless at times, hell, there is a reason why I'm not learning any foreign language at the moment, but you should expect that learning a language has its learning curve, just like everything else in life.

What I'd do is try to learn it still, after learning that Switzerland opened its job market for Croatians starting this year, so I'm thinking about taking some German classes myself. Also, I'm planning to go to Switzerland in late February/early March, so I might just start practicing some German there as well, I know Swiss German is a bit different, but in the beginning, I think just starting to speak German is a right step.

The point being, don't get discouraged. The learning curve is a bitch, it will seem pointless sooner or later, but it might be worth it in the end. After all, taking risks is worth it, and some mental exercise is always good.

Oh, don’t worry, it wasn’t you. I’m frustrated with myself because I have no excuse to not have a better handle on it. I can make excuses, but that doesn’t help the result.

I struggle with learning skills in theory. I have to use them to make it worthwhile and to stick. I’ve always hated school and while we’re at it, church. Being told about situations in theory and never experiencing them makes it a lot more difficult for me to stay motivated.
 
What I'd do is try to learn it still, after learning that Switzerland opened its job market for Croatians starting this year, so I'm thinking about taking some German classes myself. Also, I'm planning to go to Switzerland in late February/early March, so I might just start practicing some German there as well, I know Swiss German is a bit different, but in the beginning, I think just starting to speak German is a right step.
I am still amused by Swiss German after finding out that they call spätzle something sliiiiiightly different (spätzli?). I don't know why THAT's the part I find amusing. Probably because it usually involves cheese.

(...are they open to Americans? Because my gosh, I want to ragequit everything and live among the mountain cows.)
 
I am still amused by Swiss German after finding out that they call spätzle something sliiiiiightly different (spätzli?). I don't know why THAT's the part I find amusing. Probably because it usually involves cheese.
there was a really nice post up on reddit by a swiss about fondue and while he made an effort to use "high german" in most of his wall of text, he also made sure to sprinkle in just the right amount of utterly ridiculous swiss-german lingo. it was very amusing. and also about all the cheese ofc.

edit: this is it. honorable mentions incude (but not limited to): Chäsi, Chäästheorie, Chäsilade, Chnoblizeche, bitzeli, Chrüsimüsi
 
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^It also quite amusing to read what outsiders think of the swiss language. Btw, the best thing about swiss german is that there are no writing rules. Everybody just writes like he/or she wants. Anything goes. And it works.
 
^It also quite amusing to read what outsiders think of the swiss language. Btw, the best thing about swiss german is that there are no writing rules. Everybody just writes like he/or she wants. Anything goes. And it works.

….. you can use English sentence structure?
 
there was a really nice post up on reddit by a swiss about fondue and while he made an effort to use "high german" in most of his wall of text, he also made sure to sprinkle in just the right amount of utterly ridiculous swiss-german lingo. it was very amusing. and also about all the cheese ofc.

edit: this is it. honorable mentions incude (but not limited to): Chäsi, Chäästheorie, Chäsilade, Chnoblizeche, bitzeli, Chrüsimüsi
I love this. Also, I love fondue.
 
Oh, don’t worry, it wasn’t you. I’m frustrated with myself because I have no excuse to not have a better handle on it. I can make excuses, but that doesn’t help the result.
Suggestion for a resolution: don’t beat yourself up over nonessential things that don’t/didn’t work out. Learning a foreign language is often difficult and can be rewarding, but if you don’t enjoy it, it’s not going to go very far. And that’s OK because different people enjoy different things.
 
Suggestion for a resolution: don’t beat yourself up over nonessential things that don’t/didn’t work out. Learning a foreign language is often difficult and can be rewarding, but if you don’t enjoy it, it’s not going to go very far. And that’s OK because different people enjoy different things.

It’s not that I don’t want to. What I kills my motivation is that my internal voice tells me it’s worthless because I’ll never need it in daily life.
 
It’s not that I don’t want to. What kills my motivation is that my internal voice tells me it’s worthless because I’ll never need it in daily life.
Oh, that! I replied before I'd had a badly needed coffee fillup, so I missed/didn't remember all the earlier bits about perceived pointlessness and inner voices.

Perhaps you can convince yourself that learning it is its own reward, which IMHO is true as long as you enjoy it. The "What am I going to do with this?" mindset is typical of our present day education systems and it absolutely kills the inner Schöngeist (see if you find that in a dictionary :mrgreen:) which is horrible.
 
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