The Big Monday Resolutions

Let's face it, it's not the new year without a flurry of blog posts about resolutions. But to be honest, I love reading and watching people talk about their resolutions. My friend compares the start of the year to a 'big monday' which I actually completely agree with. I completely understand the psych behind deciding to start your new hobby/diet/lifestyle on a brand new day, with a brand new week/year ahead of you. And although I like to think I'm of the opinion of changing your life any day of the week, I know I'm the biggest offender of using the excuse 'I'll start on Monday'.  Sometimes it's hard to find the means to force yourself to make a change, but knowing the New Year is a time everyone wipes  the slate clean creates the perfect motivator... even if you abandon ship after a few weeks. If you've seen my post on the 'Look What I Did List'   it's a reversal of resolutions and I think it's really important to make one of these to find out what you've achieved before you look at the year ahead.

This year I have a bundle of resolutions which I'm hoping to put into practice, and I feel like I can't be the only one who loves reading resolutions lists (let alone writing them), so I thought I'd put them here as inspiration to all of you lovely people, and as a self reminder in 6 months time.

1. Spend more time playing the piano- Most of my friends associate me with the guitar if they think of my musical side, but I am actually a pianist at heart. Piano was the first instrument I ever played and I find it very natural to play, rather than guitar which I know I've reached my limit in ability without lessons. Because it's not particularly mobile, I turned my attentions more to guitar, but this year I want to spend more time playing and my goal of the year is to play Flying from Peter Pan because it makes me feel so nostalgic and giddy.

2. Cut out coffee completely- I'm not sure how realistic this is, as a full time student. But I'm hoping to be a tea-woman by the end of 2016, or at least get back down to one cup of coffee a week maximum. I managed to cut down from about 2-3 a day to 2-3 a week in 2015, which I'm extremely proud of, but I would love to just be coffee free. If only I hated it. 

3. Achieve a First- Second year of uni and all that, I'm currently on a high 2:1 average with the odd first here and there, but would love to achieve an overall first this year to set me up well for my third and final year. This year all of my modules are self-chosen, so I should really have the motivation to achieve a first if I really wanted to.

4. Maintain and expand Alice's Antics-  If you missed my last blog post, I mentioned how I was a bit disappointed in myself for my blogging consistency last year, and this year I have pledged to post twice a week Wednesdays and Fridays, every week starting from today! What a happy coincidence the first day of January falls on a Friday eh! I'm also hoping to sort out my blog template once and for all and at some point invest in a better camera so the content is always of a high quality- one step at a time though of course!

5. Have a monthly 'fun day'- Myself and my friend Charlotte are the busiest bees either of us know. We both live together and yet are both so busy with uni work, real work and extracurricular bits and bobs that we hardly ever see each other let alone our friends. So we've decided to dedicate one full day a month, to having a 'fun day', where we go and do something not in our normal routine and away from the bubble of university. Towards the end of last term I was working so hard I felt like I'd forgotten what fun was, and I'm such a strong believer in rewarding yourself, so this is our way of saying well done to each other!

There are always the classic resolutions everyone carries through the new year, save up more money, exercise more, drink more water and eat better. But the above 5 are the ones which are personal to me and will hopefully improve my lifestyle and make 2016 quite the year!

I hope you all welcomed in the New Year in style and surrounded by the people you love! What are some of your resolutions? I LOVE hearing about others and am always on the lookout for inspiration from blogs and vlogs!

Ciao for Now!
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