Don’t Think, Just DO.

2014. It happened over a month ago, and where has the time gone? A post about the New Year and resolutions is a little overdue… Better late than never though, am I right?

Back in 2012 my best friend Livy and I started a tradition of making a list of goals we each hoped to achieve in the new year.

(Little bit of a back story… I met Livy in the fall of 2012 when I studied at Towson University in Maryland through a study abroad program at my university. We were both taking a mass communications class, and one day after class we decided to study for a project together. We clicked instantly, and we’ve been best friends ever since.)

(Pictured above: Livy (left) and me (right) just before heading out to the Imagine Dragons
concert at the Merriweather Post Pavilion back in September)

2013 was a great year - don’t get me wrong. I accomplished a lot and I have a lot to be proud of! But we all endure difficult times and ride the struggle bus.

Let me tell you, there have definitely been times were I am driving the Struggle Bus. All aboard?!

Needless to say, I am ready to take the lessons learned from 2013, move forward with 2014, and have a great year! New Year’s is always a refreshing time of the year. Granted, you can make changes, goals, resolutions (or whatever you choose to call them) any time of the year. It seems to be the one time of the year that stares us in the face, causing some angsty reflection of the year to gauge where we are, where we’re heading and if we’re heading is where we really want to go. Of course, this forced self-reflection, augmented either by a post-Christmas overextension of family tie, alcohol, or both, can very easily lead to a magnification of what we’ve decided are our most glaring shortcomings and a masking of what we too easily forget are our greatest strengths.

“If you cannot do great things, do small things
in a great way.” --Napoleon Hill

Whether it be caused by my adventures over J Term, too much Pinterest, YouTube or spending too much time online in general, I have dubbed 2014 as “Year of the Goals”. My list of goals turned out to be much more ambitious this year than it has in the past, and that is very exciting for me…or scary. Sometime I feel very ambitious and I get intensely motivated to accomplish goals (or get homework done), and then there are days where it’s a struggle to motivate my self to look presentable for the day (mascara is a constant battle, let’s be honest). The thing with setting goals for yourself is to not set yourself up for failure. Start small and work your way up. If you set goals beyond your capacity, you will probably end up unmotivated and defeated, sprawled out on the floor.

So when I say that I may or may not have written
“Don’t think, just DO”
as a goal, you know it’s real.

(Granted, that doesn’t really make a lot of sense,
and it doesn't really apply in this situation… I’m strugglin’ here…)

The moral of this post? Goals are good. They have to be, goals are motivating. And I mean, people often say that motivation doesn’t last. But then again, neither does bathing. And that’s why it’s recommended daily. Or at least often, otherwise that’s pretty gross. (Although I’m sure you are a lovely person and smell delightful au natural...)

Now go shower, 'cause you probably stink (no offense).