Wednesday, February 16, 2011

2011 - Let's-a-gooooo.

I am not a believer in New Year's Resolutions. I am, though, a believer of becoming a better person.

I am a believer that you need to always do a checklist of:
  1. What's annoying you in life?
  2. What do you want to do about it?
  3. How will you do it?
  4. Have a deadline/plan to do it
  5. What do you want to fulfill in life?
  6. How will you achieve it?
  7. Have a deadline/plan to do it

This is like a homework that people need to exercise often, not only on annual basis. Yet I admire the people who at least take time out every year in December and look back at how the year turned out; at least they are better than those who are just sitting there doing nothing.

I am just only against the term 'New Year's Resolutions'. A year is twelve months and A LOT of stuff take place during such time span, thus, people should maybe take the time out on quarter basis, every three months to see where they stand. You can have long term goals, but to sit every three months and assess yourself is definitely better than just confronting yourself once a year.

Our problem is that we're becoming careless every passing day. No self discipline. You grow up and you feel the power pumping up your veins. No one to tell you what's wrong from right, because you assume you know it all. No deadlines to submit your homework, no curfews to come home. Not afraid to lie to your parents and get grounded. No poems to write to them anymore so they can allow you to go out and give you money to buy a new toy. You have your own phone. You have your own laptop. You have your own car. You have your own bank account. You are not controlled anymore. You have power, and when given power, human beings are unstoppable.

It amazes me how many things we all want to do and we end up doing nothing. We always need motivation. This is also an important aspect in the day-to-day life; motivation. You need it to get out of bed. You need it to remind yourself not to eat ice cream when you're on a diet. You need it to stop something you want to stop. You need it to start something you wish to continue. And more importantly you need it to carry you throughout those missions every passing day. If you stop yourself from eating that ice cream today, will you stop tomorrow? Will you stop next week, month or year? It's an ongoing battle. You need motivation to believe in yourself.

Don't be lazy.

People reading this might think I have it all figured out, but I don't. I, myself, like any of you, is trying to find his way, but at least I am trying. I am a tough critic, and that's the way it will always be. I will always try to seek happiness and fulfillment of the soul.

I am going to do my resolutions (already started) and I will do my best to accomplish what I want. I am not going to stop trying. I've always said I want to do things, but I never really did a considerable amount of effort to achieve them. It all changed last year, when I quit smoking. I realised I've been living all my life in a prison cell and there's plenty of life to look forward to. The decision to quit smoking was easy. The day-to-day life after that could have been very hard, or very easy; it all depended on how I approached life. I made sure to make it easy, and I did. I will always be proud of myself from being able to refrain from smoking and discovering that it was all an illusion. If I'm ever asked to pick one achievement I've done, then it will definitely be quitting smoking. I could talk a lot about smoking including my mind battle in which I suffered a lot at first before discovering how much of a fool I was, yet, this post isn't about smoking, so back to the main point, resolutions.


Last year, I managed to:
  1. - Quit Smoking
  2. - Start taking guitar lessons
  3. - Get back to practicing squash
  4. - Study for a career diploma
  5. - Make peace with people I've lost

This year, I want to:
  1. Do Umrah
  2. Become a non-smoking advocate
  3. Manage to play at least 1 full song on guitar by the end of the year
  4. Practice squash at least once a week
  5. Commit to writing at least one post per month on the blog
  6. See a dermatologist for my face pimples if they don't disappear by June
  7. Clean my room sometime this year - I have stuff that I need to put away, and they have been sitting there for around four years. My mom complains every day
  8. Sleep before 2 am on weekdays
  9. Start yoga
  10. Study, read and recite the Quran along with Islamic books (Seera & Fiqh)
  11. Lose weight (Reach 75 KG) - I am somewhere in my 90's now
  12. Resume physiotherapy on my leg
  13. Help people
  14. Buy a car
  15. Save money
  16. Take my family on a nice trip (possibly to a place we've never been before)
  17. Do a daily 5 minute work-out session
  18. Manage my time better
  19. Read a new book every month
  20. Stop entering meaningless debates
There is nothing else I want to add right now, but I am sure plenty of stuff will flood into my mind throughout the year. I am going to have this list with me and will definitely sit regularly and see where do I stand.

Good luck to all the people out there trying to accomplish things.

Here's a toast; to a better year.
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