November Resolutions

I’m always looking for ways to constantly challenge myself and keep learning, so I thought I’d set up some goals for the month of November, and hopefully every month onwards. Personally, I’ve found that month-long resolutions work better for me compared to year-long resolutions. Whenever I make new year resolutions, they always end up being too generic, broad, and I lose focus a few months in. On the other hand, month-long resolutions tend to be more specific and actionable, which lead to a higher rate of success at the end of the month. Higher success rate means more feelings of accomplishment, and more feelings of accomplishment leads to a happier Indira.

Without further ado… here are my resolutions for November.

Get settled in the new apartment

I moved into my own studio apartment this summer. So far, it’s been great! I live in a central area in Boston, and since I have my own space, I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. The only downside to living alone is that I don’t have anyone to call me out on my bullshit. When I lived with a roommate, I at least had enough decency to keep the shared areas clean and tidy, even though my bedroom was a shipwreck most of the time. Now that I’m living alone, I somehow feel less of a sense of duty to tidy as much, as the only person that’s really affected by the messiness is myself. It’s not like my whole apartment is a mess, but it’s definitely not as cozy as I’d like it to be. I don’t have a single piece of artwork up on my apartment walls, so that needs to change. I also have waaaaay too many things that honestly serve no purpose except for clutter my apartment, so that needs to change as well.

This month, I will...

• Donate 75% of my books, and then get a Kindle
• Donate 50% of my vinyls
• Decorate the apartment
• Donate clothes and shoes I don’t need anymore

Read more

As a kid, going to the bookstore was high up on the list of Things Indira loves to do on the weekend. I grew up reading Famous Five, Secret Seven, Winnetou, Percy Jackson, and a host of other fiction novels. I started reading the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini earlier this fall, but stopped at the third book because I diverted my time to playing PlayStation games (why Indira, why?). Not only would reading expand my vocabulary, but it I also miss the feeling up getting lost in a book.

This month, I will...

• Read Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
• Read Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
• [Stretch goal] Read Nudge by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler

Write and document experiences

The flip-side of reading is writing. I used to write quite a bit, both personally and for publications, and I actually really enjoyed it! Not only is writing a good skill to have, but it’s also a good way to document and share experiences with other people. I haven’t done very well in terms of maintaining this blog, or my personal diary in the past year, and I’d like to improve on that.

This month, I will...

• Journal daily. This will include writing about three things I’m grateful for each day
• Publish two blog posts in November

Today is November 1st. I have 30 days to complete these goals. How hard can it be? 😉

Ready, set, go!