Update: 15 Days in to the New Year

"I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind." - Neil Gaiman


I love the above quote. Just wanted to share.

Day 15 into the New Year and things are still bright and shiny. I've decided that 2009 will be the year of ACTION. For those of you who know me, I am a BIG dreamer. This year, I'm making an executive decision to day dream less and act more. The last 15 days have already seen a few things tick off my To-Do list including -

• Submitted my MBA proposal to Fairfax - I put together a document addressed to Lloyd, supported by a mini book of my achievements. Although it was very stressful pulling it all together in time, I had a lot of fun doing it and the final result (in my biased opinion) is breathtakingly amazing. I only wish I had taken some photos of the chip board book for my own records. Hopefully I'll be able to get it back once they accept/reject my proposal so I can share it with you.

• Switched mobile phone carriers - yes I finally have reception in the Hills!! My contract with Vodafone finally expired and I switched to Optus last week. For someone who lives in a hole (quite literally as I live in the bottom of a valley) and has had the worst reception over the last decade - this is a milestone moment worthy of blogging.

• Improve my skating with more PRACTICE! In the last 15 days, I've been to the rink 4 times. That's 2 lessons and 2 practice sessions in 2 weeks! Definitely a big improvement from my once a fortnight efforts last year. Although I'm a little rink battered (cuts and bruises on both knees), I am feeling the improvements! I am determined that this will be the year where I'll finally be able to spin like a top. When it finally happens, it will be video blog worthy.
  

... Ok only three bullet points but hey, it's only been 15 days which is less then 5% of the year! Multiply it out and by the end of the year, there'd be 73 bullet points...

And I'd be proud. :)

In terms of NY resolutions, I've only really got 2 which I'm trying really hard to persevere with. I realised that breaking a resolution isn't the worst thing to happen. Breaking it, feeling disappointed with yourself and then not trying again (and hence slipping back into the bad habit/rut) is much, much worst. If you fail, start over. And when you start over again, try harder this time.

So what are the two things I'm trying really hard to do?

• Eliminate processed junk food from my diet- Although I've partly broken my resolution already (KFC for dinner last week and Ferrero Rocher chocolate from New Years), I haven't touched packet chips since 2008! This may appear to be something frivolous for most people, but that's because they don't understand that me and a packet of chips is like a bee to honey. My family is also addicted to the stuff so there is a constant supply of Mexicana Doritos at my house. Chips abstenance is definitely no mean feat for me.

• Can't talk about the "you-know-what" with "you-know-who" - This has definitely been the toughy. I haven't spoken to him directly about it but I've been cheeky with my *jab* *jab* comments. I know. I HAVE to stop it. Half the time it's just a subconscious slip of the tongue, but I WILL try harder with this one. From right now onwards. Really! I will.

In other news, I've been conjuring some fantastic business ideas for Valentine's Day which I'm going to work on this weekend. There's only 30 days till Valentine's Day. Fingers crossed I'll be able to pull it off.

After that, there'd only be 1 week till Merv and I go on holidays. There's just so much to do before then! Here's the list of things I want to achieve before we go -

• V-Day project
• Learn to read the HK Cafe Canto Menu
• Prepare my MBA App to AGSM
  
• Submit letter to release ABN

I'd be a very happy girl if I can get all the above done before I go. It wouldn't mean anything to anyone else (just like how you probably read the bullet points at the beginning of this post and thought "One of your goals was to change mobile phone carriers? WTF?"... but these are things which have been loitering in my head for forever and a day. They're things which are repeated on my To-Do lists, week in week out, but they just never get done. That's what this year is all about. To finally solidify all my thoughts, transform ideas into reality, and plant the seeds for all my goals and aspirations.

No matter how frivolous and trivial. No matter how big or small. Just do it.