2023
Happy New Year!
Highlights of my 2023 include:
Completing the first half of a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Continuing to host 2-Hour Cocktail Parties. After hosting many of these last year, I tried to challenge myself to switch up the format including a book-swap party, coaching my mom through hosting her first party, and handing out notecards to all guests with custom matches for them to talk to.
Traveling to Argentina and Uruguay for the first time, as well as getting back to South Korea and Japan to reunite with old friends and family. With the addition of South America this year, I have now been to 5 continents and am only missing Australia and Antarctica.
Visiting Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama for the first time, bringing my state total to 45. I am aiming to climb to 49 in 2024 and check off 50 with a trip to Alaska in 2025.
Getting to see an Uncle and an Aunt who I frequently saw growing up but haven’t visited as consistently the past few years.
Amongst all of those, I kept tracking a few key habits across all 365 days of 2023. The idea was to create a quantitative record of things I value as being important to compare with my own qualitative perceptions and priorities. They are listed below alongside the percentage of days where I completed the habit and the 2022 values for comparison.
8+ hours sleep (63%, up from 55%)
Brief sun salutations (83%, up from 81%)
Mindful breathing exercises (78%, down from 88%)
Averaged 12 minutes/day, up from 10 minutes/day
Tea (82%, up from 79%)
Workout (58%, down from 68%)
Frankly, it has been challenging to find consistent time to exercise while balancing grad school and an increasingly hectic full-time job. I did do a good job exploring yoga this year, which was one of my goals, and continue to enjoy that and make space for my practice. For 2024, I plan to fit in a bit more exercise in the first half while recognizing I probably won’t get back to my ideal until after graduation in the summer. That said, I think 65% is a reasonable goal to aim for in 2024.
Looking back on this year, tracking habits continued to help me focus on what is most important. Although the year was busier than 2022, I managed to keep improving my sleep even if I didn’t reach the goal I set last year of 80%. This year, I am aiming for 75% as a realistic goal to work towards while recognizing the need to give exercise and mindful breathing a renewed focus.
Do you have any New Year's resolutions/goals for 2024? I'd love to hear about them! Shoot me a text, email, or comment below. If you'd like, we could even help hold each other accountable.
While new habits are not any easier to form this time of year, and are perhaps even harder to start than usual, I always find something refreshing about the holidays and a new calendar year providing natural space for reflection on times past and what we want to prioritize going forward. Whether you do it now or anytime later this year, I hope you can take the time out to reflect on your life and how you can bring it closer to your goals.
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Photo is of some shadow art I saw at Wrightwood 659 this past summer. It is one of my favorite museums in Chicago, be sure to check it out if you are in town!
