This post from my highschool friend, Faith, has urged me to create my own list of things I would like to do and maintain for the year. 2009 has been full of challenges for me, and I think for everyone as well, but I guess I can thank these challenges for the lessons I’ve learned in return. As they say, “what doesn’t kill can make you stronger”… and wiser, I might add.

So to continue, here’s my top 3 definite goals for 2010 in no particular order.

Clear the debts and save up. Way back in 2008, I have made a mistake that cost me a LOT of money, and it carried over to 2009 along with the emotional burden. Silly excuse as it may seem, it was a newbie mistake—me being carried away with my expenses and all. Of course, I did not want to give most of my salary down to the bank to clear the credit card debts, and the inner me would say “you have got to be kidding me, there’s no way I’ll give up that money”. It somehow felt good, at first, that I DID pay, and still have enough money to spend, that in cases of “emergency”, I can use the card again. Well, until the debts piled up one after the other.

I had to make a decision to pay ALL of my credit card debt with a loan that will be deducted monthly thru my salary for a year, so as to “force” myself in paying up. The interest rate is less compared to the credit card, and at least it will only take me a year to clear up the loan, compared to when I was paying the credit card with an “ample” amount which would probably take me more than a year to pay.

The challenge that lies beyond this is that I am not supposed to use my credit card. With the monthly deductions, the money I get to pay rent and utilities gets smaller, so I have less money to spend for other expenses, which could mean that I am tempted to use the credit card. Well, so far, I have not used my credit card (given the holiday rush and all), and in emergency cases that I have used the card, I have paid it immediately when salary came. I must say, I am pretty proud of myself *pats myself on the back*. I am planning on having the card cut after I use up the mileage.

I also plan on opening up an account to save up some money. I already have money set aside, waiting for me to open up a bank account, a time deposit perhaps, since I’m not planning on using that money at the moment. I want to at least save up some money for some “real” emergencies.

Trim down, stay healthy. I got struck with sickness twice last year, at the start and at the end of the year—how lucky can I get? Acute bronchitis and Pneumonia, respectively. It really rang the alarm that I have to take care of myself. I have to make sure I do not over-work myself, given the nature of our work. I am not a believer of horoscopes, but I have read my horoscope somewhere over the internet that my sign’s weakness is the lungs, and true enough, those two things were lung-related.

I also plan on incorporating exercise in my every day life, starting with buying myself a good pair of running shoes. I am a lazy person, and I am on the obese side, I have to admit, but seeing my double chin puff up recently from the influx of McDonald’s stuff was kind of alarming to me. I want to start off with doing some “free” exercise so I can commit to it, before signing up to a gym (or else it’s just another way to waste money)—if I am financially fit for it, of course. I do not intend to go from double to size large or medium in a year, I just want to instill a habit of exercising.

In terms of food, I really do not see myself worrying too much. I can cook, and I cook food that I enjoy better that fast foods. The only concern would probably be the intake. Once I have the craving, there is no stopping. I have been challenged last year with starvation because I did not have enough money, and it came to a point that I cried because I could not eat “real” food, sleeping the whole day off because I do not have anything to eat. I lost weight, of course, but I do not want to go through that EVER AGAIN. That is why I hate it when people starve themselves just so they could trim down.

Remove clutter, stay positive, surround myself with positive energy. “I am an emotional sponge”, rephrasing what I said to a friend before, which I discovered as an “ability”, if you may. When my friends share their problems with me, I try to listen and probably give some advice here and there. They get emotional, sometimes it ends up with ranting, it gets ugly, really. But what can you do except for being the “shoulder to cry on”? I have to admit that, at times, it becomes unnecessary and I do not want to be bothered. There is just so MUCH negativity I can handle that when it overflows, I become negative as well. So this year, to change that, I intend to surround myself with people who are full of joy and positivity (in a realistic way, of course), people who are real, real friends. I have encountered some people who do not “practice what they preach”, thinking that they know better, when in actuality, they do not know anything at all. They know how to pin-point, but they are not aware (or at least deny) that they, themselves, make the same mistake. I will have to erase that on my list too. No more paranoid people and “plastics” as well. I have had my share of that.

So here’s to a better year. Hope you can share yours as well. I did not want to use the word “resolutions” because they seem too far-fetched.