2017

Dear Diary,

It's 2017.

No, this is not the new year's resolutions. (Well, if you must name it, it could be that).

Anyway, there are certain things in my life and about myself that I'd like to enhance. They're not necessarily bad or unacceptable things. They're simply things that I would like to change/improve.

It is known that giving yourself a long to-do list or a big number of things to do will bore you and/or will seem hard to accomplish and you'll mostly end up not doing it. So, what I'm doing is that I'm giving myself a small list–but with specific criterias–of the things that I want to focus on.

Let's put it that way: in general, I want to get to know/create myself, and I want to be the better version of what I already know.

Therefore, by the end of the year 2017, I want to have achieved all the objectives listed below.

1. Reading–
   I want to read 10 more books than the books I read in 2016:
   Last year, I read 27 books. This year I want to read 37 books.
    
2. Family–
   More family time. (Especially being with my family when they're all sitting together).
   Specify the time for my little sister; whether it's to read her bedtime stories or to take her out.
    
3. Write/Blog–
   I learned that by writing, I am learning so much about myself and about some of the things around me. And that's why: I want to blog, at least, once a month to talk briefly about what happened in the month and what new things I learned in that month.
    
4. Listening–
   I recently found out, after taking a test in a 'Successful Communication' course, that I have "Excellent Communication Skills" but I'm "Above Average" in the Listening Skills–(A few points below excellence). So, I want to work on my Listening Skills to reach Excellence.
    
5. Job–
   Excel in my field of work: Always be on time. Go The Extra Mile. Work hard. Learn. Utilize what I know.
    
6. Calligraphy–
   Devote, at least, three hours a week to practice what I learned and learn new things.
    
7. Health–
   Since I know for a fact that I won't cut chocolates and fast-food, I want to do the things that are achievable and I know I can do without breaking.
   
   • I'm not that much of a soft-drinks person, so I'll cut them completely this year, in sha'Allah.
   • Drink no less than one liter of water daily.
   • Fruits and vegetables: snack on fruits instead of unhealthy foods. And add more vegetables, and less rice, to my meals.
   • Selecting specific days of the week to go to the Gym doesn't work for me, so my goal is to go to the Gym whenever I have the time and a car ride is available.
   • Take Zumba/Pilates classes if any of them are available.
    
8. Spiritually–
   Prayers on time (precedence it over everything else), commit to the Sunna prayers and read two pages of Qur'an every day.
    
9. Language–
   I'm currently on 7% of fluency in the French language in my Duolingo app; My aim is to reach 100% of the French lessons by the end of the year and to be able to start reading the French book that I bought a couple of years ago.
    
10. SLEEP EARLY AND WAKE UP EARLY!–
    I love mornings but it's hard for me to wake up early if I don't have anything to do. So, I want to wake up no later than 9 am on the weekends and wake up a full hour and a half before work on working days.

Looking back at myself a few years ago, I see how much I've grown and how much I've changed. Without actually meaning to, I've come a long way.


Knowing that it's possible to change and be better is the motivation that'll push me to work on my list.

–

"The Jump is so frightening between where I am and where I want to be. Because of all I may become, I will close my eyes and leap!"

–Mary Anne Radmacher