It's cliche, but let's set some goals here.

Of course it's redundant -- New Year, new start, new goals, new failures and new achievements. It's what January is all about, my friend!

I've decided to jump into the resolution bandwagon and made a list of what I want to do this year. However, it has none of those eating healthier, losing weight, getting fit, being nicer or earning more money. My list is relatively easier to do and a bit more realistic.

Here are the 11 things I want to achieve this year --

1. Sort my wardrobe out.

I swear, snakes could be living in it and I would be none the wiser. HOWEVER, I've started doing this yesterday, so it's well on it's way to getting ticked off.

BEFORE

AFTER (well, halfway after)

2. Read, watch and listen more.

I want to make more time to finish books, movies and to discover new music. Doing these things help you grow as an individual (plus, it makes you more interesting).

3. Take more photos.

Remember I had just bought my Nikon a couple of months ago? Well, I guess I'm not entirely satisfied because I bought an Eximus film camera last week --

I've started my own Project 360 -- you know, that thing where you take photos everyday for a year? For a change, though, I originally wanted to use my Polaroid. It will turn out to be too expensive, so I opted for a slide film camera instead. I wanted to stick my photos into a notebook, complete with thoughts for the day, and be able to look back on it at the end of the year by just leafing through paper pages and not on my computer. I'm so touchy-feely.

4. Write more.

Sometimes I think I write about myself too much. But I'd rather leave traces of myself wherever I could, because those moments will be gone forever, anyway. Might as well jot those nagging thoughts down.

5. Something different happens everyday.

Routine can kill your imagination. Even if you wake up, get dressed, go to work and come home on a daily basis, there's always something different to be appreciated in between those times. I want to notice them and be grateful for them.

6. Shy away from being shy.

I'm painfully shy. Whodathunkit?!? I want to at least overcome this a little bit. It's part of having courage.

7. Find a magic place in the city

Whenever I'm feeling down, a trip to the seaside always does me good. But living in Manila, beaches are not exactly easy to get to. I don't want to count MOA -- there's just too many people! So maybe there's somewhere else I can go to get some peace and inspiration, and I intend to find it.

8. Address my altaphobia.

I am terrified of heights, as evidenced  by this event.  I want to challenge myself and this is one way of doing that. But no, Helena, I won't be skydiving just yet. No siree! That's just a bit much. Hahaha

9. Learn to swim.

I fail this every year and it will continue to be on my list until I drag my ass down to a swim school to do it. Sheesh.

10. Advocacy.

I thought it's about time I gave back to the community, but I'm still working out how to do it and if I want to join an organisation for it.

11. More "thank you's," less "it's ok's," "I'll be alright's" and "don't worry about it's."

We should all remember that we deserve all the good things that come our way and that we shouldn't settle for hacks.