new year's res 2015

I'm not the biggest fan of New Year's resolutions because I think they very often set people up for eventual failure and self-hatred (I said I was going to lose 10lbs. a month and I haven't yet so I should just eat this cake), but setting reasonable goals can be a healthy way to kick off a new year. I've learned that anything I want to accomplish needs to be written in a list form, so I sat down the other day and drafted some things I'd like to work on in 2015. None of these things are major, life-changing goals, but I think that if achieved, they'll help to make me a better and more well-rounded person. And who wouldn't want that?  ;)

Read more non-fiction I usually have at least two different books going at the same time, but approximately 95% of what I read is fiction (with the remaining 5% going towards a Vanity Fair or National Geographic Traveller magazine). There's nothing wrong with devouring the latest Dan Brown, but there's a whole world of really important non-fiction out there that I need to start sinking my teeth into.

Volunteer This one is a bit complicated. Places that need volunteers require a lengthy and consistent time commitment in order to be a volunteer (one Sunday a month for six months, for example), but my work schedule is so consistently inconsistent that I quite literally can't commit to any kind of volunteer gig. I don't know if I'm just looking in the wrong places or for the wrong types of volunteer work, but volunteering used to be a very big part of my life and I miss it a lot. I need to do some serious research regarding places that will accept either one-time or last-minute volunteers.

Get out of culinary rut There is more to life than Chipotle. And macaroni and cheese. I live in one of the most diverse cities in the world, and yet how many times do I order the same burrito bowl between shows? I need to break this bad habit and try something new. At the very least, I need to switch up my lunchtime sandwich and use some roast beef or something - I've been making the same turkey and provolone sandwich for about 15 years now and it's got to stop. If I can't pronounce it, I should try it.

Make time for doodling Or knitting or sewing or whatever crafty hobby I seem to be into at the moment. So often I tell myself that there are far more important activities I should be doing before adding some more rows to my scarf, but I need to remember that it's actually healthy to just let myself play for a while.

Quality - not price The old cliché is true - you pay for what you get. And that needs to be my mantra every time I walk into a Payless and applaud myself for getting such a great deal on a new pair of shoes - only to have them fall apart or cut my heels to shreds a week later. From now on, I'm going to stop wasting money on cheap items. I went through four different pairs of galoshes before finally getting a pair of Hunter boots - and while each $30 pair of no-names was initially much easier on the wallet, I clearly should have just bought the expensive, yet reliable name-brand from the get go. I'm not going to start spending thousands of dollars on expensive handbags, but I'm just very done with spending money on poorly made items only to have them fall apart before I'm done wearing them.

Unsubscribe Rather than just delete them, I am going to make a very focused effort to hit the "unsubscribe" link from the bottom of every American Eagle and Gap email that crowds my inbox. If it's a promotional email I do want (those Michael's coupons do come in handy sometimes), then I need to take the seven seconds and change my address within that company's system to send it to my junk email address (and check that only when there's something I actually need to buy). My goal is to have complete email control in 2015 - the primary email address shall receive only work and personal emails, the blog address will be for blog-related business, and the junk address will be for everything else. I know it's a tall order, but I'm determined to make it happen.

What are your hopes and dreams for 2015?