"Learn from Yesterday, Live for Today, Hope for Tomorrow" - Albert Einstein

It's funny how at this time of the year, people start dreaming about how to better their lives next year. Parties and celebrations are held, shelfing diet plans to the next whilst drawing up a chart of new New Year resolutions (which for most people, include having a healthier diet...). This year end, I reminded myself to play it cool & not to draw up my own chart (since I never commit myself to more than half of them anyway). Yet I still feel tempted, even more so after being inspired by my new book "Psychology of Success" which I just started reading a week ago.

However, instead of resolutions, I've decided to adopt the book's "25-goal challenge" which instructed the reader to list down 25 things they would like to achieve in 5 minutes. Perhaps by having it documented in "writing", I might finally be stirred into action (Also, there's no time frame in achieving them so I'm less pressured compared to resolutions, which have to be renewed annually...). So holding my breath, here goes...:

1) Lose 10kg
2) Get a motorbike license / learn to play the guitar
3) Save money to study an MBA before 2014
4) Start writing the business plan for my cafe dream
5) Travel the United States
6) Bring my mum to a fully paid-for overseas holiday
7) Volunteer in an animal facility
8) Exercise at least 6 hours a week
9) Bungee jump down the Verzasca Dam in Ticino, Switzerland
10) Go running more often
11) Pay off my study loan 2 years earlier than stipulated
12) Read more quality books
13) Stop being a slave to technology (tied to clause 12, I've been playing too much with my Iphone when I should be reading during my free time instead)
14) Be less of a sloth
15) Pack my cupboard at least once a month
16) Find someone special to care for
17) Be more generous and giving
18) Be less impatient
19) Curse less often
20) Be less of a spendthrift
21) Master the lotus pose in Yoga
22) Tidy up my CV (to an even more professional outlook)
23) Give granny a monthly allowance
24) Buy an oven and start baking
25) Gain a higher level of confidence

Opps, I took more than 5 minutes! But it's refreshing how once I got it down in writing, it seems to shout at me to stop existing & start living! With my Switz trip nearing, it seems clause 9 is about to come to fruitation. =)

I would also like to count my blessings as this year comes to a close. 2011 is not without it's fair share of heartache and personal failures, but I'm glad to have gained a few knocks on my experience board. In a survey I took a few days ago, I find myself not knowing the answer to this question "If you have a week to be anyone, who would you want to be most?". Picking my own brain for at least 15 minutes, I still could not think of anyone else I want to be...except being myself. 2011 was tough, no doubt, but I managed to meet really good people, travel at least thrice & who could beat that: doing a cartwheel at the 12 apostles (minus the fact that I've fallen clumsily onto the bed of sand...Unglam!!!). & Yes, I still believe in striving to better myself, but no, I don't desire to be in anybody else's shoes anymore. Perhaps at this stage of my life, I have finally made peace with being just the good old MeL.

Finally, with a positive note, I end this year with hopes & aspirations for 2012. After all, in a world full of possibilities, who knows which turn I take will lead me to an even greater adventure?!