"These 20 Questions Will Improve Your Self-Awareness"

I'm taking this from an article that a friend sent, which you can find at the following link:

http://dariusforoux.com/selfawareness/

I'm going to give it a stab and see if I can learn a bit more about myself! :)

1. What am I good at? I'm good at listening, I'm good at my job, I'm good at caring about others, I'm detail-oriented
2. What am I so-so at? Exercising, eating well, budgeting
3. What am I bad at? Relaxing!
4. What makes me tired? Stress makes me exhausted. Fighting.
5. What is the most important thing in my life? Happiness
6. Who are the most important people in my life? My family, friends, my dog!
7. How much sleep do I need? Lately, 8 hours.
8. What stresses me out? Easily stressed by too many obligations, tight deadlines, money, conflicts with others
9. What relaxes me? Yoga, reading, watching movies/TV
10. What’s my definition of success? Being happy! Being financially stable, in a job I enjoy. 
11. What type of worker am I? Very hard worker! 
12. How do I want others to see me? I want others to see me as a kind, understanding, happy, dedicated person.
13. What makes me sad? When I fight with those I love, when I feel like I'm losing control, when others are in pain
14. What makes me happy? Feeling like I have succeeded at something, being with my family, spending time with my husband, my dog
15. What makes me angry? Other people most of the time! If I feel someone is trying to be difficult or is making a situation difficult. Myself - I definitely get angry at myself!
16. What type of person do I want to be? I want to be the person that others can count on. I want to be stable and feel good about myself.
17. What type of friend do I want to be? Reliable, always there for you.
18. What do I think about myself? I think I'm still a work in progress. I have good things but there are still a lot of things I need to improve on.
19. What things do I value in life? I value family, relationships, giving back.
20. What makes me afraid? Change, I hate change. Money scares me. The feeling that I may not succeed at something.

I tried to not over think this as I answered the questions as that is something I have a tendency to do. I wanted to give my immediate thoughts and see what I came up with. I see a lot of consistency. I want to be everything to everyone but I don't necessarily think about myself. Interesting... The post says I shouldn't interpret my responses. I should just start working on the things that I said I'm bad at and try to improve my life. I think that's much easier said (written) than done! I do like the idea of immediately doing the things I identify that make me happy! :)

Sooooo... About those resolutions...

Ah, a new year. Time to look forward to the future and identify all the changes you're going to make in your life. I suck at this. Every year I mentally identify resolutions that I'd like to make. I've even written them out at times and I don't think I've succeeded any single year.
Is it me? Is it the resolutions? There's so much pressure!

This is how I feel about the new year (at least how I feel today). It's just another day. Why am I going to celebrate that more time is passing? In addition, my birthday is the 2nd, the day after New Year's. It's just an additional reminder that I am getting old(er). I don't like that reminder. I don't want to get older. I'm not saying I want to go back to high school or even my 20s. Heck, I don't know when I'd want to go back to. But I certainly don't want to get older! All those resolutions I've made for myself over the years that I never accomplished - I'm leaving less time to get them done! Ack!

So, resolutions...

Typical list from me:

1. I'll get a job I love
2. I'll get in shape
3. I'll eat better

I think there are sometimes more but it's funny, every website I look at lists those as the top 5 resolutions for all people. Well, that's not very unique. But I really do want to get in shape and I really do want to eat better. I really do want to love my job.

So what do I do? I have all these great ideas. I can tell you that I'm not going to sit down today and map it all out. I don't know if I'll ever get to it. I hope I will! I hope that I can find a way to make it a priority for myself!

1. Job that I love - learn to love my current job and that starts with me (yikes, that sounds like a lot of work)
2. Get in shape - I could learn to love my body as it is now but I know I could be in better shape. Of course, I should love myself as I am now. But who does? Everyone wants to change themselves. I've tried getting in shape so many times in my life and overall I've realized that I pretty much suck at it. I need a strong motivator to get myself in shape and I'm not sure what it is yet.
3. Eat better - that's a big one. I used to eat decent, now I eat horribly. Probably the worst I ever have in my entire life. I'm about to be the big 3-8 tomorrow and my eating habits are horrible. I pretty much don't eat during the day, then I eat a late dinner and it is always processed. Everything I eat is processed. And I drink a lot of coffee. I also don't drink enough water. Again, a plan I need to put together. If I have a plan, a list, I might actually do it. Of course, the first step might be learning how to cook!
4. Find happiness. I need to find true happiness within me. I have no idea how to do it. I find the worst in everything. I'm a huge negative-nelly. I put on a mask that I'm Miss Positivity but in reality I'm no more than a huge frowny face. My entire body is frowns. I need to fix that.
5. Friends, hobbies, outings... oh my! I need to get myself out of myself. I need to get out of my hole. Find some hobbies, go out and actually DO things! See my friends, make new friends!
6. $$$. I don't have anything more to say about this other than I need a hell of a lot more of it.

So, this post didn't go anywhere near where I wanted it to. I don't even know what I was thinking when I wrote it. That I was overwhelmed by resolutions? That I have no plan to improve for 2016? Damn... I don't feel any better. And by the way, I'm getting one year older tomorrow. :)

Next time, a better more positive post next time!

2014 Resolutions - How do you do it?!?!

And here I am again, writing a blog that comes few and far between my others. I thank you for reading it because I actually am requesting responses on this one. As many comments as I can gather whether it comes from Facebook, the Blogger website, Twitter, personal email, anywhere! 

We are drawing close to the end of 2013 and the beginning of a new year. Everyone has new year resolutions and if we're lucky and driven we'll succeed in following through. I've always struggled with resolutions but I'm hoping 2014 will be a better year than 2013 and I know that in order for that to happen I need to make the changes I'd like to see in my life. 

There are several things that I'd like to change in my life. I'd like to experience more fulfillment, more enjoyment, more happiness. I know we all have our personal struggles and I have my own. I would love to hear from you how you have overcome your struggles and improved yourself. To me it seems like a daunting and overwhelming task. One that I'm not sure I'm capable of handling! There seem to be so many things that I need to work on! How have you tackled the things in your life that you were unhappy with? How have you found happiness in your life? 

I truly, truly, truly value your feedback. I feel like I read self-help books galore and they all have wonderful ideas and speak very important truths but I want to hear from real people who live real lives. 

Thank you! And all the best for 2014! :)