“…Cause I used to be poor, I used to be unconfident
I used to hate these haters, now it’s just the opposite
Not only am I changing, I’m becoming something better
And revenge is for the weak, so I have settled my vendettas”

Welcome to 2018: The Year of Me, featuring not one, but two 30-before-30s! Yes, you read that right; it is my goal this year to lose 30 lbs and read 30 books before I turn 30 (which if you are just tuning in, is at the end of this year (Dec. 23rd to be exact!)). If you read my last post then you already know that I do not believe in making resolutions for a new year, but rather to continuously work on myself every day and every week. I am not perfect and I never will be, but I can be better than I was yesterday. That is why I will be working on myself with a renewed vigor in 2018.

I have a whole host of goals that I want to accomplish this year. I will not get into all of them, but some of the big ones include writing more (at least one blog post a month; hopefully you all are excited about that!), eating out less, and cutting way back on soda. But the one unique thing I am also doing this year is giving up certain things or behaviors for short and extended periods of time.

If you read my last post, then you are aware that I gave up alcohol for the month of January. I made that decision in part because of a friend’s idea to do the same and was going to leave it at that. However, another friend read about it and wanted to do it with me. And not just January… he wanted to give up something every month. I thought very quickly about all the bad habits and vices I have and said, “hell yeah, let’s do it!”. So we discussed all the things we would want to give up and to come up with a full list, we focused on the 7 Deadly Sins: Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Pride, Sloth, and Wrath. We have both mapped out our whole year and are ready for the unique challenge it provides. I would share with you all each of my months, but I think it will be more fun to keep it a secret and see if you can figure it out during each month. (And yes, I know there are seven sins but only 12 months. Some of the sins will be getting a second or even third month as there are multiple habits that fit each one.)

I am doing this to become a better person. I am happy with who I am, but at the same time, I’m really not. I feel that I can be better and I am glad I feel that way; I do not ever want to be complacent in my life. Happy, yes. Complacent, no. And what I like about this unique challenge is that a lot of those things I am giving up overlap with my original goals for this year. In a way, this allows me to double down on what I feel I need to work on or want to improve.

I cannot wait to see how much progress I make by the end of the year in all of the areas I am focusing on. Change, unfortunately, does not happen overnight. It takes time. I am ready for each and every step of the way. Let the journey begin.

The lyrics for this post’s title came from Childish Gambino’s F*ck It All