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It was probably a decade ago, in the midst of my angst ridden teen years, that I decided New Year’s Resolutions were a load of crap. 

My own personal case study has proven me correct: January 1st means a month of fighting to get on a treadmill at the gym.  All the people who hate to work out, but resolve to go every day because HEY!  NEW YEAR?  NEW YOU!  Time to flatten those abs and tighten that ass, right?  No more carbs or chocolate, RIGHT?

Wrong.

“Diets” are always the new black in a new year.  At least until February when the gym clears out again.

So yeah, I gave up trying to be “better” every new year.  And who could blame me with all that Y2K (and now 2012) end-of-the-world stuff?  Why not just party like it’s 1999?  Live fast, die young.  Mr James Dean said so.

But that doesn’t really work either.  I don’t really believe that I will live to see the world end.  And I don’t really care to die young.

So my mantra the last few years has simply been: Outdo Yourself.  Basically, have a better year than the last.  Do something different.  Fly by the seat of your pants.  Whatever the cost, go do interesting shit so you have something to put in your memoir.  Or at least a great Facebook status to make your friends jealous.

It’s been an interesting few years: in 2009 I was art directing a magazine in NYC and working myself to the ground.  A layoff at the end of the year turned 2010 into a tour of South America and part of the US.  2011 I decided to give the deuces to my beloved Brooklyn and try out a low key west coast lifestyle.

That brings us to 2012.  The ghost of Christmas future. 

I had a few vague ideas of what this next year should accomplish, but it wasn’t until this fine gentleman pointed me in the direction of this outrageous lady’s blog post that I discovered I could indeed make resolutions.  In the form of specific and attainable goals.  In a way that gives me time as opposed to the First Of The Year Cold Turkey Syndrome.

Basically you pick a word for the year, choose 9 “life buckets”, 3 goals for each, and write down an action step for each goal at the beginning of every month.  If you don’t do it, ask yourself why not?  Maybe you didn’t want to do it in the first place.  Reevaluate.  Carry on.

My word for the year?  Those of you who know me outside of the interwebs will probably get a fantastic laugh.  Patience.  She of the instant-gratification-let’s-hop-on-the-next-train-out-of-town-I-wanted-that-done-yesterday persona has chosen the word “patience.”

Why this particular word?  Because I feel like I run around with my head cut off most of the time.  Because when I don’t get something I want within 10 seconds, I get over it and move on to the next.  If there are more than 2 people in line for coffee, I turn on my heel and walk out the door.

And I live in a town with serious slacker mentality.  You’d have thunk some of it would have worn on me by now.  You’d have been mistaken.  Apparently you can take the girl out of the rat race, but the rat race stays severely embedded into her system.

At any rate, I’m hoping that this methodology brings more focus and attention to everything I do.  Instead of walking out the door sans caffeine fix, why not take the time to snap some shots on the good old iPhone as a location reference for future photos shoots?  Or use that time to simply be, well ummmm, patient?

I live in Rose City and I rarely stop to smell the damn roses.  Here’s hoping I understand the idea of Patience a little better by 2013.