So it’s officially been 6 months since I first stepped foot on Cali soil, and this is the first new year of my life that I’ve started in a different state. (Not a big thing to a lot of you seasoned travelers I know I know, but it’s big to ME)
This New Years 2016 holds a lot of significance… I don’t necessarily believe in the “New Year New Me” mantra BUT I do believe that there’s nothing wrong with striving to be a better version of yourself, no matter what you use as your motivation.
For those who know me, I’ve made my “Resolutions” list my Goals for the year for the past 3 years, with varying degrees of success.. For example, one of my resolutions of 2015 was to move to California (I’d been saying that I wanted to move to Cali since 2013) and here I am. I won’t act like I completed every resolution that I’ve ever made to myself but it would seem like with every year I’m able to complete at least 2 or 3 of the bigger ones and now I’m looking to increase that number.
I’m trying to make 2016 my year of Consistency. I don’t feel as if I’m lacking in Creative Ideas… In fact, I have so many half completed projects lying around that part of my problem has been trying to figure out which one I should give my full attention to on any given day.. which is something I’m sure a lot of you can probably relate to.
I’ve debated on whether or not I wanted to share my list of 2016 Resolutions with you all, not because any of them are very personal but because I hear a lot that you shouldn’t be so quick to share your goals and dreams with people who may not be like-minded in thinking, because their lack of vision may end bringing you down.
Ultimately though, I feel like I’ve reached a point where other ideals that don’t align with mine can’t affect me because I know deep down what drives me to feel the way that I feel and I’ll either have support on my journey or respect from those who didn’t see it being possible for me at first.. So with that being said:
“Resolutions/Goals for 2016”
1.) “Get Back in Shape and Stay in Shape“ – I know this is usually on every full-blooded American’s list at the top of the year but Days after writing this down I found out that a Planet Fitness is opening 20 mins away from me. Look At God!
2.) “Book A Commercial“ – I won’t even lie this has been on my resolution list since 2012. I don’t know if I’m any closer to this goal then I was 4 years ago, but if it doesn’t happen this year either it won’t be for a lack of effort.
3.) “Book A High Profile Role, whether it’s a guest role or reoccurring“– This is a new addition to the “Acting” aspect of my list. It doesn’t matter if it’s T.V./ Web Series/ YouTube channel or whatever.
4.) “Leave My Job for Good“ – I could write about the levels of Retail Hell until my fingers cramp from exhaustion but let’s just say that my patience for Retail work has fizzled out completely. I’m looking forward to LOOKING FORWARD to my job of the future…
5.) “Find a sustainable source of income that doesn’t require a typical 9 to 5 environment” – I took it one step further because people who read my number 4 would tell me to look for a job in a different type of work environment (Not Retail for example) but that’s not enough. If it doesn’t challenge me to think Creatively and Critically (and pay my rent) then I want no parts of it.
6.) “Write and Direct at least 5 of my own Projects”– Like I said earlier, I’m not without ideas. I may be without a team, equipment, and certain resources, but I’m not without ideas.. So this year will be the year to obtain those things to make this thing possible.
7.) “Finish and Release (My Music Project Name) by March 2016″– I’ve been working on this project for almost 3 years and I’d really like to complete it lol. Mostly because if I don’t finish it soon I’m going to keep nitpicking it apart and reconstructing it and it will never be released…
8.) “Turn ‘Artistic Visionaries’ into a legit company“– In case you may have missed it, I launched my own company ‘Artistic Visionaries’ back in November 2014 and I’ve spent the past year just trying to figure it all out. I honestly STILL don’t have it all figured it out but I really want to bring this company to life and it will be a lot of trial and error that gets things going this year.
9.) “Buy or Receive a Playstation 4“– I don’t pretend to act like I’m not a huge gamer. Ever since my first Gameboy was placed in my hands I’ve been in love. Now that the (mostly good) era of Playstation 3 is over, the next system of choice is a PS4 which has dangled outside of my budget range since its release. So at some point this year I’ll either have enough funds to comfortably purchase my own PS4 or some blessed soul will be gracious enough to gift me with one. Just imagine how amazing this resolution would be if someone decided to give me one… that’s all I’m saying.
10.) “Make enough money to be able to visit home every 3 months“– I don’t make it a secret to hide my homesickness and as time goes on, I think it’s now less and less that I want to go back home and more that I want to be able to see my family more consistently. Not knowing the next time you’ll be able to visit home (at least on your own dollar) is hard to handle at times and I’m looking forward to no longer having that be an issue of mine.
11.) “Do a 365 day photo challenge“– All of last year, my friend Jordan did a 365 day photo challenge where he took a selfie every single day and honestly, if I knew Jordan to be a conceited individual I probably would’ve ignored it. After all,why care about a vain person doing vain things?
But he kept on going, and I kept on watching the journey. I said it on my first day post for my own journey, but I think it speaks a lot on Dedication and consistency. Sure, compared to other larger tasks it may not seem like much, but it’s that same dedication to seeing something through that allows for those bigger tasks to become reality.
It was also crazy to see how much someone’s life can change in a year, whether it be good, bad or indifferent. So even though I barely take enough pictures of myself as it is (I’ll admit I have a long way to go before I become an entertaining figure on social media) I’m excited to take on this challenge because I think it’s going to speak a lot to my mindset change in this year.
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