New Year’s Top Resolutions for 2020:
x Build my art portfolio by drawing every dayx Continue my Japanese lessonsx Practice writing by shadowing my favorite sentences in books
Sub-Resolutions: 2020
x Wear retainers every night. Clean them every morning. (This is gonna be so fucking painful. Why am I putting it here)
x No-Buy All Year (Exception: Re-stocking essentials + iCloud storage)
x Watch my savings go up c: (I honestly miss the practice of using a piggy banks)
x No Expletives (This is painful as well. I wonder how long I’m gonna fucking last?)
x Slowly revert back to raven hair (Goes well with No-Buy)
x Curl hair every day (Well, I’ll try to make a curl last every couple of days)
x Moisturize neck upwards (I did it wrong this whole year. I always brush it downwards with my flat cotton pad and toner D:)
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I. I sort of have an idea on how to build my portfolio. I’m thinking of doing another four-panel comic of daily events. I could also try Illoging every week to get better with digital art. I have a lot of fashion wish list items, and I’m thinking that maybe my OC could just wear it, so that it would go well with me participating in no-buy.
II. I’m also going to incorporate my Japanese Lessons with my illustrations. I think that would help a new language stick better for memory. I stopped at Chapter Four this year ; o ; I was supposed to have everything done within 3 months. Also, I only learned half of the alphabet. I got Hiragana down, but completely stopped with Katakana D: Or well, I didn’t practice enough with Katakana. So I forgot all of the characters ; o ; Need to move on to sentences and paragraphs, and books. I have a lot of resources online, and I should really start utilizing them next year.
I did read Princess Kaguya in Hiragana in a children’s book this year though. Felt really good. I read like a five year old sounding out his alphabet. I love learning new languages!
III. I like how Kindle and Good Reads decided to sync with each other. Now, I have multiple copies of my highlights and annotations. I miss using OmmWriter.
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The big reason why I broke down my resolution to top resolutions and sub resolution is because I want my creative career to be built further. So, I decided to put art and language and writing on top. By December 2020, I should like what I’ve accomplished or completed. I did include it in 2019, and I got started but blogging sort of took over. I’ve established my blog quite well and I will still tend to it next year, but the main focus will be establishing my art brand, re-learning Japanese, and working on writing. If I do well with writing, I may participate in Nano! I tried it before and dropped it ; - ; There were some rude commenters in one of the forums I tried asking for help in ; - ; I’ll soldier on this time though!
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I feel like for the sub resolutions, I already made tiny comments on it so I won’t elaborate too much on it except for the No-Buy policy. More on the exception note. I’ll also do a cheat day if I stumble upon some fashion items I’ve looked for, for years. For example, a metallic pleated skirt, a pink or brown fur caplet, and an ugly sweater. I’ve been trying to complete my capsule wardrobe since I was 21. These items have eluded me every time I went outside shopping. So, I know that if I do see it, I’m never gonna see it again, if I decide to not buy it just because of my No-Buy Rule. I already know this is going to be a rare event, and that’s why I’m pretty confident to put it here. Watch these items pop up left and right draining my bank account lol. I know it sounds like I’m adding a lot of exceptions to the rule, but hear me out you guys. I’m also adding my Nintendo yearly purchase on here. Pokemon games get released once a year and I’m on the look out for either Detective Pikachu 2, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon for Gen 8, or another Rune Factory series for the Switch. Most games are released around the Fall time anyway, which is near the time of when the No-Buy is going to end anyway. So I’m also granting these particular games, clemency. Indie games on the other hand, I’ll have to say no to because I still have a lot of other games I haven’t even finished yet or started even.
I’d also like to note that the no-buy system includes: no merch, no pins, no new eyeshadow palettes, no new face make up products, no new clothes, no new plushies, no new shoes, no new films, books, games, no new nail polish, no new cute room furniture or organizers, no new stationaries, AND no $1, $3, $5 item that mounts up to a fortune.
Counter-attack: Using the Libby app that allows me to read digital books from my local library. Renting films on Redbox. Using up my own stationaries and make up collection. I’m not tempted to get new clothes or be on trend anyway so this fashion part is easy. I have more room for stuffed animals in my bed but I think I have enough so this one’s moderately easy. I have a lot of little trinkets lying around in my room so I don’t think I’ll be tempted by this one either. So I think I have everything ready to go.
I also want to cover the part about donating and supporting smaller businesses. I have done this in the past couple of years. I was very happy to do it, but to change things up a bit, I’ll try and do so closely towards the holidays when bonus hours/checks are available.
I think that wraps up about everything I’d like to say on what No-Buy means for me.
As a reward for not falling into temptation the whole year, I’ll probably buy ONLY a couple of things by the end of the year (I know, so ironic considering it’s a no-spend year) 😞🔫. I feel like it’s a good way to test out if I was able to implement discipline upon myself. And to combat against impulsive purchases. I’m thinking either a Miu Miu wallet or one make-up palette that’s going to be raved all of 2020 and see if it still in people’s favorite all the way to December. I’ve always wanted to have a second luxury item, but I always hesitate even if I had the money. As for make-up, I actually have room to add more in my collection if I wanted to. I have like 7 empty cabinet spaces and that’s not including my pink stashes that aren’t even full to the brim. However, I want to be able to exert more control when it comes to throwing cash at the wall lol. And, while I justified a lot of my purchases by saying that I don’t have nearly as much make up as other people do who have thousands, I noticed that this year, I was forgetting some palettes that I already own and love. I’d say I have about 50 palettes in my collection in total. That’s actually the amount that people try to de-clutter their collection to, so I think it’s a pretty good stopping point and matches with the No-Buy contract I’m going to do next year.
I keep on rambling on, I apologize. One last thing I want to say in regards to make up is that, I like watching old movies and seeing very little make up products on their vanity table. They have one lipstick! And they use it for the entirety of its life time before they even re-stock and get a new one. I want to try being more like that.
Besides, while I enjoy creating make-up content, according to my Pin stats, it’s only half as popular as my lifestyle posts. 50k vs 100k+.
I watched a lot of Drugstore dupes videos to see if I’ll get the urge to make an immediate purchase and I amazingly didn’t c: I was also inside this merch store about a week ago to pick up a couple of items, and I was surrounded by so many cute stuff I wish they had when I was around high school or in university. And much to my surprise, I didn’t succumb to any impulse purchases! I was so stoked. I wasn’t weak. So, I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to pull off these changes next year!
I will say that if you aren’t ready to do a No-Buy, don’t do it. Maybe you could start with Low-buy like I did this year. Ofc, I’ll be really sad, if everyone suddenly did a No-Buy because I’ll miss devouring beauty content. But if make-up collection is your thing and it sparks joy in your life, don’t let my decision of doing a No-Buy stop you.
If you want to know more about what kind of content you’ll be expecting next year check out my Blog Announcement and December Favorites post.
So yeah, basically, I’m going to only spend money on essentials next year. For iCloud storage and Nichi app for my edits. I wish it could have been a total $0 leaving my bank account, but that’s just not very realistic. The things I ran out of really fast are the only ones I will be buying. I already know I’ll be getting a nail thinner next spring because I want to extend the life of my nail polishes a little bit longer instead of hunting down nail polishes. And it might be a struggle too since the ones I liked are probably going to be discontinued.
With the no expletive rule, I made that because I want to gripe less next year lol. I think I’ve used my venting privilege a lot over the past years and I’m very grateful for it. But it’s not something I want to put any importance on anymore. I think strong language definitely help with relieving any anger I felt, but I also noticed that most of the time it also helps fuel my anger. Or at least, make the angry sentiments linger for much longer. Years later, why would I want to keep recollections of awful memories of times people where rude to me etc? They’re unimportant and should remain unimportant.
I want be more pure and cinnamon roll-soul, like Dumbo! Inhale hate. Exhale love. I’m going to miss having chaotic energy but it’s worth a try.
As for hair, I really would like to switch back to my natural hair. I am going to miss being blonde a lot. It’s been my constant companion for more than three years ever since that horrible break up and horrible almost assault incident. Being blonde helped me become more extroverted. I wasn’t completely converted, but I feel like that saying “Blondes have more fun” is actually true. It helped me smile more. And I’ll always be grateful for it. It also helped me switch to different colors easily. I was able to try lilac, grey, ginger, rose gold, blue, green. I’m going to miss being able to have unicorn and mermaid hair. But I’m also ready to say goodbye to blonde hair, because it wouldn’t be healthy for my scalp or hair to keep bleaching it every year. I don’t know how other people are able to maintain their looks for years. They must have really strong scalp and hair integrity. I also really miss using $3 shampoos and conditioners with $15 hair cuts. The $300 maintenance every 6 months was worth it, up to this point. Because it did make me happy and help me get over traumatizing episodes in my life. And ironically, my hair has been the healthiest looking while I was blonde. I gave it TLC with hair oils, hair serums, masks, and learning to wash hair not so often. I learned a lot about taking care of it while it was ironically damaged. The only hair problem I had before when I had black hair was that my scalp would get too oily. Now it’s the complete opposite where it’s all dry and tangly. I basically miss doing less with my hair.
I noticed that being a dark brunette was actually very flattering on my olive-undertone skin. I just look brighter and healthier. But my hair stylist at the time, surprised me with transforming into becoming blonde because I remember craving lighter hair after the break up lol. It was very nice of him. Aw, but it was too late to tell him that I actually wanted to stay as a brunette lol. Had to switch up different shampoos and conditioners all the time too. That was another thing.
I guess I won’t be able to do my hair care routine lol. Or maybe I could film it while I still have blonde hair and just give you tips on how I kept it healthy. We’ll see.
It was very pleasant that I got to match with a lot of my favorite characters for about four years. I love Pikachu and Serena van der Woodsen. I’m glad I’ll always have selcas / selfies to remember it. So, I guess if I learned anything from this, it’s to take more selfies!
Added curling my hair every day, because I want to make use of long hair privilege? I think I only curled my hair once this year lol. I also need to learn that technique where you put the iron behind your ears. I always get scared doing that, so always turn it inwardly.
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The reason why I titled this “Pre-emptive Strike” is because I wanted to encourage everyone to start their resolutions early. In that way, when the new year rolls around (Hey, 2020) you would just automatically do what you already do and Day 1 out of 365 is gonna feel really good.
Alas, I don’t think I can participate in this fully, because I’ve been sick since Thanksgiving. I’m barely recovering and my period which is happening on the third week of this month is already kicking my butt. So for my case, I’ll probably just get a head start by like two days early. If you have a superior immune system, then by all means start while it’s still mid-December c:
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Phew. This was quite a long post. I wonder if any of you guys are still here for me to finish my outro.
Thank you for reading. I appreciate your viewership. This post is made possible, by viewers like you. Thank you ;D
Take care,
(Let me know in the comments below if you read it in a PBS voice. I’m gonna say it to end my post every time now lol)
P.S.S. What are your New Year’s Resolutions?
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