Which resolutions have I kept up with?
We're three months into the year and I thought I'd share an update on my four 2021 resolutions. I've completed one resolution I didn't expect to achieve so quickly.
Resolution #1: Lose Weight (In-Progress/Ongoing)
In My 2021 Resolutions blog post, I mentioned that I don't own a weigh scale. I simply wanted to lose enough weight to fit into my clothes more comfortably.
I bought the Ring Fit Adventure game for my Nintendo Switch as a fun way to exercise. The game wasn't cheap, but I was determined to lose weight.
Except I don't think I've lost any weight since I started playing the game in January. I'd play the game at least three times a week devoting an hour to gameplay.
In that hour of gameplay, I'd typically get fifteen to thirty-five minutes of "active" workout, or time of physical activity. This makes sense since part of my time was spent doing the warmup and cool down stretches, reading the onscreen story dialogs, and shopping for smoothies that would help me during a boss battle.
While I haven't lost any weight that I can tell, I've developed strength in my legs and arms. This wasn't easy to achieve.
Before I started playing this game, I didn't work out. Yes, I walked with my dogs and RC cars regularly, but that was the extent of any exercise I did in years past. My first few gameplay sessions were brutal to my body!
Initially, I could only tolerate playing the game every other day because my body was too sore the next day. Those were days when I debated giving up on my resolution and splurging on new, larger clothes.
After seven gameplay sessions, the soreness was minimal, and my enjoyment increased. I won't give a detailed review of the game in this post, but I enjoy the game enough to be motivated to exercise several times a week.
My dogs also make the game enjoyable and serve as a distraction that forces me to take breaks in-between short workouts. Shadow likes to eat on my yoga mat and then lay on it for a nap. One time, Shadow brought all the stuffed animals onto the yoga mat.
Rascal likes to sit or lay under me as I'm doing a workout. He's stubborn and won't move unless I pick him up and place him somewhere else. There were several times when I'd do squats and essentially sit on him. My dogs entertain me while I'm playing because I can't wait to see what they'll do next.
I haven't played the game the past week because of health issues. I hope to get back into playing the game sometime this week or next.
I don't know if I'll lose weight by playing this game. Fortunately, I'm building strength in my muscles. I've felt better because of the game!
Resolution #2: Earn an Income (Not Started)
My Dad's still encouraging me to wait until the pandemic passes to resume work again since he can support me financially. He suggested that since I'm not yet COVID-19 vaccinated, I should continue my hobbies and research what it'd take to make it into my new career.
I'm confident of my chances of getting a new salaried job despite my recent extended hiatus from the workforce. My expertise and past experiences are strong. I've continued research on trends in my prior career field, so I don't feel I've missed out on new practices, technology, and more.
I've also completed certification programs related to my prior career field during my unemployment. I'm currently working on a recertification for a video editing software program. I haven't applied for any jobs because I want to do as my Dad suggested and try earning passive income first.
However, I'm not confident of my chances of becoming self-employed and earning passive income to start off with. My Dad encourages me to pursue the dream I gave up on as a young adult. He says it's never too late to try again and give it a go.
My Dad reminded me that I used to sell my art and freelance as a young adult in my early twenties. He makes it seem easy to pick up where I left off over fifteen years ago. Except I don't believe it's that easy, especially since I've felt like I'm relearning my old hobbies.
My self-doubt is making it hard to feel motivated to give this a try. I try reminding myself that I'd rather give it a go and fail rather than not do anything and wonder what would've happened. But then I worry about the wasted time, effort, and money that I'd put into eventually failing. I then wonder if it's worth it.
Still, I figured I should give it a try by making and self-publishing my first coloring book to see what happens.
Resolution #3: Publish a Coloring Book (Just Started)
I sketched several doodles, uploaded them to my computer, and started making coloring pages for a theme I'm not yet ready to share. I was excited that I made progress! I left it alone to focus on other projects for a month before returning to work on it.
And then I lost my coloring page files. I must've accidentally deleted the folder at some point because I can't find it. It bummed me to realize I lost all that work.
It didn't take me long to get over my feeling. I decided a restart was necessary. I've started over again, this time recording the process to share through this website and my YouTube channel.
Resolution #4: Increase YouTube Subscribers (Completed!)
I wanted to have fifty YouTube subscribers in time for my May birthday. This resolution was a stretch since I felt this was out of my control.
I had thirty-three YouTube subscribers when I wrote My 2021 Resolutions post in early January. Last Thursday, I had fifty-five YouTube subscribers. There are currently sixty-one YouTube subscribers as I'm writing this post.
I haven't done much to gain subscribers to my YouTube channel. I've kept up with my Tuesday and Thursday upload schedule. I've replied to comments left on different videos. I've uploaded random videos not related to a single niche.
I did, however, change my intro that plays at the beginning of each video. I wanted to make it clearer that my channel doesn't fall within a single niche.
Sometimes I'd upload arts and crafts videos, but other times the videos would be about something random. We'll see if I lose any subscribers after I upload a gameplay video today and a toy robot video later this week or next week.
I hope the increase in subscribers mean my videos are somewhat entertaining. It makes it feel like I made the right decision to share the simple things I enjoy with others who are interested.
My Thoughts
I've set myself reasonable resolutions for this year, but some are going to take longer for me to achieve.
My resolution to lose weight may prove to be most challenging since I'm mostly inactive and physically lazy. I want to lose weight, but I'll also be content with not gaining more weight this year. At least I've built muscle strength.
What's Next?
It's been years since I decorated Easter eggs. I'll decorate some eggs this week and share my thoughts and experience with you next week. I haven't forgotten about this Thursday's post, but I'm not yet sure what I'll write about.
How are you doing with your resolutions for 2021? Login and Sign up to share a status update of the goals and dreams you set out to achieve at the beginning of the year. I wish you all the best if you're still pursuing those resolutions!
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Thanks, and have a great day!
Simply Jelly Jam
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