2017: The Year Of Hustle

Initially, I didn’t want to do a “word of the year.” I know that a lot of bloggers do it, but it was a cliche I didn’t want to participate in, yet. This post by The Welcome Woman changed my mind. I loved how it was laid out and how it wasn’t too specific. It made me want to choose a word of the year.

Hustle = putting in all the effort necessary to get things done

There are, of course, multiple meanings of the word hustle, like any word. In this case, I do not mean to con people out of money or become a prostitute (ha! the definitions you find on the internet).

How did I come up with this word exactly? I answered these 31 Heart Centered Questions For Purposeful Living by GenTwenty. I recommend this post to all of you, by the way. After going through and answering questions in my head, I was proud to say that I felt very fulfilled with my life, but there was one thing that kept coming up.

I didn’t feel like I did enough. Of course, I have high expectations for myself, but this thought was a recurring one. There are many aspects where I could’ve improved (more on that later) so I chose the word hustle for this year. It seemed fitting because I want to give every aspect of my life my all.

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//School

I’ve done really well in school, but one thing I noticed last year is that I didn’t work as hard as I could have. This is partly because school is a bit easier now, but I can tell I could’ve been more productive (especially at the end of my senior year). Here are some things I plan on doing in 2017.

• Wake up at the same time every day – My classes start in the afternoon, but I know I need to wake up early and get work done beforehand. Waking up at the same time every day is both really healthy and will keep me productive. Whenever I have a set schedule, I feel happier and more motivated.

• Get ahead on all my assignments – Whenever I have the opportunity to do so, I will do the extra work to get ahead. I did that last semester and it really paid off. I was able to do all the extra credit assignments, too. I lagged a bit near the end, but I am still proud of the results. I plan on continuing this habit throughout my college career.

• Create study guides early so that I’ll study more throughout the week – The earlier I create the study guides, the more I study for the exam. It’s just something I noticed last semester. I’m able to spend more time getting ready for an exam when I start early, so having a study guide really helps.

• Work at my desk – I am absolutely horrible about working at my desk. I end up taking my laptop and doing homework (and blog work) on my bed. This is really bad, both mentally and physically. Everyone knows why you shouldn’t study on your bed, but we all do it. I’m always more productive whenever I do work at my desk, but I spent a lot of time in bed last year. In 2017, I plan on working at my desk the majority of the time I do work. Both for school and this blog.

• Continue to sit at the front and participate in class – I did this last semester, and boy did it pay off. I got extra credit for sitting there. Okay, not specifically. It was for participation, but there is something about sitting in the front that makes you want to speak more. Because of this, all my professors knew my name and face, despite the fact that I rarely went to office hours (I’ll start doing that too if necessary, but I usually ask my questions before or after class)

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//Blog

• Schedule posts out early – This is something I suck at. Initially, I was at least one post ahead, but as work started piling up, I started to publish fewer posts. I have always published at least once a week, but I want to get that number up. Getting ahead on blog posts will really help with that.

• Grow my email list – This year, I am going to focus more on my email list. I definitely want to increase my pageviews, too, but I know that building an email list is much more important. I’m planning on adding a resource library this month, so expect that soon.

• Create an email course – I’ve done a few email courses by bloggers and I’ve really enjoyed them. I would love to create one of my own.

• Sell a product – probably an E-Book or an E-Course. This won’t happen for a while. I haven’t even started juggling ideas yet, but I’d like to add one to this site sometime this year. This will probably be set in motion this summer. I knew I didn’t want to create a product in my first year of blogging. I just wanted to focus on writing and building a readership. Once we hit June, I’m going to start working on this.

• Make more connections with bloggers – I really want to make more blogger friends this year. The few interactions I’ve had with some have been great because they understand all the work and effort that goes into doing something like this. I am going to put more effort into commenting on other posts and build on the connections I have made.
• Write more personal posts – I have a love-hate relationship with these types of posts. I love reading them and know the impact they can have, so I try to publish them as much as possible. I want to do more of that this year. They are hard to write and format in a way that makes sense, but I still want to write more of them.

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//Travel

I am going to travel internationally. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I have never traveled internationally before and have decided this is the year I’m going to do it. I don’t care if it’s China or Mexico or anywhere else for that matter. While I have seen a good chunk of the U.S, I haven’t been anywhere else. Hopefully, I’ll get to go to Bangladesh. I had saved enough money to go last month, but my parents were against it because I’d get really sick and things aren’t so great there right now (though nobody remembers #PrayForDhaka when ISIS attacked there…pft)

I got bitten by the travel bug when I was sixteen and the wanderlust has never gone away. I am going to have an adventure this year. (I’m not so worried about leaving the country as I am about getting back in…hehe)

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//Love

Tracy divided this into three sections: Family, Friends, Relationships. I was very proud of how I fostered my relationships last year. I became closer to my family by living at home through college. I’ve made time for my old friends despite being miles apart.

There are still things I would like to improve upon. In terms of friendships, I want to put more of an effort into making new friends because so far in college I have a string of acquaintances. I need to put more effort into being on campus when I don’t have class and talking to people instead of sitting in the library or strolling around the city.

I hadn’t put much thought into relationships until writing this post. I haven’t been in one since the end of high school (which in retrospect, wasn’t that long ago). Last semester I didn’t go out that much anyway, so making friends or starting a relationship were the last things on my mind. This year I want to be more open towards relationships. There were definitely opportunities last semester (I am a pretty girl [says the confident *cough* arrogant* part of me]), but I didn’t take them. Who knows? Maybe this’ll lead to my M.R.S. Degree (Ha! Like that’ll ever happen)

So that’s it I guess. I plan on continuing to spend time with my friends and family, but I want to make new friends, as well. I am actually going to have to work at making friends in college because I’m not surrounded by a gaggle of girls my age in a dorm. This’ll be a challenge because no one wants to go up to someone and say “Please be my friend,” but maybe that’s the way to do it.

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//Health

This is something I am so proud of myself for! I didn’t work out at all during high school but somehow managed to get a regular workout routine going once I started college. I’m actually excited about classes starting because I miss going to the gym all the time. I also consistently prioritized self-care throughout the semester. I want to keep up with this, but I still want to challenge myself to do more. Here are a few things I plan on adding to my routine to improve my health even more (none of them include weight loss)

/Mental Health/

• Continue following my self-care plan – Just read this post – learn about how to create one for yourself. It’s been really helpful.

• Get 7-9 hours of sleep every night – I consistently kept up with this last year. I am very proud. So many college students don’t prioritize sleep. It really bothers me that they ask me in awe about how I do it. It’s easy. I finish all my work and don’t waste all my time. Sometimes, I don’t even finish work because I know sleep is more important.  Priorities guys.

• Meditate every week – This is something I want to do more often. Every week to be exact. It’s been proven that meditating increases your brain’s gray matter for those of you who need logic. I personally just feel good when I do it but to each their own.

• Spend time outside every day – This is mostly for the weekends. I have to go outside whenever I’m at school, but I tend to forget to leave the house during breaks and weekends. Especially now that it’s cold. Not that that’s saying much considering I’m in Georgia.

• Read a book every day – I’m so glad I’m able to do this more now that I’m in college. Reading on the train every day is such a great pass time and it definitely contributes to my daily happiness.

/Physical Health/

• Go to the gym 3-4 times a week – I only have class four days a week this semester, but I still want to work out at least 3 of those days. I will most likely go every day and will give myself a bit of leeway during exams, but this is a goal I know I will keep. It keeps my energy up and I genuinely enjoy it.

• Go to the park every weekend – This will make me go outside during the weekends. I love walking and/or running on the outdoor track. There are also giant nets and a rock climbing wall, which are fun exercises. I usually take Mysoon with me to give my mom a break and get him to exercise. He enjoys it too, so this will also be a way for me to spend time with family.

• Do yoga at least 3 mornings a week – this will be my hardest fitness goal because it requires a lot of discipline. I’d aim for every day if I didn’t know I’d stop. I plan on doing this before breakfast because I’m not supposed to eat four hours before I do this type of yoga.

• Consume less sugar – I am at high risk for diabetes. It runs in my family. My mom got gestational diabetes through all her pregnancies, and it never went away after my youngest brother was born. I’ll worry more about this in 10 years when I’ll probably try to have kids, but that’s not the reason now. Whenever I’m busy, I eat less junk food, but when I’m on breaks (like now) I tend to eat more than I should. I want to manage that more this year.

• Drink more milk – I am at high risk for osteoporosis as a tall Asian woman (Bangladesh is in Asia for those of you who want to argue), so drinking milk should be a high priority for me. I need to drink more of it. I drank it every day in high school because it came with school lunch, but I don’t anymore. I take calcium vitamins, but I shouldn’t solely rely on those. I’m not putting a numerical value on this. I’m just going to keep this in mind.

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Phew! Well, that was a doozy (though not as bad as my last post).

Just as a general update, I’m not going to write a “January Goals” post this month. I’m just going to try to swing into the spring semester with a head start and binge watch A Series Of Unfortunate Events the day it airs on Netflix.  (Who else has found the three hidden VFD sites? 1 2 3 )

There are many things I want to work towards this year and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about them. The word “hustle” will continue to be on my mind in the next 362 days, so hopefully, it’ll help.

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Do you have a word of the year? What do you want to accomplish in 2017?