I’ve never been one for self-help books (in fact, save for that time my friend Klassy handed my boyfriend her copy of He’s Just Not Into You so he could verify if the content had any truth to it, I’ve never flipped through one). It’s not that I’m against the idea of people telling people how to lead their lives (Dude. I loved Starting Over), it’s just that I don’t have time…to listen to other people.

But I do like answering questions that call for self-indulgent answers.

And so here we have Your Best Year Ever! with just enough material to turn into a series of self-indulgent blog entries. I didn’t even read the whole text, I just scrolled down to get to the part with the questions.

1. What did I accomplish?
2. What were my biggest disappointments?
3. What did I learn?
4. How do I limit myself, and how can I stop?
5. What are my personal values?
6. What roles do I play in my life?
7. Which role is my major focus for the next year?
8. What are my goals for each role?
9. What are my top ten goals for the next year?
10. How can I make sure I achieve them?

Question #1: What did I accomplish in 2008?

You know it’s not going to be a very good answer when you have to go through your 2008 blog archives to refresh your memory. In somewhat chronological order:

• Found the courage to quit my miserable call center job (though this went down— har— in December 2007) and take up a proper course in web design.
• Maintained doesn’t seem to be the right word so…continued to nurture a long-distance relationship with the man I fell in love with in 2007. It’s been a little over eighteen months since we first met and we’re still together. What surprises me is that this does not surprise me. At all. We’ve had our moments, of course, like this incident in December when we broke up for three hours (something I will not elaborate because it was so silly). Some people have asked how we do it and it’s simple, really: it’s because we want to be together. It also helps that we both want the same future ;)
• Got curls! I’ve always wanted a perm and I finally went ahead and got one last March. The curls are gone for the meantime but as soon as my hair has rested and is long enough, I’m getting my mermaid hair back.
• Got a non-call center job in June 2008. Eight months later and I’m still at it.

…And that’s it (???).

Suddenly, my 2008 feels so unfulfilled. Well, there’s motivation to make the most out of 2009. I want credit card machines for my birthday. Just because.