5 Things I’m Doing To Have A Great 2023

I went to my homeland, the Philippines, for two and a half weeks and saw a vastly different culture—which was to be expected. But, the people I met there were genuinely kind, giving and respectful. When my uncle’s car blew a tire on the side of the road, someone pulled over, lifted the car, changed the tire all by themselves then literally tried running away when my uncle tried paying them. It was refreshing seeing people that saw people struggling and acted on it, going out of their way to make people’s day or just remembering to be courteous of others. I think a very western mindset is “it’s my world, and you’re just living in it,”(theoretically, this is true) so it was a nice change of pace. I don’t think I am an utterly terrible person and have never done these things before, but I want to be more thoughtful in 2023.

This year I plan on having an everything journal. I want it to be for anything and everything—writing daily entries, pasting cool stickers in, gluing snippets of memories on the pages or writing down my next million-dollar idea before I forget. My notes app on my iPhone is atrocious and filled with way too many long and forgotten things that I need to clear out. Journaling is a great tool for working through problems, reflecting on the day, and more. It can also be a tool for creativity and recording. I hope that at the end of the year, I have this really nice piece of art that captures 2023 in all aspects.

In 2022, my goal was to say yes to more things. I said yes to a lot of things that eventually led to amazing memories. However, by doing that, I blurred my boundaries and started ignoring how I felt when I was around certain people or situations. 2023 is my year of surrounding myself with good people that uplift me, support me and who I truly enjoy hanging around.

It’s a habit that I’m sure a lot of people like me want to shake: mindless scrolling. This year, I want to create more art than watching other people do that. I want to create more opportunities for myself than watch other people live their best lives. I even want to create more media to be consumed than be solely the consumer. 

I am—and always will be—a book lover. However, I will be honest and say that my screen time slowly crept up last year. By the time it was December, I realized I had only read 17 books. Compared to my 2021 list of 30 titles, I decided that this year I will have my nose in a book more often. Because I have become accustomed to short-form media, sometimes other forms of media like movies and books can be hard to get through. I can be concentrated for 3 hours at the gym, studying or if I’m at my job. But, when it comes to being entertained, I tend to choose my phone and I want to increase my concentration. Besides helping my attention span, reading has many other benefits like reducing stress, helping literacy, and generally making my brain happier.