OH MY GOD MY RESOLUTIONS

(mutters) shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit

(GASPS)

Oh yeah, they're dead.

Totally forgot about them and now they're dead...

(awkwardly closes door)

But don't worry, even if your resolutions are freaking dead, it's never too late to re-evaluate

Everything you've ever known and see if there's a better way!

I do it all the time.

In fact, when I was 13, I came up with both a life philosophy,

And a method for evaluating my life and seeing if I was actually

aligned with the person that I wanted to be in the life that I wanted to create.

and it is actually surprisingly easy.

I've stuck with it for the last 15 years and I don't know why I have never talked about it

BUT HERE IT IS!

When I really started to look at my long life of 13 whole years,

I realized I could approach it categorically.

I saw life broken down into the following areas:

emotional, intellectual, spiritual, mental, physical, artistic and financial.

Now in each of these categories, figure out what the ideal 'you' looks like.

Try to be very specific about what the best 'you' does.

For intellectual, that means I learned two new skills and read 70 books a year.

For my mental health, I meditate twice a day for 20 minutes and see a therapist at least once a month.

For emotional, I see friends at least twice a week

and engage in a hobby that has nothing to do with my work life that I get to do just for fun.

For physical, I workout three to four times a week and gain my left split.

For spiritual, I read more philosophy in Buddhist books and constantly contemplate my mortality and what it means to me.

For artistic, I write a short story per month,

experiment in new mediums throughout the year, and I aim to complete two longer short films a year.

And for financial health, I save 10% of my paycheck,

donate 10% of my money to charities and make consistent contributions to my IRA.

Sometimes, these will overlap and those are the ones that you should definitely pay special attention to.

For example, therapy will help both mental and emotional health.

Yoga benefits someone mentally and physically.

Exercise helps emotional and physical areas and so on, and so on (woohoo!)

Now, take a look at the big picture.

How in line are you with this vision that you've created?

And if not, how can you be more balanced in your life and work on the areas that are weak?

I've done this every year for like, forever,

And I supplement this little bubble map with a vision board so that I can always check in visually,

and see if I'm on track with what I value to be important.

I know I was a very introspective thirteen-year-old,

But I found that this has really helped me in my life, like keep balance or ...

Strengthen areas of my life that are weak, that I really want to improve.

I'm Anna Akana,

STAY RIGHT HERE FOR A SPONSORED MESSAGE!

Thank you so much to Credit Karma for sponsoring today's episode.

You know during the new year,

I was talking to a friend and I asked him what is his resolutions were

and he said to build his credit.

He's 30 years old, and he's never had a credit card.

So whenever he's moved apartments or tried to buy a new car

He's noticed that he's having the hardest time because his credit is virtually non-existent.

And I know that out of all of these categories being physically fit and knowledgeable could be the most daunting.

So I'm really excited to tell you that Credit Karma is here to help.

And more importantly, they're completely free!

Credit Karma allows you to monitor your credit, provides insights as to what you can do to improve your existing score,

and they provide personalized recommendations for ways to use your credit more wisely.

It's super easy to sign up and your data is safe and private.

I'm a home owner,

which means I have like this 30 year loan from the bank with very confusing terms, like

principal, interest, escrow, fixed-rate mortgage

(unable to type out this part lol)

So my favorite feature is the amortization calculator, which helps me understand the payment breakdowns,

and how I can affect the life of my loan over time to suit me as I go.

The first step to taking control of your finances is understanding them.

Get financially fit with Credit Karma today and join their debt loss challenge

at the link below! :-)

(a lot of people worked on these captions so be thankful)