Haylie Jaed's 2016 To-Do List.

I don't make New Years' resolutions. I found that when I did, I was never motivated enough to focus on them and it left me feeling like a failure. Instead, each year I give myself a "to-do list". It's less stressful, and I find it easier to accomplish things this way. So here's my to-do list for 2016.


This is pretty self-explanatory - I want to complete at least one writing project this year. A couple of people already know this, but after posting the first chapter of Crash Into Me I decided that I hated it and wanted to re-write it already, and I am doing that. I'm already happier with this new attempt, and that will mean not being pushed away from the story. Which will help me with this goal.

On top of Crash..., I'm also trying to start second drafting my 2012 NaNoWriMo novel, Dead Ringer. I'm hoping to start posting that on Mibba this year, too.

The Demons in Us has turned into more of a when-I-feel-like-it story.


Typical, right? I promise myself this one every year, and every year I...not fail, exactly. But I don't succeed, either. I started 2014 eating more fruit and vegetables, but I tend to get back to too much junk food eventually. 2015 meant going to my dance classes whenever I could, but it wasn't every week like I wanted to.

So this year I have some simple aims - eat less junk food - and some more difficult ones - start jogging, lazy woman!

I just want to start feeling better about myself. On the outside, I look healthy - I'm small, relatively skinny, don't have a whole lot of pimples. But on the inside I feel gross, and I really want to change that.


I come from a lower middle-class, single-parent family, and in my twenty-five years of life I have lived in more than fifteen different houses. We always had problems - the rent got too much for us to afford, the owners wanted to move into their houses so they evicted us, etc. So one of my main aims in life is to own my own home.

Unfortunately I live in Sydney, Australia.

I know well enough that I'll never be able to afford a place in the city, but I'm hoping I can afford something cheaper out somewhere quieter. Some areas have some nice houses that start at around $300,000, so my aim is to save $30,000 for that 10% deposit so I can afford one of those. I have a long, long way to go before I reach that, but I'm hoping to make progress this year. If I can save another $5,000, I'll be happy.


When I was fifteen, I got my first guitar. I was heavily into pop-punk and rock at the time (I still am, really) and I wanted to be in a band of my own. Unfortunately, I never actually got around to learning how to play. My poor guitar sat in its gig bag and just...waited.

Over the years, I've wanted to learn other instruments, too. The three that I always come back to are guitar, piano, and violin. And for a while towards the end of 2015, I was determined that I wanted to learn violin this year.

But wow, are those starter instruments expensive!

So I went back to guitar, and I'm going to be learning that this year. In fact, I've spent the past four days learning some basic chords on my old acoustic, trying to toughen up my fingers. Chords always baffled me as a teenager, but because I'm so determined now I'm making some quick progress, and this is encouraging.

And as more encouragement, I invested in a new beginner's electric guitar:



I know I'll never be a professional rock musician, but I would still love to be able to make my own music, if only for myself. So there's a long-term aim.

2016 is looking like a whole lot of fun, if things go right.

Do you have any aims for 2016?