2017 is going to be the year of me. That means absolutely NO BOYS, and I mean nada, and to help guide myself through this journey/challenge/what ever you may call it, I have chosen to chronicle my year, one post a day, here.

To help myself, because that is what this is about, I am going to set some guidelines. Primarily I am going to set some simple rules that I must follow throughout the year, why I am doing this (so I can find strength if in moments of weakness), and a little bit of an idea of what I will write about. So here it goes…

The Why.

I have been serial dating since I was 14. Even when I have been “single,” there was always  a boy or boys who I would talk to or hang out with, so in essence, I’ve never truly been single. I’ve had large romances and small romances, and blips and bumps in between, and as of 2016, my love life has been a complete mess, but I will get into that later… The point is, in 2017, I will graduate from law school, *hopefully* pass the bar, and start working at a large law firm in New York City. Love life aside, my life is on track, but I still derive too much personal worth from the relationships in my life.

I want to derive personal worth, not from boys, but from the other things in life. I want to focus on my friendships, on my health, on my will power and self determination. This is more than just being boy free for 365 days, this is about finding myself. I haven’t quite figured out what that’s going to look like, but I guess thats the whole point. I want to set goals for myself, like running a half marathon in 2017, and accomplish those goals. For too long, I have talked the talk, but I haven’t followed up with walking the walk.

Most importantly – I want to prove to myself that I can do this.

Eventually, I hope to be a successful lawyer, or a mom, or a whatever life brings me, and I want to be someone can respect and admire. I think that comes from strength, and going an entire year without dating is going to completely test my strength and will-power. I want to be stronger than my weaknesses. So without further ado…

The Rules.

I am going to keep these simple. The point of the rules, to me, are to help guide me and to help keep myself accountable.

1. No dating. No nothing.
2. Post each and every day. 
3. Remain completely honest.

See, so simple!

The first rule is the most important. When I say no dating, I mean nothing. No texting with boys who aren’t friends, no drunk make outs, and obviously no sex or relationships. To say “no relationships” or “no dating” but to still allow physical stuff would create too much of a slippery slope. Plus, the whole point is to focus on myself, and that is better done when I am not seeking any form of gratification from the other sex.

Rules 2 & 3 are all in support of the first rule. This is going to be a struggle and if I’m not reminded each and every day of this resolution, I know I will fail. I may have poor will-power, but at least I am self aware! And if I am not honest, then really what is the point? I hope to learn from this experience, and if I don’t disclose the real truth, then I am only hurting myself. This also means that if I slip up, I disclose it, and move forward.

So what the #@!* do I write about?

This is going to be the fun(ish) part!

Obviously, I will write about struggles that I have being single, but I can’t so that everyday. So what I write about will mostly be an evolution of the events over the course of the year, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have some ideas in store…

I may have mentioned that I have dated… a lot… and I think part of realizing how and why I have ended up here requires reflecting on those relationships. My relationships have molded me in ways that I am still figuring out, and I want to use this platform to work some of that out… so, I will be reflecting on the numerous (more or less) loves of my life.

Less dramatic, I am also focusing on myself, and that means setting other goals for myself. The first goal I have is to run a half marathon in 2017, mostly because I have historically HATED running, and I want to be proud of myself when I cross that finish line. I plan on setting other goals for myself throughout the year, and I am going to write about those here.

Mostly, though, I am just going to figure this thing as I go along… cheers to 2017!