A new year means new resolutions! Although I didn’t expect it to take quite this long to figure them out :D
Following in the footsteps of previous years, I’m doing another set of half-year resolutions. Call it fear of commitment, or just knowing myself, but having a shorter period to work with works well to motivate me. And why change what works?
1. Buy a True Beadz bead
Every year, I seem to use one of my resolutions to push myself to get something off of my “one day” wish list. The items on there are usually things that I like, but don’t have a specific theme for. Or, as is the case with new brands, items end up on there because I don’t quite know where to start.
After successfully branching out into Thomas Sabo last year, I decided that I would use one of my resolutions this year to push me into exploring the True Beadz line. Honestly, I’ve been thinking about getting some for quite a while, but just couldn’t make up my mind which colour or texture to get! So, while on the surface this seems like an easy one, it will still require quite a bit of thinking. Right now, I’m leaning towards one of the Pumpkin beads or maybe one of the Stormy Heavens beads, but since I’ve already change my mind multiple times, I’m sure I’ll change it once or twice more before I finally make a purchase.
2. Keep my lists in check
Speaking of my “one day” wishlist … this might seem like a bit of a strange resolution, but I think it will help me focus on what I really want.
I use Amazon to organize and prioritize my wishlists and have beads split over four lists:
- My family list (assorted items). This is my only public list, kept for my family, who like having suggestions for gift-giving celebrations. I tend to only put beads on here that I’m ok waiting for since my husband also uses it and he buys things months in advance! So the number of beads on it is actually quite low.
- My thinking about list (bead-specific). This is where I track and prioritize the beads that are highest on my list so that I can plan my purchases. I reprioritize this one frequently! This is also where I first start tracking beads that catch my eye until I figure out how badly I want them, so I move things to and from this list frequently.
- My one day list (bead-specific). These are the lower-priority beads that, as I said, I either don’t have specific themes in mind for, are new brands, or are beads that are more expensive and take a bit more thought. I still prioritize it because it tends to be pretty long.
- My probably not list (bead-heavy). Beads go here to die. Not really, but this is usually the last step before I decide that I really don’t want them. Occasionally beads move from here back to the one day list, but it’s usually a one-way street for them to get here.
Currently, there’s four beads on my family list, which isn’t so bad. But, there’s 20 on my thinking about list, 39 on my one day list, and 15 on my probably not list. If you add that up, that’s a whole lotta beads (78!). And I did a huge cull recently, so that’s a reduction over what it was about a month ago.
Although it seemed like a good idea to keep track of the beads this way, I’m beginning to find it a bit distracting. Because it will never remain stable. It’s not just a matter of checking beads off the list as I buy them, because new beads are always being released; the lists always grow faster than I can knock beads off of them. I’ve tried getting rid of a list, and that just makes for longer lists. So, my resolution is to be more selective about what stays on the lists. I don’t have a specific number in mind, I just know that I need to bring those numbers down – particularly the one day list. Which means I’ll need to be more honest with myself about what I really want to buy and what I should forget about.
I was tempted to add a goal of keeping my bead box tidy, because it does frequently get quite messy, but it felt too much like something a mother would say and I don’t need to mother myself! :D
It feels really short to only have two resolutions for the first half of the year, but I’ve been struggling a bit to keep up with things for the past few months, so I don’t want to commit to more than I can reasonably handle. These resolutions are meant to encourage me, not discourage me! Also, I think that the second resolution will develop over a matter of months, so while the initial purge might be quick, it’s actually going to take quite a bit of my time to develop a strategy for keeping the lists reasonable.
Did you make any resolutions this year or do you plan to? Do you have a favourite True Beadz bead that you would recommend? :D
You are so disciplined with your lists and this is a great idea! I must say as a relatively new collector I seem to have zero discipline lately, which needs to change. My resolution was (of course) to FINALLY lose weight-which after three babies in four years has been no easy task ?. As for the lovely true beads, I adore the Once Upon a Time silver from The Russian Lullaby collection as well as the entire “linen” color collection and true touch marmor glass beads. Linen looks more grayish/blue in person and tends to go with everything. Love your blog and Happy New Year ??
I think that I really got into the lists when when I decided to try reserving part of my monthly budget for spontaneous beads (which I have been quite bad at doing lately!) so I really needed to think about the part of the budget that I was reserving for planned purchases. And then they evolved and grew from there. But it would take me years to buy 78 beads, so there’s really no point in having that many on my lists. I did the first purge last night and they are still far longer than they really need to be, but it’s a start :)
I’m still trying to drop the last of the weight that I gained with my youngest and she’s five :D Although quite a bit of it is weight that I had lost but then regained when I injured my back last year and had to severely cut back on everything for months. Good luck in your resolution!
I had forgotten about the linen beads! They are quite gorgeous and would probably fit in nicely with what I have. I was also a bit tempted by the small far far away silver from them. See, my list is already growing again! :D
I am always amazed at your organisation of bead lists and priorities!
I lose track of some of mine as I’m not half as organised with this side of things. I used to keep track of purchases vs blogged purchases, and when I was super buying those lists got quite scary as I never caught up with myself even when I was blogging 7 times a month!!
I think you’re wise to realise that it may take several months to hone this one, maybe more to get into the habit of being more selective, especially the more brands you include ;)
I like the design of True Beadz, I’ve not got any so can’t advise you on any must haves, but will be interested to see what you decide to go with on your first buys. I’m still avoiding branded cores, but I do like some of the recent silvers in particular.
Mars xx
Ah, see I have no idea of what I’ve blogged and haven’t blogged :D
Yes, I did think about the fact that the two resolutions run somewhat counter to each other! :D But, I realized last night that the lists aren’t really complete anyway, in the sense that I will still buy a beautiful bead if I see it in person and it speaks to me, even if it isn’t on a list. For example, the Trollbeads Sea Urchin never really appealed to me, then one day I saw one that I unexpectedly really liked. So it wasn’t on a list and never would have been, but that didn’t stop me from buying it. On the flipside, I was tracking khaki stripe on my “one day” list because I’ve seen a few beautiful examples of it. But most don’t necessarily catch my eye. I realized that I don’t really need to track it on a list if the only way that I’ll buy it is if it’s a specific, less common variation. So, if I stick to keeping the lists for beads that I really like all examples of and accept that I’ll buy beautiful beads that catch my eye anyway, then more brands should have a small impact :) *crossesfingers*