Marilyn Monroe's 1955 New Year's Resolutions Were Hardcore

It’s New Year’s Day and, if you’re anything like me, you were supposed to go to the gym and start eating healthier. If, instead, you ate fifteen pancakes and are now watching TV, never fear — even the famous had flaws they wished to fix. Marilyn Monroe’s resolutions? “Turn her life around.”

Lists of Note unearthed (I imagine someone actually dug it up) Monroe’s list of resolutions and while the original list is nearly unreadable, they’ve provided a handy transcript of everything that was supposed to go right for Marilyn in 1955, the year she wanted to go to university and take her acting very, very seriously. It was also the year she was accepted into Lee Strasberg’s Actor’s Studio (although she couldn’t spell his name).

Here are the things she planned to do:

Transcript

Must make effort to do

Must have the dicipline to do the following –

z – go to class – my own always – without fail

x – go as often as possible to observe Strassberg’s other private classes

g – never miss actor’s studio sessions

v – work whenever possible – on class assignments – and always keep working on the acting exercises

u – start attending Clurman lectures – also Lee Strassberg’s directors lectures at theater wing – enquire about both

l – keep looking around me – only much more so – observing – but not only myself but others and everything – take things (it) for what they (it’s) are worth

y – must make strong effort to work on current problems and phobias that out of my past has arisen – making much much much more more more more more effort in my analisis. And be there always on time – no excuses for being ever late.

w – if possible – take at least one class at university – in literature –

o – follow RCA thing through.

p – try to find someone to take dancing from – body work (creative)

t – take care of my instrument – personally & bodily (exercise)

try to enjoy myself when I can – I’ll be miserable enough as it is.

If you feel like you need some inspiration why not take a page from Marilyn’s “1955 will be the best year ever” book. Perhaps you should also follow that RCA thing through? Come on, you’ll be great! What about the dancing?