A yearly goals list

A yearly goals list

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

I've never found New Year's resolutions to be very motivating, and therefore, effective. They're far too broad, and more often than not, they don't really have much thought put into them which results in the lack of an action plan. So, I don't make resolutions. I make a list of achievable, both long term and short term goals of varying levels of difficulty to try to complete over the year. It's not really a bucket list - sure, some of the entries on there might be bucket list-worthy, but the term 'bucket list' implies a list of great and exciting adventures to be had, whereas my little list of fifty items can include anything from 'read X many books' to 'visit three new cities/countries'.

2016 marks my third year of doing things this way, and I definitely think it has had a positive effect thus far. This makes goals more achievable for me because they are better thought out and, therefore, are much easier to tackle. That isn't to say that I achieve all fifty every year - in fact far from it. I usually tick off just over half of my 'resolutions', which is something that I am completely fine with. I usually get my fifty goals written within the first month or two of a new year, so by the time I reach December, some of my ideas have changed. For example, last year I didn't end off completely 'watch all 6 Star Wars films' because, in all honesty, I couldn't be bothered and didn't want to waste time doing something that I wasn't that into. 

Other goals proved to be unreachable given the circumstances - whilst ordinarily I'd like to think that I could read 25 books of choice in a year, last year was my final year of university, so for the first 6 months, I hardly touched a book that wasn't related to my course. That immediately shortened the amount of time I had to complete said goal, and that (and the fact that I decided to delve into a series of books last year that are known for their length!) meant that I only came out of 2015 having read twelve of my twenty-five. This year I've lowered my goal to fifteen, in hopes that I will not only reach my goal but hopefully smash it! 

The last 'group' of goals that went untouched were simply those that I didn't get around to, and hey, that happens. Many, like 'donate blood' or 'try hot yoga' have simply been added to this year's list, or a few like 'reach a body weight that I'm happy with' have been reworked into something like 'try to make the healthier choice when available', which I think is much more attainable. 

So, that is how I like to do things, and I think that it's a great system for me. It's a nice way to be able to track, and then reflect on your year, which can often make you realise that you're a lot more productive than you may be aware of. What's more, it's great to look at when you're bored or out of ideas as to what to do as it can give you inspiration, as well as provide a set of smaller goals to actively work on. 

I guess the only thing left to do now is to provide you with a little insight into my 2016 list - not only so you can see what I'm up to, but also give you a few ideas to add to your own lists!

- Practise your Spanish, Russian and French on Duolingo (every day if possible!)

- Master a new hairstyle (last year I learnt how to do a fishtail braid)

- Update my travel blog and keep it updated!!

- Up my blog Instagram and Twitter game 

- Finish the A Song of Ice and Fire book series (those released anyway!)

- Complete an online course

- Make it to a blogger event

- Visit 5 new areas in London.

So there you go! Do you guys make resolutions, or something more similar to my list?

I x