Goals for 2023

2022, goals

Hello!

It’s that time of year again and honestly, I’m not as excited for setting my 2023 goals as I usually would be – looking back on my goals for last year is actually pretty depressing, with 2 of my professional goals being flat out fails and the third being maybe 75% successful (and it was only to update my portfolio instagram account once a week so it wasn’t a tricky one anyway).

My personal goals were another mixed batch – I managed all but 10 days of Duolingo (so 355 days in total!) so I’d call that a 97.2% success rate (yes I did the maths), I changed my mind about wanting to make cosplay costumes so that was a fail and blogging once a week I managed 41 posts (42 including this one!) so an 80.7% success rate on that one.

Do percentages make me sound more like I know what I’m doing?

My ‘home’ goals were much more successful – I finished planning my wedding and got married! I also did a weekly savings challenge where I managed to save £1379 over the year despite losing my job – I’m so proud of myself and very, very grateful for the support network I have around me that made it possible. We didn’t manage a summer holiday, but it was all in favour of saving for the wedding which I think was completely worth it.

Of my 10 other random goals, I have hit my reading goal, I only bought a few books so my book buying ban went pretty well, I went to a museum, I went to a concert (with my mum to of one of her favourite bands, which in turn led me to include one of their songs in our wedding which meant a lot to both of us), I went to a new place on our mini-moon, I updated my wardrobe seasonally, I did pretty appallingly on my four warm-up writing challenges but then managed to write 50k for NaNoWriMo in November, we managed monthly date nights every month but one, I barely did any crafting in the first three quarters of the year then did basically nothing but crafting in the last quarter and I have not missed a single day of my 1 Second Everyday video (I’ll share that on January 1st!).

So all in all, a very mixed bag – but thinking about it now, I definitely prioritised the things that mean the most to me and I have used what wasn’t so successful in this year’s goals to plan my 2023 ones.

A brief explanation of how I plan my goals – I have three goals in each category of Professional, Personal and Home (and five years on from my first yearly goals, I’m still figuring out what those things mean!) and then I have 10 ‘aims’ (I used to call them bucket list goals but that felt a bit morbid).

To try and prevent this blog post from being longer than my dissertation, here’s what I will be working on in 2023:

P R O F E S S I O N A L :

I got myself a new iPad this year (it turns out my old one doesn’t work as well after 10 years) and I want to learn to use ProCreate – I’ve had an itch to practice drawing for a while and I think digital art will really suit me and go well with my other crafty hobbies. I’ve found a few YouTube videos and I’m tempted to try a SkillShare course if I need more guidance. I’m sure I’ll have an art Instagram in no time!
I want to take a website design course – having been blogging for approximately nine years (😱) I should really know how to make my blog look prettier, but I have no idea. I’m thinking of starting a separate creative writing blog to go alongside this one and that might be a good project for me to learn with.
A repeat from last year – I want to update my portfolio instagram once a week. What I want to start including more of is stuff from my personal life (reading, crafting, life events etc) to show more of my soft skills and what I can bring to a working environment.

P E R S O N A L :

Blog every week – I managed 42 this year, I want to get to the full 52. I need to start planning further in advance, writing earlier in the week – I don’t have to write a post the day before/the day of posting! I can get ahead! So achieving this one is going to be more about time management than anything else.
Creative Writing – rather than doing intense monthly challenges, I want to do 1000 words a week. This much slower pace might help me maintain feeling creative over a whole year, rather than in highs and lows. I will probably still want to at least try to win NaNoWriMo again though, because I know what I’m like.
Read 42 books – I’ve moved my reading goal into a different category this year, mostly before I think it makes more sense here. For the past three years, I’ve set my goal in increments of 12 so I can easily tell how many books I’m meant to read a month – but I only just made it past my goal of 36, so reaching for the next step of 48 felt too much. So going halfway in between feels like a good step for me and I’m really happy with it.

H O M E :

I’d like to go on two holidays this year – this sounds so bougie of me, I know, but we’ve just booked our honeymoon to go to Greece in May and I’d love to do another break around September, whether it’s a UK break or exploring more of the world, I think we’ll be able to do it.
Savings – now the wedding is done (though still being paid for lol), I need to up my game with my savings. Although I’m still currently unemployed, I want to be far more regimented with my finances this year because I got too lazy too many times in 2022.
And another return goal – I want to continue my Seasonal Wardrobe updates – in switching my clothes around regularly, it forces me to think about what I actually wear and what I’m consistently avoiding. I donated five carrier bags of clothes just before Christmas and I’m hoping that by this time next year, my wardrobe will be a bit less stuffed and have a few more investment pieces.

1 0 A I M S :

Some quick fire ones to end with!

See a musical I haven’t seen before (I’m seeing Once in March!)
Take Lucas to see Les Miserables (my all-time favourite musical)
Go to a ballet
Go to a play
Go to a new place (already booked – bring on Greece!)
Go to a museum
Learn a new piece on the piano
Duolingo every day
Monthly Roberts’ Book Club with Lucas and the books we received as our wedding gifts
1 Second Everyday 2023!

And that’s it! I think these are really achievable goals and I think they’re setting me up to have a much better 2023!

This year has felt so mixed – it’s been the most turbulent of my life and arguably one of the worst, but it is the year I got married so I feel like I should be nicer about it.

One thing that is wholeheartedly true, is that it is now behind us!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas if you celebrate, a lovely Sunday if you didn’t and hoping you have a Happy New Year! All the best for 2023!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

October Goals

2022, goals

Hiya,

Well, September didn’t go to plan, at all. At first I thought I was putting off blogging because I was busy and tired, then I realised I was also burnt out, then the country went into National Mourning as the Queen died and my partner had to go into London and miss my birthday to be part of the team broadcasting the events around the funeral, then everything changed at work and I found it incredibly overwhelming, but just as I was getting to grips with it I got wiped out with a cold and had to take time off work, then when I forced myself to work from home on the last day of the week to try and catch up ahead of the following week, and I got fired.

I’m really trying not to follow up ‘I got fired’ with some sort of justification that doesn’t make me sound like the problem, because good people don’t get fired right? But I’ll be battling that one for a while I think.

So I haven’t blogged for a while. My September Goals didn’t really go to plan, I wasn’t expecting to set the October Goals I have but this is where I am. Let’s just get right to it.

update CV, cover letter and apply for some jobs

It’s all out of date so needs a revamp, more urgently than anticipated.

set up film camera and start taking photos again!

I need to start making time for hobbies that are offline – off my phone or my laptop or my Xbox. I love photography, I’m not very good at it but I can only get better by practising and there’s something beautiful about only having one chance to take a photo.

finish planning the wedding!

This is the last full calendar month before I get married. In just a few weeks I will be a wife. That’s still a very surreal thought. I’m so excited to marry my best friend but I am so excited to not be planning this day anymore.

writing challenge – 30,000 words

I was literally just thinking about how I was going to post-pone this goal to after the wedding because there was no way I was going to be able to do a full time job and plan a wedding, but then I didn’t have a full time job anymore so might as well throw myself into a writing challenge right?

I don’t have a specific project in mind for this challenge, it’s very much going to be writing whatever I feel like as a form of therapy. And I think that’s okay.

monthly goals

– Read 3 books (I haven’t finished a book in two months now, burnout is hitting me hard)
– Date night (we haven’t had a chance to do what my partner planned for my birthday since he got back from the funeral so at least we’ll have a lot more time now)
– Craft project (I have lots to do for the wedding, maybe this will be the first month this year I finish a project)

And that’s it! Normally I have a lot more rambling to do in these posts but as of writing I’m only four days post getting fired so I’m not on top form. But I’ll be making self-deprecating jokes about not having a job for the foreseeable.

For life moments beyond my control is part of the reason I have these goals – as a probably-autistic person, I struggle without routine and I’m not good at sudden change (particularly when it’s not my choice), so at least I have a few things to focus on here.

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

September Goals 2022

2022, goals

Hello!

I love September.

Is it the childish part of me that loves the month my birthday is in? Probably. Is it the nerdy part of me that always looked forward to going back to school? Probably. Is it the maybe-autistic part of me that craved routine and structure that school and education gave me so this time of year will forever be associated with new pencil cases, a new timetable and a new start? Almost certainly.

But a culmination of all of that means that I love this time of year – it’s cooling off, my jackets and cardigans start to get some use again and we’re creeping towards Doc Martin season, I love it.

This year, things are very different – I’m two months away from getting married and starting to feel the wedding planning stress that everyone talks about, for the first time probably ever I haven’t been counting down the days till my birthday and it’s snuck up on me and my mental health is pretty shaky right now. I’m in the process of changing over to a new medication and honestly, I’m kind of terrified of how it will effect me with so much other stuff going on, but I have the support of my wonderful family and friends and some surprisingly nice doctors so I’m letting myself trust them (because if I trust my gut, then my gut is full of anxiety and it’s not very reliable).

My August goals were very mixed – I only achieved one goal fully and that was to choreograph a tiktok which I did in approximately thirty minutes. The rest were kind of half finished and in progress with fitness goals, wedding prep and a writing challenge that I absolutely wasn’t prepared for.

I didn’t even finish my reading goal! It’s been a long, stressful month.

But a new month is a fresh start, I have new goals and I’m working on being more forgiving with myself. The key part being ‘working on’.

M Y S E P T E M B E R G O A L S

Start a new morning routine
I’ve been using this weight loss programme called noom (which was a massive waste of money, but that’s for another time) and one of the psychological tricks it’s taught me is ‘habit bundling’, which is taking a habit you already have a training yourself to associate another one with it.

So I want to make time for stretching more (because although I’m not a dancer in any way, shape or form, I still want to work on my flexibility for my ballet classes) and actually doing some body skincare and moisturising my skin every day, so I’m bundling those with brushing my teeth and taking 20 minutes in the morning to do something that’s for me and off a screen! As I’m writing this it’s September 2nd and I’m 2 for 2, so a strong start!

Wardrobe update
I had a go at the 333 challenge last year some time (33 items of clothing in 3 month rotations) and 33 items just isn’t achievable, I don’t think, but I really loved having a seasonal wardrobe and I’ve found it’s been great for making me wear more of what I already have and feeling like I get a ‘new’ set of clothes every few months.

Hopefully we’ve seen the last of these horrible heatwaves, so I’m going to be going through my most summery items, donating the ones I haven’t reached for, packing away the pieces I’ve loved and getting out the warm cosies!

Research ‘producer’ role and find out more about working in TV/Film
Do I see myself working in TV or film in the future? Realistically, no, but that is where the hierarchy of job roles within video media was forged so I want to learn more about it. The thing with working for a start-up is that I’ve been given the role of ‘Media Production Executive’ and the founding member of the media team, but I think having more of a TV like structure could be beneficial for us and I want to figure out more about what the role entails and what I could go on to next in my career, as right now I’m pretty clueless.

Wedding tasks
My wedding is approximately two months away and wow the stress is hitting me really hard at the moment. Here’s the list of things I need to sort this month:

confirm bridesmaid’s dresses
confirm plans with venders and suppliers
go for a dress fitting and schedule alterations
buy guest favours
write ‘personalised promises’ (non-religious vows)
book manicure/pedicure

Alongside appointments for a make-up trial, a florist check in, a fashion show with my bridesmaids trying on options, getting our matching wedding converse embroidered (I know), getting our guest book, sorting my partners shirt, shoes and ties, booking the ushers suits, sorting their shirt, shoes and ties, having a trial manicure, a hair trial, meeting with the coordinator at the venue (twice) and lots of crafting bits and bobs for centre pieces, order of the day signs and a photo board!

I think this explains why I’m stressed.

And my monthly goals that I aim for every month are to read three books, have a date night and do a craft project (which I’ve not successfully completed once this year, but I can dream!).

It’s getting manic and I’m very much looking forward to our mini-moon in Dorset by the sea in November, but for now I’m riding the wave!

And still trying to get used to the concept of calling my silly boy my ‘husband’ and having a different surname!

Lots of big things happening, but it’s exciting too and I’m trying to savour it all.

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

August Goals 2022

2022, fitness, goals

Hello!

Is there anything more satisfying than a new month starting on a Monday?

Almost certainly, but it definitely made me happy, that’s for sure!

Last months goals were a bit hit and miss, but it felt productive so even though I didn’t hit all my goals, I definitely made significant progress and that’s what matters in the long run!

This month is a really busy one, with lots of trips to sort wedding stuff, see family and friends, meals out etc, balanced with my dance classes being off for the summer so I thought now would be a good time to try a few sessions with a personal trainer, work is getting busier, and my mental health isn’t at it’s best at the moment… it’s all a bit manic, but thinking ahead and long term is definitely only making it worse so I’m trying to take each day as it comes and listen to my body more to try and stay in tune with what will serve me best. I’m not very good at it but the only way to get better is to practice.

My goals for this month either completely reflect how busy I’m going to be, or pile on even more with no in between, so let’s just get into it.

Choreograph a dance
I know this sounds totally ridiculous and random, but ever time I listen to the song ‘Fresh’ by Artist Vs Poet I want to dance to it, so I thought it would be fun while I don’t have classes this month to choreograph something to the chorus and put it on somewhere like TikTok. Am I a brilliant dancer? Absolutely not. Am I a brilliant choreographer? No, I find it really difficult. But I love dancing and I love the song so I’m going to spend an afternoon letting the dance I feel every time I listen to the song come out!

Fitness Goals
This one is multifaceted!

Have a session with a PT
Work on strength for pointe work
And stretch to try and get my splits again

Shock horror, two of them are dance related. For someone who was discouraged from applying for dance school when I was a teenager, I bang on about it a lot.

The personal trainer is to kind of compensate for not having dance classes, plus I’ve had my gym membership with work for five months and whilst I’m much more confident about going and have made it part of my routine, I have no idea what I’m doing. I had a consultation with a PT the other day who really reiterated how she likes to teach about what muscles each exercise works and why it’s beneficial and I’m really excited for my first session next week.

The pointe work thing – I’m buying my first pair of pointe shoes in eight years this month and I want to try going on pointe again, but I know I need to work on my balance, my calf strength and my stamina first, so these are some of my gym goals for the month.

And the splits… Now that I’ve been back dancing multiple times a week for a year, I’ve definitely noticed an improvement in my flexibility but I’ve never consistently had my splits, so now’s the time to work on it!

Wedding Goals
Another multifaceted one!

Shop for bridal gifts
Determine final ceremony and reception plans
Buy guest book (or equivalent)

The bridal gifts I have in hand – my bridesmaids are all under 12, so I’ve got them little personalised make up bags, a personalised compact mirror and I want to get them a nice lip gloss (or something make-up-y!) and some jewellery to go with their dresses (which I haven’t got yet because they are small and there’s a risk they might grow!). I’m on track with this so this will be a nice easy one.

Can you tell the other two points have come straight from a ‘step by step guide to plan your wedding’ list?! But both are also in hand!

Also this month I’m hoping my dress will come in (eeeee!), I’ve got a trial for an application tan to make me look ever so slightly less transparent, we’ve got our appointment with the council to ‘give notice’, I need to research the bridesmaids dresses, then next month I have a make-up trial, a flower consultation, a nail trial, a hair consultation and probably a bunch of other stuff to do! It’s busy, but exciting (though I am also looking forward to not having to plan anymore).

40,000 word writing challenge
I meant what I said about making my life difficult for myself.

I’ve mentioned it time and time again (sorry) but I love creative writing, but I’m really bad at making time for it, so doing these challenges gives me the chance to actually do some writing and ensures I make time to do it!

I’ve picked a few word prompts to inspire me for a few short stories and I’ve already written about 3000 words of one that I’m really enjoying so although finding the time to write can be challenging, I am enjoying it.

Every Month Goals

Read three books
Save money (done on payday, go me!)
Date night!
Craft project

And that’s it!

‘That’s it’ – like it’s not about 10 goals pretending to be 5.

But time management and lists have always been my thing and the best I can do is try, so here’s to trying!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

July Goals 2022

2022, goals

Hello!

June has been a really good month – my goals were really sensible and achievable and by being able to actually achieve some of them, made me feel really motivated to carry on working for the rest! Having a week off with my partner in the last week of the month has meant I feel pretty good going into July – I’ve just watched Season 4 Volume 2 of Stranger Things (oh my god), I’ve been to a new gym in my area and I’ve had a super productive week with wedding prep so I’m ready to go into July. I was going to say ‘with a spring in my step’ but I think I’d need about a month to catch up on sleep for that.

Here are my goals for this month:

Career Analysis
I’m having a mild crisis with what I do – I’ve been randomly thinking about completely retraining and changing my industry, then I get a wave of passion for what I do and who I work with and then my ongoing identity crisis hits and I have no idea what I want, what I can do and if I’m even any good at anything.

So this month I’m going to carve out some time to do some quizzes online (because I love a quiz and absolutely put way too much faith in them), make some colour coded spider diagrams and evaluate my key skills, what’s important to me in terms of work logistics (hours, location etc) and maybe talk to some friends and family about options.

Doing a masters I didn’t love and starting my career in a pandemic has made things feel very jumbled up and I want to try and figure it out; unjumble it in my mind, then I can make progress with my actual career.

Sort my photos
I love timehop and use it every single day to look back on what I’ve shared on past year’s on social media, but more and more recently it’s old screenshots, a hundred takes to get one good photo and random crap from group chats on WhatsApp (though, the family group chat has the pictures of all my cousin’s kids and they’re wonderful, I love them). But there’s thousands of photos there and it needs a good sort out!

I used to order 50 prints a month on SnapFish and put them in a scrapbook and on our photo wall but I haven’t done it in well over a year and the photos are getting out of date! Even if I spend just ten minutes a day going back and deleting unnecessary photos and deciding which ones I want to order, I’ll probably be done in a week!

Wedding
I was feeling so overwhelmed with all things wedding, especially having attended one this month, but with my week off I’ve done some research, made lots of lists and actually feel much better about the whole thing!

For this month, I’m going to finish planning our wedding cake with my mum (who is kindly baking it for us), finding and booking a make-up artist, consulting with my florist especially regarding hair pieces, and researching bridesmaid’s dresses to start ordering them for trying on in September.

Make fun videos on TikTok
Have I said before that making creative things into goals absolutely kills the creativity? Yes, but honestly I’m making really good progress on my annual goals and I had a gap so I thought I’d fill it with something fun.

I made a big fuss about trying to make structured TikToks and only making videos for a certain niche, then I thought fuck it and just had fun – I’ve posted some book stuff, some silly sounds and even a dance and I wanted more of that spontaneity!

Is it spontaneous if I make it a goal? Not particularly, but we’ll gloss over that bit!

Recurring Monthly Goals
Read 3 books
Save money (tick – always do it on pay day or I know it won’t happen!)
Date night with my soon-to-be husband
Do a craft project

One thing I think I’ve definitely made progress in this month is taking things at my own pace – for so long, I felt like if I wasn’t getting up at the crack of dawn and doing something ‘productive’ immediately, then I was a failure and it would feel impossible to get anything done for the rest of the day. But whenever I’ve had a day at home recently, I’ve let myself stay in bed for as long as I want, and slowly made my way through my to do list and it’s been wonderful to take a slower approach and potter through my to do list and realise by about 5pm I’ve done everything and I feel significantly less tense!

I’m working on putting this practice into other aspects of my life, but I’m pretty sure buzz words for every company ever are ‘must thrive in a fast-paced environment’ so not sure how well that’s going to go!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

2022 Goals – Mid Year Review

2022, goals

Hello!

June always feels like a really significant month for me – I will forever think of it as my nanny’s birthday month, but in June 2019 I shaved my head for charity and bought my car which were really important moments in my life.

But it’s also the end of the month also marks the half way point of the year, which always feels like the perfect time to review my yearly goals, evaluate my progress and adapt the ones that don’t feel relevant to me anymore.

To read my 2022 Goals in full click here!

To briefly summarise, I plan my goals in two different ways – the first way is in three categories, each with three goals and the second is a more ‘bucket list’ style where they don’t necessarily fit in a category but still 10 things I’d like to accomplish in the year.

First the categories…

Professional: Goals

– Stay in the same job (if that’s what’s right for me)

It feels somewhat baffling that I’ve already been in what feels like my ‘new’ job for coming up to 9 months now, but so far I’ve kept my job and I don’t really have any plans to look for anything new anytime soon, unless something comes up which feels right in which case I won’t ignore that for the sake of a goal.

– Learn how to use AfterEffects

I scrapped this goal as my role in my company has moved away from editing and more into writing and admin and learning this software (which, frankly, is very overwhelming to me) won’t serve my current role or my long term career if I continue in this sort of role.

So I picked a new professional goal which is to research media production related careers and figure out what kind of path I’d like to follow and set out some long term career goals. In reading job descriptions at other companies as part of my role, I’ve realised that I don’t suit marketing – I’m not up to date on the ‘hottest trends’ and realistically I have no interest in it; I’m not a Love Island, celebrity gossip, viral tiktok dance sort of girl – I’m a need-to-know-the-latest-about-Marvel, 2000s music listening, booktok girl and that’s a-okay.

– Update my portfolio instagram account once a week

This one has been going really well! I’ve only missed a couple and that’s only because I’ve not done anything worth sharing that week – some week’s we’re trying new things with green screens, I’m writing scripts and maybe even presenting, some week’s it’s more of the same and that’s totally normal. I’m really pleased with my consistency on this one.

Personal Goals:

– Duolingo

I started the French course on Duolingo in January and I think in total I’ve only missed four or five days! Now that I’m nearly six months in, I’m really starting to see my progress – especially when my fiancé went to work in France for a few days and I surprised myself with how much of the language I could communicate when I was taking the mick out of him for not speaking French.

– Cosplay

This is another goal that I have scrapped as I just don’t have the time to dedicate to learning how to make my own cosplays at the moment and the time I do have I have other projects that are more pressing (i.e. planning my wedding).

Initially I adapted this goal into exploring making content on tiktok, whether it’s in the cosplay/fandom sphere or just silly dances and sounds, but honestly turning that into a goal has made it way less fun and I don’t want it to feel like a chore. I’ll figure out something along these lines that I want to work on, but at the moment it’s on hiatus.

– Blog once a week

This is another one that I think I’ve only missed a few and then it’s been because I don’t have an idea and I don’t have the time or energy to force myself into writing something I don’t think is any good and saving myself the stress of making something happen for the sake of being able to tick it in my bullet journal is so freeing. I’m constantly learning how to be more flexible with myself and not deeming myself a failure if I miss one tiny thing, but it’s a work in progress and I honestly feel like there is progress!

I need to figure out what kind of content I want to write, because at the moment it’s just monthly goals and monthly reading wrap ups but I’m sure inspiration will come – it always does in the end!

Home Goals:

– The Wedding!

Planning everything into monthly goals last year has been an absolutely life saver honestly, though I always feel like I’m behind or forgetting something! It’s going well though – my fiancé has his suit, my dress has been ordered, we’re in the process of sorting my bridesmaids dresses and the groomsmen’s suits. I have a hair consultation, silk flowers on order, still need to find a make-up artist etc and the saving is intense but it’s all coming together and feeling much more real now!

– Weekly saving challenge

Now this one I definitely haven’t missed a week! The principle of this challenge is putting money into savings every week going up by £1 – as I’m writing this I’m at the end of week 24 and so far, I’ve been on top of my budgeting to make sure I have enough money (bar some tax stuff with my income tax code at work, but that’s another issue).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m nervous for getting to the end of the year when it gets to £40-£50 a week, but the whole point of the challenge is to learn as you go and by the end of the year you’re prepared for the bigger numbers.

– A summer holiday in the sun to read

So, we can’t afford to go abroad, absolutely no way with the wedding. But my fiancé and I have booked the last week of June off work and we’re going to go see some local places, hopefully the weather will hold and I’m sure I can bring my book!

We have booked our mini-moon which I’m really excited about – a cottage in Dorset by the sea – and next year we’re planning to go to MCM Comic Con in London and maybe we can think about a week in the Mediterranean but we’ll play it by ear.

And last but not least: 10 Bucket List Goals:

Read 36 books – 19 and counting babyyyyy
Year long book buying ban – my partner has bought two books that we will both read and I bought one as a fathers day gift for my dad, but nothing for myself!
Go to a museum – planned for our summer week off!
Go to a concert – keeping my eyes peeled
Go to a new place – our mini-moon is somewhere neither of us have been before!
Seasonal wardrobe updates – Spring and Summer have been a success so far and this is such an easy way to feel excited about clothes you already own four times a year. It’s made me so much more mindful when I’m shopping as well to consider what will go with what I already have and what I will actually wear.
Writing challenges – January and April were a total flop, but I’ve rejigged my plan for the latter half of the year so rather than July and September, I’m going to try August (no dance, more time in evenings) and October (September I have plans every weekend, it’ll be too much) going into NaNoWriMo in November and I’m feeling pretty positive that this will go well! I’ve been feeling the urge to write recently so I’m going to try and map out some plot points and characters that I can really get to know when the writing challenges come round.
Monthly date nights – so far only missed one! I’m honestly so happy in my relationship it’s actually disgusting.
Monthly craft projects – haven’t even finished one, but I think this is similar to the tiktoks in that it’s not fun when it feels like a chore, so working on thinking of a new approach for crafts!
1 Second Everyday video 2022 – filmed one second every day of the year so far!

And that’s it!

I feel so much more confident about goal setting and making sure I’m working towards things that actually serve me and not things I think I should be doing.

Things feel really good at the moment. It might be because it’s currently 29 degrees on a Friday which I now don’t work (4 day week club!), I stayed in bed till half 11 because I could, I’ve done some house chores at my own pace and I’m sat writing this in the garden shade with lofi hip hop radio on, but even if tomorrow is different, today is nice and I’m really working on focusing on the present, rather than worrying about the future.

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

June Goals 2022

2022, goals

Hello!

June feels like it couldn’t have come soon enough this year – I think we’re already for a bit more sunshine and less dreary weather but I always like the marker for the middle of the year; a chance to review my goals so far, check in and look ahead for the rest of the year.

I can’t wait to get my summer wardrobe out, start wearing my sandals and spend more time outside – reading in my sun lounger, barbecues with friends, summer sunsets and long walks with my fiancé to any kind of supermarket and calling it an ‘adventure’.

Here are my goals for this month:

Career research – my job has taken a change in direction recently and it’s made my think about taking my career in that direction so I want to make some time to do some research, figure out what skills I need and whether it’s a suitable option to explore. I find research really difficult, especially when I find a lot of career stuff is hard to research but I want to try and make a plan.

Summer wardrobe update – it’s the time of year to put away my long sleeved sweaters and my chunky cardigans in favour of my shorts, my cute dresses and tank tops. I know full well that this task will take me maybe a couple of hours tops, but that can feel really overwhelming so if I set it as a goal maybe I’ll actually get it done!

Wedding tasks – this month’s goals are to actually send out our invites, draft the seating plan and go shopping with my little bridesmaids for their outfits. With only 5 months to go, it’s all starting to feel very real! The thought of getting to wear my dress and see my boy in his fancy suit and celebrate with all our family and friends is exciting and scary in equal measure. We were practising our first dance in the kitchen and the thought of dancing in front of an audience hit me harder than I thought it would, but I’m so excited to marry my best friend.

Museum date day – speaking of my best friend, we are giant nerds and we really enjoy a day out at a museum, so as we have a week off together at the end of the month, we’re going to use one of those days to hop on a train into London and go to a museum for the day, maybe take a picnic or go for dinner. I’m thinking maybe the Victoria and Albert museum but I need to have a look at what’s going on.

And my monthly goals are to read 3 books, save money (tick!), date day (museum trip!) and do a craft project.

I’m allowing myself to be mildly optimistic at this stage, I’ve started planning more time off with no plans so I can actually work on things for me and I’m excited to slow the pace down a little bit.

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

Practicing the Work/Life Balance Thing | May Goals ’22

2022, goals, mental health

Hi there!

Another month means another set of goals to work towards.

April was a very mixed bag with my mini goals – I think I’m finding work very overwhelming at the moment and between that, bank holidays coming out my ears (I find not knowing which day of the week it is very confusing) and trying to main some semblance of a social life (badly) is burning me out and I’m only just managing to keep up with everything I have to do day to day, let alone something I want to achieve over the course of a month.

But I’ve reevaluated how I make my to do lists and I’m trying to reframe my mental attitude to not fill every moment with doing something – being ‘productive’ or pushing myself too far. It’s clearly a work in progress because I went to a drive through car wash and whilst my car was being cleaned, I did my daily Duolingo lessons so I could tick that off my list, but I am working on it!

So I took this approach when setting my monthly goals – I took the time to figure out what was actually achievable and what would help to benefit me in the long run. This is what I came up with:

Pick a new Professional Goal – one of my professional goals for the year was to learn a software called AfterEffects so I could include more animations and graphics in the videos I produce at work. But since then my role has adapted and now that we have more editors on the team, I don’t actually edit videos anymore (which absolutely suits me and my strengths, I want to clarify I am not complaining about this 😂). But as my role has adapted and this goal isn’t relevant, I want to decide on something else to aim towards by the end of the year that is relevant, beneficial to my career and achievable. Rather than just picking a new goal out of thin air, I set this goal so I can dedicate the time to research the skillset around the career path my job is now taking and figuring out what can help me learn and be better at it!

Wow, that was a bit long winded.

Make one piece of content a week for a new project – I’ve been meaning to try something new for a really long time and I know now that if I don’t set myself actual deadlines than I will not do the thing, so I’m aiming to make one piece of content for a new project I’m working on a week and I’m hoping it’ll inspire me to make more content more regularly going forward.

Wedding – rings and invites – My wedding is now less than six months away and I still can’t say the word ‘husband’ without feeling like I’m playing pretend. This month’s goals are to buy our wedding bands and send our invites – the invites have been ordered we just need to finalise the guest list and write them all. There’s also a couple of extra bits like getting in touch with a make-up artist, getting in contact with my florist and planning anything that I’m going to make for the day but those are just chugging along in the background.

Plan museum/concert/new place trips – Another instance of planning to plan a goal – on my ‘bucket list’ goals for this year is to go to a museum, go to a concert and go to a new place but it’s easy to say those things, but actually doing them is another thing entirely! At the end of last month we booked our mini-moon for after the wedding (we’re going to go on a proper honeymoon when it’s not November and the weather will be nicer) and it’s a place neither of us have been before, so that’s the planning for that one ticked off! The concert, I’ve not seen that any artists I’m particularly interested in are touring, but there’s still time! And I really want to go to the Victoria and Albert museum, so just need to plan a day that my partner and I are both free to take off and go to London for the day!

And my monthly goals are: read three books, save money (done), date night and do a craft project. I’ve nearly finished my first audiobook of the month so I do feel like I’m slowly creeping out of my reading slump!

I can’t believe we’re five months into the year and I absolutely can’t believe that I’m getting married in six months – how mad is that? Time is absolutely flying at the moment!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

April Goals ’22

2022, goals

Hello!

Yes, I’m still here! March ended up being ridiculously busy between a relatively big change to my role at work which took me longer to process than it should have, rehearsals for a dance show that let me pretend I was a teenager again (except I can drive myself to the theatre now!) and trying to get enough sleep at night, I didn’t have the time let alone the brain space to think about anything else!

But, a personal goal of mine is to let myself get better at rearranging my to do lists and not beating myself up if I don’t finish every single task so in a way, it was all good practice!

And to be honest, the only thing you missed out on was a March Reading Wrap Up post where I said that I only finished one book (the audiobook for ‘The Love Hypothesis’ by Ali Hazelwood which was 5/5) and having a little sad ramble about how my brain is too busy and sleepy to make time for reading at the moment.

So now it’s April, my dance show is over (and went pretty well I think!), I’m starting the month with a week off work to spend with my partner and I’m ready to feel refreshed and re-energised! Here are my goals for the month:

Sort out my portfolio website – I’ve been getting emails about it left right and centre about domains and WordPress things and I need to figure it all out. I want to evaluate if it really serves me to have a half finished website that I don’t know enough about to make it look pretty and I can’t afford to hire a proper designer. Whether it’s finishing it or deleting it, I’m going to figure it out and sort it this month!

Start Couch to 5k – it’ll be my third attempt to finish the program, but my partner and I are going to try and do it together and pairing that with now getting a gym membership through work, I’m actually kind of excited about exercising. Since starting dance again last September, I’ve enjoyed feeling like I’m pushing myself and getting better at something and I think running will be really good for me.

Wedding tasks – bridesmaid’s dresses, hair and make-up, ushers suits – this month marks only 7 months to the wedding and with my wedding dress ordered (eeeee!) it all feels more real and I’ve really got to get a move on! I have a hair consultation booked with the spa at the venue but getting the outfits sorted for the rest of the wedding party is the main priority now (or at least, starting the process!).

Writing challenge – what did I just say about being adaptable and not overwhelming myself with tasks? Ha, why not set a challenge to write 45,000 words in a month and not start until day 4, sounds like a fantastic idea. But, the writing is more important to me than the word goal – the way I spend my free time has totally changed since I was a teenager and I don’t spend every waking minute writing anymore, I have to set myself goals or I don’t do it. And when I do set the goals I always realise how much I still love it.

Monthly goals:
– Read 3 books
– Weekly savings challenge
– Date night (actually already done, as soon as he got his first negative covid test and we could stop social distancing in our own house!)
– Craft project – Use my cricut

My craft project goals this year have absolutely fallen on the back burner and been the first thing to go when I’m busy, but starting the month with a week off, I want to make time to figure out how I can use it to do some crafts for the wedding – I’m really excited about it.

I absolutely need to work on setting myself less overwhelming goals – like starting a new workout plan, craft projects and writing challenges all in one month is a bit much, but it’s as much about prioritising what I really enjoy and learning about personal time management as it is about ticking off goals. It might not make sense, but I at least like to tell myself I vaguely know what I’m doing!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

March Goals ’22

2022, goals

Hello!

Another month has flown past and it’s time for some new goals for me to work towards.

Last month’s goals actually went really well and for the first time ever, I have amended my yearly goals to suit what I actually want going forward. I’d always given myself very strict guidelines and led myself to believe that changing or amending a goal was a failure and not ‘true to my intentions’. When actually, things change – now isn’t the right time to work on what I want to achieve, what I want might need more steps to be reached and what I want might change completely and that’s okay. I’m learning to be more flexible with myself and invest my time into the things that are truly most important to me.

And we’re only in March! Imagine where I’ll be at the end of the year!

So these are my mini goals for the month:

Seasonal Wardrobe Update – I started doing a seasonal wardrobe after (unsuccessfully) trying the project 333 challenge last year, but even though the challenge didn’t work for me, I found swapping out my clothes seasonally worked really well for me from a storage perspective (because ya gal doesn’t have a lot of space) but also it’s a great way for me to bring the seasonally appropriate clothes to the forefront and the out-of-season clothes can be tucked away. Part of the Project 333 challenge that I am trying to implement is parting ways with the clothes that I haven’t reached for in a whole season, because that’s a pretty good indicator that I’m never going to. This practice (and it does take practice, believe me) has really helped me refine my shopping habits over the past year as well, because I feel so much more in tune with what I actually wear and what I feel good in, I’m much less likely to impulse buy (please note: less; if it is soft, oversized and snuggly I cannot be held accountable for my actions).

Properly plan finances – this one is kind of already done as my payday is the 1st of the month, but rather than rushing to move money into different savings accounts, I took the time to look at how much our bills are in both the joint account and my personal account, allocate savings appropriately and then send my spending money to my Monzo account (a new thing for me, but I wanted to try having my personal spending and my personal bills in different accounts and so far, very good!). It’s not perfect, but I am working on being much more mindful with my spending with all these adult things on the horizon like a wedding and wanting to save for a house deposit etc. At least I started the month on the right foot!

House tidying and sorting – I feel like having your own space is a case of constantly rearranging, sorting, tidying and rearranging again! We’ve been in this house for nearly a year and there’s still piles of things here and there and stuff I want to sort through. But what I have learnt about goal setting is that generic statements like ‘sort and tidy the house’ are really difficult to achieve – my focus is to clear what has accidentally become a craft dumping zone in the living room and a pillow dumping zone in the spare room. One day maybe I’ll even get to the garage!

Wedding to dos – I’ve been banging on about monthly wedding tasks for the best part of a year and the wedding is still 8 months away! My intentions for this month are to make the final decisions that will allow us to select our invitation stationary (and maybe even send them?) and order my wedding dress, but the evil beast that is covid has already reared it’s ugly head and put a spanner in the works of going dress shopping this weekend. But I’m trying to remember what I’ve already said about being flexible and adapting and making arrangements for another time – it’s all going to be okay and it’s not the end of the world if I haven’t picked my dress by the end of the month!

And my monthly goals that I have every month are to read 3 books, do my weekly savings challenge, have a date night with my fiancé and work on a craft project.

I’m still working on January and February’s craft projects in the background, but I feel like I’ve ‘discovered’ crafting and watching TV in the last week or so and I definitely intend to be doing a lot more of it in the precious time I get to just sit and watch TV when I’m home alone!

The end of February and the beginning of March has already been a bit rocky between having covid and not taking enough time off work, getting back to work and my colleague who I sit next to every day then testing positive, a trip to go wedding dress shopping cancelled on the morning I was going and generally being very stressed and having bad mental health. It’s been a lot, but the only thing I can do it take one day at a time, one moment at a time. Everything else is a bridge to cross if and when I get to it.

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx