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It’s all out of date so needs a revamp, more urgently than anticipated.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

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

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

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

February Goals ’22

2022, goals

Hello!

Another month, another set of mini goals – although January flew by much too quickly for my liking, but it got off to a really good start. I didn’t really get the break I wanted over Christmas so it’s been a slow, tired month, but after a couple of quiet weekends I’m ready to carry on trying to balance getting enough rest and being somewhat productive.

February being a month that is exactly four weeks and short enough that pay day will roll around again in no time is exciting. I’m slowly building habits that I want to develop into my daily life and it nearly feels like I’m not drowning in to do lists, so I want to work on that ‘not drowning’ feeling this month.

So, without further ado – my February Goals:

Sort out the bookshelves in the library – sounds like a silly little task right? It’s one I’ve been ignoring for months so if I put it in writing maybe I’ll actually do it. I may have officially run out of room on my current bookshelves too so might need to rearrange the furniture as well.
Plan cosplay lists – last month I figured out what cosplay I wanted to work on this year (because last year’s projects went so well…) this month I want to figure out exactly what steps I need to actually make them happen. I happen to have a sibling who is very talented at this sort of thing, so I’m hoping to rope in their help at some point (but I haven’t asked them yet haha).
Wedding tasks – pay next part of venue costs, go to menu tasting and coordinate decor with the wedding planner: we have a meeting to tour the renovated facilities and I already have a list of questions. It’s all starting to come together now!
Craft project – I didn’t finish my project for last month, so I want to finish that and finish another project as my ‘February’ crafts,
Recurring monthly goals –
- Read 3 books
- Be sensible with money
- Plan a date night

My reading goal for this year is already going well – I’ve just finished my 6th book of the year and I think sorting out the shelves in the spare room I call ‘The Library’ will definitely help with my motivation for reading.

In hindsight, I’ve set myself a lot of daily tasks this year – including learning French on Duolingo, using my bullet journal every single day and filling in my Noom weight loss app – balancing that with everything else I want to achieve was never going to be easy, but it will get easier. At least I hope it does!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

December Goals 2021

2021, creativity, goals

Hello!

I feel like I’ve been waiting for December 1st for weeks now – the excuse to wear Christmas jumpers, play all the Christmas songs, put tinsel everywhere. But simultaneously, where has November gone and how is it the last month of the year?

But the end of the year means so many wonderful things – for one, Christmas (obviously), for two, I’ll get to see my finished 1 Second Everyday video for the year, but also the time to look back on the 2021 Goals I set myself and plan out my 2022 goals (which is always the most exciting way for me to spend the limbo week between Christmas and New Year).

Between snuggling into cosy, dark nights with blankets and Christmas lights and long work days and evening dance classes, I’ve just about managed to figure out my five mini goals for the last month of the year!

Portfolio work

It’s been a long year of trying to figure out how to present my portfolio – initially I wanted to make a website, to update my Instagram page and to edit an up to date showreel. I realised presenting wasn’t for me, so I decided not to make the showreel and I’m just posting the last of the update posts on my Instagram, but the website has been a long work in progress and I’d really like to try and get it sorted out this month. Website design is confusing and I’m not going to pretend it’s my specialty in any realm, but I’ll try!

Craft Christmas gifts

With our wedding coming up in less than a year, the budget for Christmas isn’t huge, but I love giving really personal, sentimental gifts so I want to craft and create as much as I can! I’ve not completely figured out what yet, but I will!

Plan 2022 wedding tasks

I’ve been very overwhelmed by the whole concept of planning a wedding, but I need to figure out what the next 11 months will look like and what I need to get done by what deadlines. Any tips, tricks or help you can offer would be much appreciated!

Plan 2022 goals

I’ve been making notes about things I want to achieve next year for a couple of months now, but I want to really figure out what my intentions for the next 12 months are and to make goals that I hope to have a chance of achieving. I’m working on being more okay with goals being flexible and adapting, but I’d also like to be in a place where I have an understanding of myself and what is realistic for me and setting my goals accordingly.

Seasonal wardrobe update

I started trying out Project 333 – a ‘challenge’ (for want of a better word) where you have 33 items in your wardrobe for rotations of 3 months) – and having 33 items of clothing just wasn’t realistic for me. But the principle of swapping out clothes seasonally has not only freed up a lot of space in my wardrobe and drawers, but helped me rediscover my own clothes and get excited about what I already own (without the little dopamine hit of shopping).

My Autumn and Winter wardrobes are very, very similar but there’s a few items I’m really considering whether I actually like and a few pieces I consider ‘staple’ that I’d like to add to my collection.

Monthly Goals

My rolling monthly goal of reading 2 books, putting money in savings and having a date night with my partner are still on track!

I’m well over my reading goal for the year (I’ve currently finished 41 books when my goal was 25!), saving has been a mixed bag and date night’s only really started in July but if there’s any month that I really need to try to hit all three, it’s the last month of the year!

From lockdown to heat wave to random weekend of snow in November to new jobs and new houses and new friends and everything in between, this year has been absolutely mental so anything that any of us have achieved, is something to celebrate! Happy December!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

August Goals 2021

2021, goals

Hello!

I can’t believe it’s nearly August – my mind is basically blocked and doesn’t see passed July 31st and to be honest, I don’t think I’m ready in any way. But, with so little of the month left and no mental capacity to consider the next month, I think it’s forcing me to feel more present? Just taking one day at a time, and I can handle that right now.

But with a new month comes new goals – I love having projects and long term goals to work towards and making progress, so these are my focuses for August!

Work on my online portfolio – I started making a website a little while ago and I need to actually finish it! I want to have a central place to post and update about all the things I’m doing in my professional life, so I need to work on some of those admin tasks.
Cosplay costume work – this month, I’m going to make a jacket. I’ve got a jacket that I can adapt to fit the style I need and I’m going to get my craft on. I’m going to buy another part of my costume and I’ve got a plan to actually finish this in 2021, rather than the wishy washy goals I set earlier this year. Always learning!
Wedding planning – my tasks for this month are to research and book any extra event specialists – as our wedding is on bonfire night we definitely need some fireworks! But I also need to figure out decorating the venue, any extra bits we need to hire, buy or make and little details like that!
Find a dance class for September – as the schools have now broken up for the summer holidays, most dance schools in my area won’t be starting up again until the new academic year so I thought it would be a good window for me to figure out my finances and my schedule to actually be able to go! Having a class once or twice a week I think will be really good for me to actually do some exercise, maybe meet some people in the area and get back into dancing! I can’t wait.
Get back into the job hunt – I’ve been given the end date for my current contract so I need to find another job! I’m hoping to start doing it all early so finishing my new website, revamping my CV and cover letters and things like that. I don’t want it to be a big panic when my contract actually ends, so hopefully being prepared can work in my favour!

Then my usual monthly goals of reading 2 books, putting money in my savings accounts and hopefully having a date night with my boy!

I’m feeling ready for summer, but then I remember I don’t get a ‘summer holiday’ and extra time to see friends or travel or anything, but the event I’m working on in my job is in September and it’s busy, but hopefully rewarding!

But for now, I have a weekend off and I’m going to make the most of it!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

July Goals ’21

2021, goals

Hello!

Another month, another set of goals for me to focus on.

June didn’t go particularly well – I need to stop setting myself fitness goals because it doesn’t work, crafts shouldn’t be goals they should just be fun, and if I’m going to set craft or project goals, they need to be specific or I just won’t do them.

So with that in mind, here are my July goals:

Write 40,000 words for Camp NaNoWriMo

People train for marathons, right? So I’m training for a writing project in November! I’m trying to come up with a new idea and my partner came up with a daily prompt list for me and I’m really excited about this project.

Cosplay work

So this was the project I was referring to! I haven’t done anything about this project really this year so in July I want to spend time planning it all out – figuring out how I’m going to make or buy each part of the costume and figuring out a path to actually finishing it!

Wedding planning

This month I don’t have a particular task to work on for the wedding, so it’ll be a little bit of browsing Pinterest for inspiration, wrapping up some loose ends on other tasks and looking ahead to what I need to go between now and the wedding in like 15 months. I feel like I’m too relaxed about it all to be honest.

Knit Weasley jumper

I’m not expecting to be able to knit a whole jumper in a month, but I can find a pattern and buy the wool I need and make a start but no way am I making a whole jumper in July. I just want to knit a jumper with an S in it and pretend that Julie Walter’s knitted it for me, okay?

Project 333

I saw this on Hannah Witton‘s YouTube channel a couple of months ago and I really like the idea – the principle is having 33 items in your wardrobe for three month cycles. I’m going to try doing this for two months at first because I think July/August makes sense, then September-November, December-February then March-May. In moving house, I have much less space than I did before and I want to make the most of our space and see more value in my clothes so I’m going to at least try! If it doesn’t work, that’s fine too.

Then my recurring monthly goals of saving (which I’ve got into a good habit of doing on pay day, props to me), having a date night with my boy and reading 2 books!

The only thing I can think about right now is my partner coming back after being away for a month and that’s going to be the best part of July. But I’m excited for the weather to brighten up and spend more time outside, hopefully!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx