It’s mid way through the year. How did we get here already?
I wanted to talk a little bit about goal setting, and give an update on my goals for this year. Setting goals is hugely important to me. I tend to generally feel as though time is slipping through my hands. Particularly since having kids, it feels that days turn into weeks turn into months, and it would be so easy to just let them slip by without actually doing anything.
What’s so bad about that? Well, nothing really. But I like to look back on a year and think, wow, look at all the stuff I did. And if I don’t consciously make myself do it, time passes and nothing gets done. So yes, I make a lot of goals. But I also don’t beat myself up if they don’t get done.
Life doesn’t always go to plan, and things can get forgotten, or just become irrelevant. I try to check in on them every couple of months to make sure I actually remember what they are. It’s amazing how quickly they can disappear from my brain!
So how are they doing? Here’s a little bit of an update…
- Go Paddleboarding. No movement on this. And frankly, I’m a bit terrified of booking something in. Not because I’m scared of the paddleboarding itself, but more because I feel like every single time I book an outdoor activity in, it rains. I suppose I just need to suck it up and either be prepared to spend (and maybe lose) the money or do it in the rain.
- Do an activity with Peter by ourselves once a month. Apart from February, when my parents were away for most of the month, we’ve been doing well on this. The trouble is that as per item #1, almost every single time we’ve done it, the weather has been rubbish. We’ve gone out for a long walk anyway, in the rain and once in the snow, but it’s now quite what I’d anticipated. Later on this month, we’ll be away with Peter’s parents and will have a car, so am hoping to plan a nice long countryside walk or maybe a lovely long lunch somewhere, child-free.
- Host a dinner party with friends. I did this! Well, sort of. I started up a Book Love club (where we each bring a book we love, and swap), which I held at my house for it’s inaugural meeting. I made it as low key as possible by asking people to bring specific types of sides. This seemed to work really well – I didn’t have time to cook a huge meal with all the trimmings, so I did the main, and people brought along middle eastern inspired sides. This worked so well because a) I didn’t have to cook and b) people could put in a lot of effort and make something themselves OR they could just buy some hummus from the shop.
- Tick 5 books off my to-read pile. I’ve managed 3 (Commonwealth, The Lie Tree, The Power), and have acquired a fourth, so good signs here.
- Start a new job. Get a new job. Well, I’ve started my new job, so half complete. I’m not sure when I need to start thinking about a new job (I’m covering a maternity contract), but I’m putting it off until August or September. That should still give me plenty of time.
- Sort out the tote bag situation. YES! DONE! Although they re-accumulating, so this might need to be done again in a few months.
- Plan a holiday for 2019. This one is kind of stressing me out, so I might take it off the list. I know what I want to do, but it’s a “big” holiday, which involves a lot of money and a lot of energy for planning, and I’m not sure I have either to spare right now. So let’s just say this one is on hold for now.
How are you getting on with your resolutions?
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Links and resources
- I took a ‘Pause for Thought’ course with Makelight, which was really the inspiration for this post, as it really helped me to think about what I’ve been doing this year. The course has finished for the year, but really worth following Emily on Instagram as she and her business partner/husband always have interesting projects on the go.
- I keep track of my goals in one of these lovely little Leuchtturms – I’m a big fan of the grid paper.
- I’ve been taking the Blog Boss ecourse to help develop some goals for this blog – it’s been a fantastic experience so far.
- At the start of the year I wrote out a 5 year plan based purely on Elise Joy’s Instagram stories – they were so helpful and straight forward. This might need another post at some point, but due to the plan, I asked for things I wouldn’t have dared ask for before at work and… I got them! Who’d have thought it…
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We saw paddle boarders in Exmouth. It looks great. Needs really calm water though. And a wet suit
Yes, wet suit will be essential. You can do it on the Thames, so hopefully river water is calm enough. Leila does headstands in her yoga paddleboard classes! (But then she’s always been an overachiever, ha!)
I like your goals! I feel intimidated by planning even a small outing. Maybe I am worried people with cancel, or I will get sick. (I have fibromyalgia which is basically a crap shoot every morning as to whether I will be well enough to go out.) Perhaps I should just do last minute planning? Have you tried that? Does it work for you?
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I have a friend with fibromyalgia and I know she finds the same thing. I should definitely try to be a bit more spontaneous. The main issue is childcare, but we are lucky to have my parents nearby, so not out of the question!
Great idea making a personal plan like this! Up to yet I only got a bucket list in my head… will definitely start one now xx
Do it! It’s so helpful.