Recapping the past year and setting goals for the year to come has become one of my favorite blog traditions. As far back as 2014 I’ve been taking the time to think back on what life has been like and set out a list of plans and goals I’d like to achieve going forward, not necessarily within the next year.
I set a lot of goals for myself in 2017, some larger than others, and though I didn’t get to all of them I accomplished what I could throughout my very busy year. Here’s how I did.
Minimize my belongings – I did get rid of a lot but it still doesn’t feel like enough.
Take more mini trips – In my head this meant I shouldn’t be so fussed about how long trips are, but more so that I take the time available to me and enjoy myself. Why not take a weekend trip away if the seat sale is good enough to support it? Throughout the year I spent 2 days in Jasper, 3 days in Canmore and Banff and a few days in Regina. Those trips aren’t really what I had in mind for “mini trips” but I set this goal not expecting to spend 5 weeks travelling and I certainly didn’t expect to get back to Europe and see 6 countries.
Scuba –Again, I had no idea my summer would be as crazy as it was and I quite simply didn’t have time to fit the course in, there’s always this year though.
Pay attention to me and take more notice of the little things – I did start to do this, mostly towards the end of the year as my health took a hit. I will be working a lot more on this in 2018
Save and figure out what I am saving for – I was able to save a lot in 2017 and have considered what kind of life I want. That tells me what to put my money towards
Specific savings for specific things – I made a very detailed budget for my 5 weeks of summer travel and was able to save specifically for that. Knowing I have what I need (+ a buffer) without having to rely on a credit card is a great feeling while travelling.
Learn more about my camera – I can’t say I learned anything new however I did use my camera a ton and took some really beautiful photos
Work on my fitness – I did the stairs at work quite a bit at the beginning of the year and ran a few times in the spring, but did very little else in the way of fitness in 2017. Especially at the end of the year when I was feeling my worst, I could barely walk 1 flight of stairs without being exhausted, never mind run 17 floors like I used to.
-Eat more fruit and veggies daily -> mostly
-Get my nose pierced –> done
-Re-learn proper cursive writing –> Can’t say it is super neat, but I can do it!
-Organize, and when necessary, discard digital photos. –> I emptied 1000+ old photos off my phone, sorted them on my external hard drive and deleted some.
-Print my favourite photos and put them in scrapbooks or albums. –> No. But I would still like to.
-Create blog income –> No, it might help if I actually posted sometimes..
-Sort through everything I own –> Done and loved every minute of it!
2018:
Improve my health – We sometimes forget to keep our health in check because we are so consumed with making sure we get “fit” and health and fitness don’t necessarily go hand in hand. I’ve recently found out about some health issues and I’m going to do what I can to improve them as much as possible and do what I can to feel my best despite the issues that can’t be fixed. Possibly I should cut back on my donut consumption.
Get in shape – it’s hard to ignore this one when the doctor says “you have some work to do” after writing down your weight… beyond that though, I don’t feel great anymore and would really like to put more time and energy into being consistently active and making good choices for my health. I don’t need to weigh any amount or wear a particular dress size; I just want to be comfortable in my own skin. Ideally my health and fitness level can be worked on together to make a generally better me.
Run 10km – Because I like a challenge and having something to work towards might help to keep my motivated on my journey.
Sort everything I own, again – 1 year is a long time, and though I don’t feel like I’ve accumulated too much this year, I definitely still have things to sort through and get rid of. Also, and more specifically I’d like to sort all of my clothes. Get rid of anything unrealistic, unworn or uncomfortable and build up an intentional wardrobe that I actually enjoy wearing.
Books and Camera – Ryan bought me a camera/photography book for Christmas last year and honestly, I’ve read less than half of it. I feel guilty about that since the book is something I really wanted and learning about my camera is something I’ve been planning since I got it. Reading at least 1 book per month is another goal. And as it turns out I happen to have 12 books set aside in a desperate little ‘read me” pile.
Travel – When has this not been a goal of mine? By no means do I expect to make it to all of these places this year, but I would like to plan some of the bigger trips for future. *I booked myself a trip to Hawaii just before New Years Eve and am so excited!*
- Hawaii, Big Island
- BC
- Iceland
- The Maritimes, as usual
- Plan for... Costa Rica, Peru, Chile, Easter Island, Galapagos, Australia and New Zealand
Do more outside – 2015 and 2016 were both great years for spending time outside and I did a lot. 2017 wasn’t as good. With the exception of my time spent travelling I feel like I was barely outside at all and I don’t want another year like that. I’m going to make an effort to get outside at least a few times a week.
Take a road trip – I’ve been wanting to do (2 specific) road trips for a while now; one across Canada and 1 through British Columbia and possibly into Washington and Oregon. Both would need a good chunk of time to enjoy them the way I’d like to, but I’ll take what I can get. Fingers crossed for BC this year.
Take a course, or 2 – And here it is, for the 3rd year in a row, get my Scuba Diving certification! I really hope this can happen this year especially considering my new found love of snorkelling, I imagine I’d love diving even more.
The second course I have my sights set on is Doula training. I’ve had this in the back of my mind for many years now (along with nursing and midwifery) and I think this might be the year to make it happen.
