2013 Goals- Check In #1

April 17, 2013 Filed Under: Goals Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

dreamswontworkunless

The first 3 and a half months of 2013 have been nothing short of exhausting for me- but also? Amazing. I started off really strong with my goals, and as time went on I sporadically seemed to do a few more. I definitely plan on working on a lot of this during the summer when I have more free time, because the truth is I just *don’t* have time to do it all.

I think a lot of these are definitely still attainable in the next 8 and a half months, and although I haven’t made a HUGE amount of progress yet, I still wanted to look over everything to see where I stand, and what I can stand to accomplish in the second quarter of the year.

Finance

- Save at least 30% from each paycheck & put it in my savings account. No progress. My bad.

- Create a second savings account for the future, 10% of each paycheck. No progress. I’m not so good with the saving money thing.

- Read “Debt-Free Forever” by Gail Vaz-Oxlade. I forgot about this goal! I want to read this when I have some time to dedicate to it, though. Maybe this summer.

- Pay off my credit card; never spend more than I can pay off. I did pay it off, but then a hundred things came up and it’s no longer paid off. Working on it again, though!

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Health, Fitness & Vitality

- Get back to the gym. This is the plan for the summer!

- Exercise at least once a week ( 0/52). Ummm. I’m terrible at this exercise thing.

- Cook 5 healthy recipes (0/5). More plans for the summer!

- Go vegetarian for a month. I’ve been trying to figure out when this would be best to do. I’m thinking summertime, knock off all these healthy goals in one shot.

- Reach my ideal weight through healthy eating & exercise. I am in fact very close to my ideal weight, but it’s not because I’ve been healthy. I’m trying to remember to eat lots of fruits and veggies, but to be honest I’ve lost a lot of weight because of stress.

- Train to run a 5K and choose one to participate in with a friend. I have not trained, but I’d still love to run one in the fall.

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Leisure

- Complete my room project. In progress!

- Print pictures from 2012 to add to my photo album. I have no money for this goal, but I’d still like to accomplish it.

- Scrapbook Brazil & Europe 2012. I don’t really know if I even *want* to scrapbook my trips, or just save my photos in a photo album. I need to print them out first!

- Plan an adventure. Complete! I went to New York City for 4 days, and Boston for 2. I’m also planning two potential trips to Toronto. Yay!

- Get my driver’s license. I’m looking at doing this over the summer as well, when I have the time to start driving and practicing again. Also, I don’t want to do it while there is still snow outside.

- Get a tattoo. I’m going to work on this one. I have a general idea of what I want!

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Reading/Writing/Blogging

- Read 50 books (0/50). I’m about 10 books through at this point, I think!
*5 non-fiction (1/5)
*re-read two all-time favorites (0/2)

- Start a blog feature. Complete! Two months in, I still love sharing everyone’s ‘five songs’ that changed their lives.

- Guest post for 5 bloggers (5/5). I wasn’t expecting to accomplish this one so quickly, but there you have it. The fifth hasn’t been published yet!

1) Five Highlights of Wizard World of Harry Potter

2) The 8 List- Travel Reads

3) Music & Following Your Passions

4) Creative Encounters (An interview about my job for Confront Magazine!)

- Write 5 music pieces outside of CONFRONT Magazine (0/5). I still love this goal, but haven’t had time to make any progress! 

- Write 10 book reviews, including 2 for outside sources like NetGalley (3/10). In progress.

- Start writing creatively again, outside of job purposes (ie: non-music/blog/school). Another goal I love, but no time to spend on creative writing. That makes me sad! 

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School/Work

- Research, plan & complete a server switch for CONFRONT Magazine. In progress!

- Complete the CONFRONT media kit & create sponsorship packages. Kind of in progress?

- Research + apply to summer internships and/or job possibilities (if any). I applied to become the next President of CASA Cares & I got it! This will be taking up plenty of time without any additional internships.

- Plan the remainder of my University degree, class by class & raise my GPA by 2014. Definitely in progress. 

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Time

- Suffer for fifteen minutes at least 3 times a week (0/156). I like how I originally planned to do this 3 times a week, but it’s really tough to keep track of. I did it a lot at first, but have since lost track. I’m going to get back into this though, because I love this goal.
*This goal was inspired by Gretchen Rubin’s book ‘Happier at Home’ in which she tackles those really annoying tasks for 15 minutes a day until they got done, instead of letting them pile up. I’ve got the list of annoying things to do right next to me and I’m weirdly excited to slowly cross those things off!

- Plan “me-time” each week (especially during school) to avoid burning out or getting too stressed. Definitely working on this on a regular basis. I tend to work myself until I can’t keep my eyes open, but sometimes I just sit down and remind myself I’m allowed an hour for myself.

- Create monthly study schedules ( 3/10). In progress!

- Keep a calendar/agenda of upcoming events (concerts, dinner dates, etc) each month (3/12). I bought an amazing agenda that allows me to plan every hour of my day. I’m sad/happy to report that I use it religiously, and would not be able to find myself without it!

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 How are your 2013 goals going? Any progress?

12 Comments

Starting Fresh: 2013 Goals

January 2, 2013 Filed Under: Goals Tagged With: , , , , ,

2013newyear

I love New Year’s. It’s the perfect time to start fresh; new goals, new adventures, new plans and new opportunities to achieve great things. It’s so motivating to know that you get this new beginning. It’s the best time to sit and reflect, and to make lists of all the wonderful things you’d like to accomplish.

This year, I’m going to change my resolutions up a little bit; since I have less goals all around to complete, I want more things to cross off by 2014. I’m feeling rather ambitious, and there are a lot of THINGS that need DOING. I’m not ready to jump into another 101 goals in 1,001 days, but I loved the way those goals were set up. I’d like my New Year’s Goals to reflect a similar style, inspired also by Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Projects & many bloggers/websites around the internet.

—–

Finance

- Save at least 30% from each paycheck & put it in my savings account

- Create a second savings account for the future, 10% of each paycheck

- Read “Debt-Free Forever” by Gail Vaz-Oxlade

- Pay off my credit card; never spend more than I can pay off

Health, Fitness & Vitality

- Get back to the gym

- Exercise at least once a week ( 0/52)

- Cook 5 healthy recipes (0/5)

- Go vegetarian for a month

- Reach my ideal weight through healthy eating & exercise

- Train to run a 5K and choose one to participate in with a friend

Leisure

- Complete my room project

- Print pictures from 2012 to add to my photo album

- Scrapbook Brazil & Europe 2012

- Plan an adventure

- Get my driver’s license

- Get a tattoo

Reading/Writing/Blogging

- Read 50 books (0/50)
*5 non-fiction (0/5)
*re-read two all-time favorites (0/2)

- Start a blog feature

- Guest post for 5 bloggers (0/5)

- Write 5 music pieces outside of CONFRONT Magazine (0/5)

- Write 10 book reviews, including 2 for outside sources like NetGalley (0/10)

- Start writing creatively again, outside of job purposes (ie: non-music/blog/school)

School/Work

- Research, plan & complete a server switch for CONFRONT Magazine

- Complete the CONFRONT media kit & create sponsorship packages

- Research + apply to summer internships and/or job possibilities (if any)

- Plan the remainder of my University degree, class by class & raise my GPA by 2014

Time

- Suffer for fifteen minutes at least 3 times a week (0/156)
*This goal was inspired by Gretchen Rubin’s book ‘Happier at Home’ in which she tackles those really annoying tasks for 15 minutes a day until they got done, instead of letting them pile up. I’ve got the list of annoying things to do right next to me and I’m weirdly excited to slowly cross those things off!

- Plan “me-time” each week (especially during school) to avoid burning out or getting too stressed

- Create monthly study schedules ( 0/10)

- Keep a calendar/agenda of upcoming events (concerts, dinner dates, etc) each month (0/12)
*Buy a desk calendar and/or Erin Condren planner? Wondering if it’s worth the money?

—–

30 goals, 12 months. I totally got this.

What are some of your resolutions or goals for the new year?! Which do you most look forward to completing?

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Goodbye, 2012! {A Final Review}

January 1, 2013 Filed Under: Goals, Quotes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

new2Ever since I can remember, I always had a list of resolutions lying around. I love goals, and New Year’s resolutions are like the beginning of all things goal-related. I love them because they are the chance to start something new every year, and they give everyone the opportunity to feel better about themselves. In terms of goals, 2012 was a BIG one for me. I had a lot of resolutions that included many side-project goals, and overall I did really well.

As I ring in the New Year with family & friends and finish planning what I want to do for 2013, I thought it was time to re-cap the resolutions I created exactly 365 days ago.

—–

1. Complete my 12 Changes project

Not accomplished. I decided to stop working on this project in April because I already had too much going on, and wanted to focus on those other projects instead. I still love this idea and maybe when I’m done school I’ll put more time into making it happen again!

2. Finish my 23 Before 23 goals by July 10th 2012 (the last day of the challenge, of course!)

Accomplished. I knew when I wrote this goal that there were a lot of items on that list that wouldn’t be done, which was my own fault for feeling a little bit too ambitious with not enough time. But the things that didn’t get done made their way onto various other lists to get done at a better time in my life!

3. Finish, as best I can, my 101 Goals in 1,001 Days, which ends on September 28th 2012

Accomplished. This was my favorite one. I wrote about it here and here. I’m so proud with how this challenge turned out- I accomplished almost everything I had set out to do! Everything that didn’t get done (and I still have an interest in working on) was added to my Life List.

4. Decide what to do next once all my lists of goals are completed. Another 101? Another birthday list?

Not Accomplished? I’m not really sure, to be honest. I haven’t created any other lists besides my new year’s goals for 2013 (which I’ll be talking about tomorrow) and I don’t know if there is anything else that I WANT to do just yet. This was a bit of a wishy-washy resolution I think, it wasn’t really accomplished or not…. It’s still on hold until I figure it out, I guess!

5. Read 60 books

Not Accomplished. Actually, FAIL. I’m so sad that I didn’t have more time to read. I fully and 100% plan on fixing this next year. I only read, like, half of this goal. Something like that. What a disappointment!

6. Make an effort to blog more about books and music that I love, rather than just using them to fill up days that I don’t know what else to write

Accomplished. Thanks to the wonderful Jessica, I got to participate in The Book Chat every week for many months (which I plan on doing again in 2013) and I made a point of writing about the things I love such as music, reading, travel, etc. It’s nice to see my blog have a little bit more direction as more time goes, but still have a distinct personal touch to it. At least, I think so!

7. Travel 

Accomplished! When I wrote this goal, I only had plans to visit Florida for 5 days in February. I had no idea if I would be able to go anywhere at all. I was so lucky this year, I visited Florida, Brazil, Europe, and New York City… Not to mention the various other road trips to random towns I took for concerts. I’ve got the travel bug!

8. Complete my 365 picture challenge

Accomplished! You can read about it here. I completed the project sometime in November and it was the most fun thing ever.

9. Take part in the 2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge (thanks again for the link, Miranda!) 

Not accomplished. I didn’t even read 40 books this year, so obviously this didn’t work out. Too bad, I love this challenge idea. Boo :(

10. Make 2012 all about happiness, adventure, taking risks, and accomplishments

Accomplished. Yes, yes, and yes! 2012 was one of my happiest years; it as one where I took chances on myself, I opened my heart up, I learned that sometimes failure DOES lead to bigger and better things, and when things didn’t go my way I picked myself up and tried something new. I really, really loved 2012. And I loved this goal- I thought about it nearly every single day & it 100% affected SO many choices that I made.

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Overall, I accomplished 6.5 of my 10 resolutions for the year. Not bad, considering two of the others included reading & one of them was a conscious choice to let go of. I’m never too disappointed that I don’t complete every single goal on my list- from experience, that’s pretty unlikely to ever happen. I’m just happy that I kept these 10 things at the back of my mind all the time and constantly worked towards them. For the most part, I accomplished everything I truly set out to do. 2012 was definitely a very successful year all around. :)

How did you do with your 2012 resolutions?

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Resolutions [A Quarterly Review]

April 13, 2012 Filed Under: 101 in 1,001, 12 Changes, 23 Before 23, Goals, Project 365 Tagged With: , ,

At the beginning of January, I set myself up with a bunch of goals for 2012 and I thought it was high time I reviewed to see how I was doing! I have a sneaking suspicion that 1/4 into the year and I’m doing pretty badly, but I haven’t looked at my list in a while so hopefully I’ll feel re-inspired to complete my goals by the end of the December!

1. Complete my 12 Changes project

I was definitely hoping to stay more motivated throughout this project, but so far 4 months in I kind of feel like I’m losing my steam with it. Not because I don’t like my goals or because they’re too difficult (they really aren’t) I just haven’t felt motivated to keep up. But I WANT to be. I am just kind of lazy. Let’s see if I can fix this!

2. Finish my 23 Before 23 goals by July 10th 2012 (the last day of the challenge, of course!)

I’ve done surprisingly well on this list considering I thought I had WAY more left to do. I mean, I still have quite a bit left to do but I’ve accepted that some of these goals may not be crossed off. The majority will! I’m in the middle of like half of them and planning for a few more, so hopefully once school is over I’ll be able to spend more time on them.

3. Finish, as best I can, my 101 Goals in 1,001 Days, which ends on September 28th 2012

In my mind, this goal is already practically completed. I just reviewed them before writing this post and did some crossing off of goals that I no longer WANT to complete and tried to remind myself of what I have left.

4. Decide what to do next once all my lists of goals are completed. Another 101? Another birthday list?

Definitely not another birthday list, I think my 23 Before 23 has been my least favorite to accomplish because of the tight time frame. Right now I don’t even know if I want to create another list of any sort because the idea of having NO LIST after 3 years of constantly having them at the back of my mind just sounds freeing. Then again, I loved my 101 in 1,001 so maybe I could do that? We’ll see. I still have time for this one.

5. Read 60 books

I’ve been doing pretty bad with my reading goal, to be honest. In 3 and a half months I’ve read like 9 books. I don’t even know why, I just haven’t put enough of my time aside for it! I currently put my goal down to 50 books and Goodreads still tells me I’m VERY BEHIND. We’ll see what I can do this summer to catch up!

6. Make an effort to blog more about books and music that I love, rather than just using them to fill up days that I don’t know what else to write

This has been an important goal for me because it’s meant trying to steer my blog into a particular direction instead of just random posts every day. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of doing this so far this year- I’ve reviewed most books that I’ve read and often talk about music around here. I’ve also been focusing a lot more on my honest posts and my personal writing. I’ve felt really good about my space lately!

7. Travel 

I have some potential plans for this summer, which was the idea behind this goal. I am determined to go SOMEWHERE in my 4 months off. There is no way I will stay home all that time. I want to get back on a plane and SOON. Florida was a great way to kick off my travel plans in February, but I need more out of 2012.

8. Complete my 365 picture challenge

Still going strong! I’m past day 150 now, you can follow along with me on my Facebook.

9. Take part in the 2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge (thanks again for the link, Miranda!) 

So far 8 out of the 9 books I’ve read this year are YA, which means I am almost 1/4 through this challenge. I guess that means I’m almost on schedule? Except I’d like to read more than 40 books this year and I have a TON of adult fiction to catch up on, so I need to pick up my reading pace that I seem to have left behind in 2011!

10. Make 2012 all about happiness, adventure, taking risks, and accomplishments

I had completely forgotten about this goal, but I think subconsciously I knew this is what I wanted out of 2012. My ‘Little Moments’ of every day life help remind me to stay happy, but as for the rest I think I am naturally just headed in that direction. Again, I feel like these are ideas that often come up in my blog posts which means I must be headed in the direction of risk taking and accomplishment-making. I don’t think I’m anywhere near completing this goal as it’s more of a life goal than just 2012, but I still want to make this year one to remember!

All in all, I’m not doing AS BAD as I had thought, but I do need to stop being lazy so often. I hate that I feel so tired after work all the time & rarely have energy to do other things. I want to change that feeling before my next review!

Have a fantastic weekend!

How are your New Year’s Resolutions going? 

 

9 Comments

12 Changes: February

February 2, 2012 Filed Under: 12 Changes, Goals Tagged With: , , , ,

Since January I’ve started to eat a lot healthier & I thought fitness would be the perfect way to keep up the momentum. I’ve never been very big on exercise, to be honest. I’d rather stay home and read, watch TV, drink coffee and write.

Last summer I had my first REAL fitness experience when I joined a fitness studio. One of my 101 goals in 1,001 days was to join a gym, but I had come to terms with the fact that I would never be a “join a gym” kind of girl. Until one of my best friends found an amazing deal through Living Social and convinced me to join her for a month of fitness before we left for Greece.

And so my experience with fitness began in July, and thank God I have friends like her because she always knows when to push me to do things that are good for me. I ended up learning to really enjoy fitness classes and, yes, even exercise with Jillian Michaels on the side. When I went to Greece I felt AMAZING, but while I was there I didn’t exercise anymore… so I lost this new found habit of mine. 

Ever since, I’ve wanted to get back into a fitness routine. I let school take over last semester and I made no time for ME to do things for my body. But with the New Year it’s time to MAKE TIME for me and for the things that are good for my well being. 

Writing down my goals on real paper last month really helped me out. It’s like it was really there for me to see, like I had really decided it was going to happen. I looked at my goals up on my wall regularly, and I thought about my “don’t forget” tips all the time. So I decided to stick with it for February and I wrote myself a little pep talk! Hopefully it works for me again. I know that exercise isn’t something that comes easily to me, but luckily I’m surrounded by people who motivate me on a regular basis & I know they’re going to keep me in line after seeing this. 

I started getting back to fitness classes LAST week, but haven’t done any really serious exercise yet. By this weekend I’d like to be back into the 30 Day Shred every single day, or almost. I know I hate that woman when she’s telling me that “300 pound people do jumping jacks, you can too! Keep going!” (Maybe I can’t Jillian! STOP BULLYING ME) but I also know that when the work out is done and the feeling of throwing up/passing out is over, I’m ready to go at it again. I miss the burn of a good work out in my muscles.

I also know that by focusing more on fitness and on a routine, I’ll be more likely to eat even BETTER and not want to cheat (who wants to see their hard work go down the drain?) Ideally, I want to feel really fantastic when I go to Orlando in 3 weeks. I know that’s really pushing it, but if I keep at it, I’ll have a nice post right before I leave about how awesome my work outs have been.

January was really good to me, and I want to keep at it. I think I can do it! 

What does your February look like? If you’re doing 12 Changes, what’s your goal for the month? 

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Hello, 2012 :)

January 2, 2012 Filed Under: Goals Tagged With: ,

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you got the chance to ring in 2012 with the people you love most, and I also hope you’re as excited as I am to get started on making this year the best that it can be.

I have big plans for 2012, and lots of things that need to get done. Here are my resolutions for the year.

BIG plans, people.

1. Complete my 12 Changes project

This goal in itself is pretty huge since it includes 12 different aspects of my life that I want to improve, and within each category I have my own set of goals. I’m slowly outlining what I want each month to look like, and I’m so excited to see how I do!

2. Finish my 23 Before 23 goals by July 10th 2012 (the last day of the challenge, of course!)

I know there are already a few goals on there that I WON’T have the time to finish- one year is just NOT enough and I kind of overshot it- but there are a ton of things on my list that I’m super excited to accomplish.

3. Finish, as best I can, my 101 Goals in 1,001 Days, which ends on September 28th 2012

Same as above, there are a bunch of things on my list that I don’t see myself doing, but I want to make sure that by September everything I WANT to be done, is done. The 101 is now actually 111 goals, but I’d still love to see how many of those I can get through.

4. Decide what to do next once all my lists of goals are completed. Another 101? Another birthday list?

Pretty self explanatory, I just can’t decide what I want to do next!

5. Read 60 books

I got so close this year, if I hadn’t slacked off my reading in the last 2 months I would have *definitely* reached this number. I have way too many books on my ‘to-read’ shelf right now that I’m just itching to get through, and so many other great ones are coming out in 2012!

6. Make an effort to blog more about books and music that I love, rather than just using them to fill up days that I don’t know what else to write

This is a bit of a random goal I guess, but I was looking back on my archives and I used to spend more time introducing bands that I love… and I miss doing it. Same goes for books: I read SO many good ones, but I don’t feel like I share them enough. I signed up on a website where I can get copies of books for my Kindle to review, and I fully plan to take advantage and do it this year!

7. Travel 

I loved this goal last year because I made it happen in such a BIG way. I know I already have one trip booked for February, but I would just LOVE to go somewhere else this summer!

8. Complete my 365 picture challenge

This is actually a goal on my 23 Before 23 list- I was supposed to start on my birthday and go until my next birthday- but I failed somewhere in between there. I started again in November and I’d really love to make it all the way until next November. So far I’m having the most fun this time around, and I can’t imagine NOT completing it!

*If we’re friends on Facebook you can keep up to date with my daily photos

9. Take part in the 2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge (thanks again for the link, Miranda!) 

Since I already read a ton of YA lit now, I figure that the “jumbo challenge” should be challenging enough for me. I’d love to read 40 YA novels in 2012… That leaves space for only 20 adult ones (if I read only 60 books) so let’s see how much reading I can get done this year!

10. Make 2012 all about happiness, adventure, taking risks, and accomplishments

Although I loved 2011 and I felt like a lot did happen in that year, I still feel like I go through bouts of my life where I’m not doing ANYTHING. When I look back at October/November of this year I was just so bored. I don’t want to go through that in 2012. I want to constantly challenge myself and try things out of the ordinary! I don’t know how I’ll be able to track this goal to be honest, but I kind of like just putting it out there.

I’m so excited for 2012! What do your goals look like for the year?

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Goodbye, 2011!

December 30, 2011 Filed Under: Goals, Post a Day 2011 Tagged With: , , , ,

Christmas 2010

I can’t believe that there is one day left in 2011. I feel like I just rang in the New Year, and yet here I am getting ready to do it again, surrounded by the ones I love most.

This year was a great year; it was filled with goals, changes, writing, school, traveling and celebrations. There were days filled with music, others filled with readings, many others involved lots of laughs with great friends. Finally there were the days that were planning for the future. 2011 was definitely good to me.

Two months ago I reviewed my New Year’s resolutions for 2011 and realized that I had basically accomplished them all in one way or another. I spent a lot of time learning how to work on goals in a way that benefits me the most this year, and I can’t wait to apply everything I’ve learned in 2012. I am so hopeful and excited for 2012, I’m bursting with anticipation to see what is to come. I feel like a different person who’s going into the new year with a clear idea of what I want to do and who I want to be, and I just want to make it all happen right away.

I’ll admit that I’ve slacked off in the last two months on my resolutions from 2011. They needed a *little* bit more work and I didn’t really put the effort that I needed in there. I think I was just too focused on school, work, and getting through the holidays to put any time into the things I really WANTED to do. Nonetheless, my goals deserve one last look-over so I can see exactly what I did and didn’t do.

1. Eat healthier. Half accomplished!
I’ve never been the healthiest eater, and even when I wrote this goal it was just one of those “well, it should be in my resolutions” kind of goal. I never imagined I’d actually make any changes, but I have! I will often pick the healthier snack over the less healthy one, but I still cheat way more than I’d like. Oh the plans I have for 2012, I’m so excited. But I definitely made good progress with this one.

2. Travel. Accomplished!
I think my very first trip to Europe (and Greece, of all places!) was a BIG moment for me. It really was a life changing experience, and opened my eyes to an entirely new world. I can’t wait to do more traveling, that’s for sure.

3. Achieve a 3.0 GPA in school or higher. Not accomplished.
I was so hopeful about this when I originally wrote it, but I have NO idea how I thought this was possible. I’ve been taking incredibly difficult and competitive courses for ME. I’ve tested myself in ways I could have never imagined, and it’s nowhere near over. My GPA isn’t a 3.0, but I’ve grown so much in University since writing this goal that I’m not upset in the least. I know I’ll get there one day.  

4. Stay more organized. Accomplished!
I remember when I wrote this goal, it was because I was the MOST forgetful person ever! I could hardly remember what my work schedule was. I’ve definitely made good use of the calendar in my iPhone and made sure to constantly keep up to date to-do lists. I think organization is always something that will be *in progress* for me, but I consider it accomplished because I am a significantly more organized person going into 2012!

5. Save money. Kind of accomplished?
This is a tough one because I know that I SAVED money, but I don’t actually have it anymore. I do have a lot of debt, but that’s because of all the traveling I’ve done in the last year, and the plans I’ve made to continue traveling in 2012. I hate having debt, and I know I’ve spent more than I should have, but I’ve been SO much better at not spending my money on useless things like I used to previously. Being able to spend three weeks in Europe is proof of that for sure… But yeah, I don’t have any *savings* so to speak right now.

6. Read 40 books or more. Accomplished!
My original goal for the year was 40, and I’m at about 55 for the year. This is HUGE for me because I’ve never read that much, ever. Even though I’ve always adored reading, I’ve never made THIS much time for it. I hope to even beat this goal in 2012, especially considering I had *technically* upped my number to 60. I’m not too upset about not reaching it though. Last year I read 31 books only, so the point behind this goal was accomplished: I made a ton more time for reading this year.

7. Cross off atleast 50 goals on my 101 goals in 1,001 days list. 2/3 Accomplished!
At the end of 2010, I was at 27 goals accomplished (I think?) and now I’m at 61 or so. That means I only crossed off about 35 goals, which isn’t awful but still NOT close to 50. I’m also not too upset about this because there are a lot of goals on my 101 list that I know I won’t do at all anymore, and I have my 23 Before 23 list to focus on this year. I’ve also got big plans for this next year, so yeah, not too sad about this!

8. Buy a camera and take more pictures. Accomplished!
I finally bought a new camera at the beginning of the summer after breaking 3 in a row (bad luck, I know). Not only have I been taking more pictures, but I’ve been keeping up with my latest Project 365 on my Facebook, and I’m now further (and more motivated to complete it) than ever before!  I take pictures every day with either my camera or my iPhone, so this goal has been thoroughly completed. :)

4 completed, 2 half completed, and one completed 2/3 of the way. This might be my most successful set of New Year’s resolutions EVER. I deserve a pat on the back, ha!

Mostly though, I’m excited to publish this post and properly set up what I want 2012 to look like. I’m going to put my new organization skills to the test, and I’ll share my plans for the New Year next week!

How did you do with your goals in 2011?

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12 Changes

December 8, 2011 Filed Under: Goals, Post a Day 2011 Tagged With: , , ,

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As 2011 is coming to an end, I’ve been wondering what ways I can make 2012 interesting for myself in terms of goals and accomplishments. At the beginning of the year I gave myself a short list of New Years Resolutions that, much to my surprise, I’ve almost entirely completed. There are a few reasons I started to fail in the last couple months though (namely in the health department) and I couldn’t figure out how to set myself up with a project that could, potentially, keep me motivated throughout the year.

Then, bloggers to the rescue, Stephany and Katherine had a conversation about this EXACT kind of thing and created a project. They’re calling it 12 Changes, and according to Katherine’s blog post about it, there are nearly FORTY bloggers who want to be a part of it. If everyone is committed, I think this could be the coolest thing bloggers have ever come together to do for the sake of feeling better about ourselves.

The project is really simple, it basically states that each month of 2012, you have to make one change in your lifestyle so that by the end of the year you should have changed twelve things and turned them into regular habits. By giving each of these changes one month to take hold, we’re all really hoping that it won’t feel super drastic and dramatic all at once, but by the end of 2012 we’ll have actually done all of these great things.

12 Changes reminds me A LOT of The Happiness Project [by Gretchen Rubin]. I wrote about it a little while ago when I read the book by Gretchen Rubin, and I had completely forgotten about it until 12 Changes came up. When I had originally read The Happiness Project I had REALLY wanted to do something similar for myself (because I love goals and it just sounds like a lot of fun) so I think that Stephany & Katherine’s plan is just perfect.

I still haven’t exactly decided what my 12 changes are going to be, but I think I’m going to make mine look a little bit like a Happiness Project. I love the idea of 12 changes, one per month, but this is by no means a happiness project for me. I much prefer the name that was given to our blogger project.

I’m playing around with the idea of getting rid of my usual monthly goals, and instead focusing my energy each month on my given “change”. In each one of my goals, I’m going to have sub-goals, and I think I’ll instead make THOSE my monthly plans.

I haven’t fully decided what I want my list to look like yet, but I do have an idea of what each month is going to be about. Here’s what I have so far:

January: healthy eating
February: fitness
March: budgeting
April: procrastination
May: goals
June: friendships
July: personal living
August: mindfulness (or being open-minded)
September: school
October: organization
November: family
December: round-up (putting it all into practice)

I had originally come up with a list of 12 habits I wanted to improve upon, but then I remembered how inspired I was by the Happiness Project, so I took a few helpful tips from Gretchen Rubin & now I can instead incorporate my current lists of goals into my resolutions for 2012.

I’m currently super motivated to make this list the most work-able set of resolutions I’ve ever made. I’m excited to choose 2-4 smaller goals within each of the months to work on, and hopefully in the process cross off the remaining goals in my 101 in 1,001 (it ends in 2012!) and my 23 Before 23 (it ends in July!). Next year is going to be a BUSY year for me, but with this blogger project I’m beginning to think I’ll be ready to take it on.

I can’t wait to share more details with you, and if you have any other ideas, tips or things you think I should add in, let me know! If you’d like to be a part of 12 Changes, it’s super easy. You can leave a comment below and I can get you in touch with Steph or Katherine, or if you know them then just e-mail them directly and they’ll let you know what’s going on! 

How do you feel about New Year’s Resolutions? Do you ever stick to yours? Are you going to make any this year?!

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