What are your goals?

What are your goals? Recently I have been looking at the areas of my life that I would like to improve upon. Some of my goals are large and some are small. A lot of them have been on my to-do list for quite a while. Most of them are already in progress to a greater or lesser degree.

By physically writing down my goals, the science shows that there is a higher likelihood of me actually achieving them. So, I thought it might be an interesting experiment to publish my goals on my blog, so I can document my progress towards each one. It will give me the motivation to make a start, and to keep going when my willpower is lacking. What goals would you like to achieve in 2021?

Family history research

My Dad did a lot of research on his family tree. After he passed away in 2015, I promised myself that I would carry on where he left off. And to a degree, I have. I have managed to find quite a few other ancestors, and have got copies of lots of certificates. The problem is that it is all sitting in a pile of poly-pockets, waiting for me to get round to doing something more with it. So, I will state that one of my goals is to write up all the research I have done so far, and share it with the rest of the family. I aim to do this by the end of 2021.

Yoga

I really need to start doing more exercise. Over the years, I have particularly enjoyed doing yoga. I have always done it through a class, but for various reasons, I have always ended up giving up the class. This time around, with the difficulties of the pandemic, I think it would be sensible to commit to doing yoga at home. Then I won’t have any excuses for not being able to go. So, my commitment to myself is to restart my yoga regularly. I aim to start this by the end of February, and keep it up all year.

Gardening

During lockdown last year, I decided to grow lots of vegetables. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to try my hand at gardening, as we weren’t going to be going out to the pub or on holiday. I found that I really enjoyed it, and found it very relaxing. I did cheat slightly, by buying everything as seedlings from the garden centre. My biggest successes were leeks, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, tomatoes and potatoes. We had such an amazing summer, and I am sure that helped!

This year I hope to replicate last year’s success, and will throw in a couple of other vegetables too. It seems a bit premature to be planning my garden while there is still frost on the ground, but it is good fun and keeps the winter blues away. I aim to start planting my seeds shortly, and look forward to seeing if I can have the same success growing things from scratch!

Personal development

I have done a lot of self-analysis recently, and enjoyed learning more about myself. The next phase of my journey is to start looking at psychology in greater detail, to learn more about how my mind works. I aim to start researching different topics within psychology by the end of February.

Writing

I have already committed to writing a blog post every day this year. Next, I want to consider how I could expand my writing, perhaps by designing a course, or compiling parts of the blog into a book format. I need to do a lot of research around this. I aim to have a firm plan around what to publish next by the time my secondment ends in November.

Self-employment

I need to have an idea of how I am going to replace my employed income in the future. There is a possibility that I may be able to do this through my writing, but if not, I need to have a back up plan. I will look into the options available, and aim to have a shortlist of realistic ways to replace my current income by the time I leave my current role in November.

Decluttering

My spare room is currently full of things that I don’t use. I hope to make some major headway on this during 2021. I commit to having got rid of all the things that I don’t need by the end of the year.

Mindfulness

I hope to have completed the mindfulness course I have just started by the end of March. By then, I hope that mindfulness will be a habit that I can keep up for the rest of my life.

Project 365

I set up this website after deciding that I want to build a more creative life for myself, so I can give up my job and be in control of my own destiny.

I have set myself a goal of publishing an article on my website every day this year, to document my journey from employment to self-employment.

The name I chose was Project 365 because I see this as a year that I have dedicated to learning and self-development, as I countdown to freedom. It started on 1st January 2021, so I have 340 days to go!

Why not check in on a regular basis to see how I am progressing, and what I have discovered?