Set goals to get the most out of 2017
My Mum has always said I was in a rush to be born and I've been in a rush ever since. I've always felt like I have 300 ideas, plans, thoughts, racing around in my head but I struggle to focus. At times I feel this has stopped me achieving quite as much as I want to, jack of all trades, master of none, but with so many ideas in my head that I want to push on further. I came across the idea of bullet journaling last year and immediately knew it was right up my street. The basic principle is using an analoge system to plan, set goals and record achievements, you start with a blank notebook rather than using an outline someone else has devised and you can be as creative as you like. I've never felt fully satisfied with using a digital calender/organiser, even paper ones with a set layout never seemed to do quite what I wanted so I loved the idea that with a bullet journal I could design my own layout, set the goals that I wanted in the way that I wanted and unleash my creativity on it. I toyed around with my bullet journal last year but at the start of this year I knew I wanted to really set it up properly and use it to tackle my tendency to desire to achieve but get distracted along the way.
This year is set to be the busiest of my life with a 1 year old and a new job it would be easy to scrap every idea and ambition I have, there's part of me that wants to, there's a large part of my Mummy instinct telling me I should be self sacrifical, it's selfish to take time to think of my own goals but at the same time I want my daughter to grow up with a Mummy who is fulfilled, healthy and not super stressed.
The Plan
One of my main goals for the year is getting in better shape. My running has always been a little on and off, one week I hit it with massive enthusiasm and feel like I should be in a Rocky training montage but then for whatever reason the next week things tail off. I know I've hardly been slacking with a London Marathon and a Ironman 70.3 under my belt but I've never committed to training quite as much as I'd like. It would be so easy for this to get even worse with a toddler to care for, let everything else take over, give in to the Mummy guilt. Sometimes as a Mum you feel that society thinks you should spend 24hrs a day thinking up engaging and educational activities to do with your child and when you're not doing that harvesting vegetables from your garden and cooking them into a la carte meals, I've even heard stories of people getting abuse when out running with their buggy being told they should be at home with their babies, it's hard to fight this nagging guilt that society drips into your mind but I know that ultimately it's in my daughters best interest if I take time to care for myself and I hope that as she grows my achievements will inspire hers.
I decided on 3 main goals for the year - RUN 500miles, READ 24 books, WRITE 52 blog posts and 52 diary entries. I wanted to make the aims achivable because I knew if I set over ambitious goals I'd end up disillusioned by the end of January and would loose interest. Instead I wanted to set a goals that would inspire me but that were realistic and if I smash them I can set more.
I wanted to make my bullet journal not just a bland list of 'to dos' and tasks but something that would spark my creativity and be a record of my achievements that I was proud of. There's a quote from Chrissie Wellington's (Ironman world champion and one time fittest person on the planet) autobiogrpahy A Life Without Limits that really resonated with me:
"Sometimes I have difficulty being in the now, being present. I constantly worry, am I making the most out of this, am I making the most out of this, instead of just accpting and enjoying what is."
While keeping a constant record of plans and achievements might in some ways seem contrary to trying to live in the present I think it helps me to feel I am making the most of my time and also by giving me something to look back on and reflect when I feel like time as raced by.
So here are how I chose to layout the goals for my bullet journal for this year:
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| I'm going to add more quotes as I go along to keep me motivated, orange and red will be buggy runs, blue and purple for runs on my own. |
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| 2 books a month may be a little bit ambitious especially with my tendency to fall asleep if I read while tired but I'll try and fit it in somewhere! |
I've always loved to write but like everything else in my life I'm not that good at sticking at it so here we go.
I hope this has inspired to focus on setting your own goals for this year. If you're interest in the idea of bullet journaling then follow my blog and I'll be posting some more bullet journal posts soon.
Keep pushing yourself,
The Happy Geek
