2018 Goals

After the eventful 2017, I thought it was a good time to think about the goals for 2018. This time, I sought inspiration from this blog. What I like about this particular post is that its main focus is on the “how” to achieve goals and not really when. The heart of the article is about scheduling activities that will help you reach your goal rather than, by fixing deadlines. It made complete sense to me as we do not often take time to plan the goals of our personal lives well. If I do not schedule some time for journalling everyday, I am not going to be able to finishing writing on all pages of the journal (example of my last year’s goal). This year I have decided to set up my goals differently. Simplifying things- ought to make things easier.

My 2018 goals in brief:

Health: Keep up my daily exercise routine and ensure that I work-out atleast 5 days a week. Eat healthy meals every day- monthly once cheat day would be allowed. I would also go to bed at a pre-defined time and wake up everyday at the same time.

Sharpening My Culinary Skills: I have decided to not just cook regular homely meals but push myself to prepare more gourmet dishes. I have made some in 2017 as well but would like to take things to another level. I have decided to cook 10 gourmet savoury dishes and 10 gourmet sweet dishes in the year. I will be scheduling this in my monthly planner. It will take an effort to get the recipes and ingredients together. It is a little ambitious but I will do my best.

Blogging: I have decided to blog once a week in 2018. I do not want to blog sporadically but keep to a schedule. I have been inspired by Mr. Vinod Ekbote who has been blogging for the last 10 years and has been posting every Friday on his blog without fail- click here to check out the blog. I just think I need to set time aside for it and do it every week. I have a diary that is full of things that I would like to put up on my blog but due to several reasons have not been able to do so. However, I am determined to do it in 2018.

Watercolour Art: I am enjoying learning watercolour art from various online resources. I would make at least 10 proper watercolour paintings in 2018. It just must be scheduled in my monthly planner.

Launching my Youtube Channel: This has been on my mind for some time. I have still some way to go. I am not sure if it will be possible in 2018. I have to shoot some high quality videos and do some high quality editing. This is a good-to-do goal for 2018 and not must-do as I do not want to rush into it and put up some shoddy videos out in public.

Writing: in my journal everyday and at least one page a day. The goal I had in 2017 was to finish writing on all pages of the journal, which in the hindsight, did not make much sense. The goal for 2018 will not only ensure that I keep to my habit of writing, but also as a bonus, would help me finish writing on all the pages. I hope I will not get demotivated like 2017 and give up.

Reading: I have lowered the number of books to read in 2018 to 10. As you can see, there is a lot on my plate and I do not want to make the activity that I love so much to be one that induces stress. I would also like to read some good literature, and not just fun-light reading books. I think reading before bed works for me great and I think a good 15-30 minutes before bed would be great.

Travelling: It is my goal to travel to 5 different places in 2018. I better get started on my vacation planning soon.

Apart from this, I have a couple of personal goals for my professional and personal life which I prefer not to share publicly. Both are good-to-do goals and not must-do. Another learning I have had in 2017 was to not live “life” only on weekends. I generally put off everything to weekends and there comes a point when I just feel too overwhelmed and end up procrastinating. A lot can be achieved on weekdays as well. It requires a bit of planning- which I hope to master in 2018.

Wish you a very Happy 2018!!

2017- Year End Review

It is that time of the year where everybody is busy with their self-assessment for the year. Even Facebook did not spare us and showed us what we have been up to in 2017. In Feb this year, I had posted my Goals on this blog. I think since it is the end of this year, it would be good to share an update on how I fared. I also did a mid-year review but did not put it up on the blog as there was hardly anything to show and tell.

If you remember well, (here is a reminder in case you do not- click here) the theme of the year was Finishing the Unfinished. I must admit that I was not 100% successful but would rate myself 85% successful. During the year, there were some changes in priorities that took place and also some positive new changes to life that happened due to which I achieved a few other things that were not planned as goals for this year but I am none the less happy that I could achieve them. By the way, the goals do not appear SMART here but in my book where I have written them down, I have applied SMART principles.

Let us see how I fared (just took a deep breath):

Goal 1:  Finishing reading books that I stopped reading half way or those that I bought meaning to read but did not get around to.
The Verdict- My Self Assessment: While I read several books this year, unfortunately, except for a couple, all were new books that I purchased and read. I could not resist buying new books. So, not a big A+ on this one but definitely not an F. I was just happy that I could keep my reading momentum going.

Goal 2: Finishing off my half done craft projects.
The Verdict- My Self Assessment: I did some of this but not all of them. I still have several to finish and I do not think 365 days would be sufficient for me to complete all of them. Having said that, I really focussed on the things that I loved and my new found interests. I took up water colour art more seriously this year and painted a few things- will be up on my blog early next year. I also took up filming videos and learnt a lot about editing them and have also shot a few videos and uploaded them on YouTube....don't go looking for them, they are on a private mode. I still have a few things to do before I start posting videos publicly. I also learnt a bit more of graphic designing with the free tools available online. Most of the graphics on this blog are done by me using those tools but what I learnt is at a whole new level.

Goal 3: Finishing trying out cooking the huge number of recipes that I keep marking to myself favourites to read and try later.
The Verdict- My Self Assessment: I am proud to say that I am 100% happy with the progress that I have made. Though I cannot say I am finished with this, as, the more I read, the more I keep marking recipes as favourites. My biggest accomplishment was the Gujarati thali that I made with several dishes on the go simultaneously- felt like I was in the Masterchef Kitchen with the axe of elimination dangling over my head; and also several cakes that I baked for colleagues and friends. There is a still a long way to go but having come this far, I feel quite confident. My 2018 goals which will be up soon on the blog, will have a refinement of my goal setting with reference to cooking.

Goal 4: Finishing off writing in the journal I am currently writing in.
The Verdict- My Self Assessment: I get a D here. Though I wrote, it was not enough to finish off the journal. It feels as though the journal keeps magically producing pages- the more I write, the more blank pages I see. At one point, I de-prioritised this goal completely- was not worth the stress. In 2018, I have planned a better way to achieve this.

Goal 5: Taking care of myself
The Verdict- My Self Assessment: I think I have done a good job here. I have been walking and exercising more regularly this year. The last I did it so regularly was in 2011 when I took up yoga for a year. So, I am proud of myself. I did have some crazy times at work which would throw me off schedule but I made an effort to crawl back to a routine. In the past few months, the exercise has definitely gone up. Except for the period between April and August, I think I did not look like I have walked out of a jungle and have looked well-groomed (at least in my mind :-))

Goal 6: Regularly updating this blog.
The Verdict- My Self Assessment: I think this year has been exceptional in terms of blogging. I have blogged my highest this year in comparison to all the years since I started blogging.

Goal 7: Personal Life Goals.
The Verdict- My Self Assessment: Though I cannot say what it is, this was the biggest contributor to that 85%.

While I feel there has been a lot of achievements, there is scope for several improvements as well. Hoping for an even better 2018- Wish you a Merry Christmas!!!