Reflections on 2012

Well, well, well, what a year of highs and lows! I started to write a post which ran through all of the goals I set myself this time last year and tallied up my progress against them and then I realised that those goals aren’t as relevant as they used to be.

At the beginning of 2012 I was pretty darned miserable so I set myself a whole bunch of goals to achieve to distract myself from the reality of being so blue. I can’t lie, the goals were good and working towards some of them means I’ve had a great time; I’ve seen far more theatre shows than I usually do in a year and I did manage to leave the country 3 times but actually I failed on a number of those goals because I was too busy just living my life.

This year, 2 really significant things have happened to me. The first is that my ex and I split up. Initially this sounds bad and it was painful but from where I stand now, it’s a purely positive thing as it’s given me a whole new perspective on that relationship which will really help me in future. I still don’t regret that relationship at all and I thank my ex wholeheartedly for being such an amazing person, he taught me a lot about myself and gave me all the confidence I needed to get to where I am now.

The second really significant thing that happened to me is that I have made a career change, fuelled by the confidence my ex has given me 🙂 I’ve only just started on my new path but providing I succeed, it’s going to open a lot of doors for me in 2013 and it’s finally given me that feeling of independence I have been craving for years.

So for 2013 I do have goals and things to achieve but the main thing for me is to hold on to the feeling I have right now. The last 3 months of 2012 have seen incredible change in my life and now I feel happy, in control and really excited to move into 2013 with all the fabulous friends around me who shared the highs and lows of 2012 🙂

Bring it on! In a week I will be sat at my desk shattered from an amazing weekend in Paris and in a year I will be an auntie for the first time! I can’t wait to see what the next 12 months hold!

Enjoy the last day of 2012 everyone and I’ll see you in 2013 for the best year yet! x

1 Month Down, is it Really Going to Happen?

Wowser, how quickly has January disappeared!?! It feels like I blinked and missed it even though there has been quite a lot going on in my life this last month. As I am so determined to achieve the goals I set myself this year, I thought I’d best undergo a little tracking session and see if I have managed to make any progress. If I don’t check now, soon I’ll be sitting here in June wondering how I’m going to fit it all in to 6 months. Here’s my progress:

• Weight 9st7 (or less) by March – somehow have managed to reach 10st…oops!
  • Umm, still at 10st despite quite a few changes to the diet. I have a very poorly gut at the moment so I can only hope this will settle soon and help my weight loss
• Weigh no more than 9st at the end of the year
  • As above
• End the year with £3,500 credit card debt or less (fair chunk to pay off to reach that!)
  • Epic fail! My car added £650 to this for it’s MOT. Instead, I will be saving to pay off a chunky old loan this time next year
• Read 10 new books
  • Not yet started but did finish a book today which was started in 2011. I have book no. 1 lined up and ready to go so hopefully this time next month I’ll be back on track
• Star in at least 1 theatre show
  • Auditions in a couple of weeks 🙂
• See 12 theatre shows
  • This one is super fun. Have so far seen an amateur show at my local theatre (Neverwhere, was awesome) and went to see Cirque Du Soleil at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday which was spectacular!
• Spend 3 weekends away with the bf
  • I blame him for the lack of progress
• Eat in 6 new restaurants
  • January = poor month = not much eating out = fail
• Leave the country 3 times
  • Trip to Budapest booked for July, super luxury as well 🙂
• Exercise for at least 1.5 hours per week (up from 0 hours)
  • Simply put…not done this! I have however started Aqua Fit once a week but made one class then was too late for the next. Back on it this week but it’s only 45 mins per class :-s
• Make my eBay store self sufficient by June (i.e. have enough profit to buy next lot of stock)
  • Sales have started picking up this week with the arrival of pay day…phew!
• Have a trip to NY booked in (actually have at least deposit paid)
  • This one’s for later in the year
• Make and try 3 home made beauty products
  • Nada! Have however inherited a heap of non home made products from a friend who is emigrating. The pile of products I have in reserve is MASSIVE. I will use them all though…eventually!

So as you can see, I have made fair progress in some areas whilst failing in others but nothing is a lost cause yet and I’m hoping I’ll have a bit more time in Feb. to dedicate to my goals. I still feel like these are achievable and that’s the most important thing. How are you all doing with your goals? x

How Do I Set Realistic Resolutions for 2012?

Like most people, at the end of one year I start thinking about the next and what I want to achieve over the course of that year. In the Western world at least, this is programmed into us from birth. Personally, I think a good starting point is reflecting on the previous year and what you have achieved to work out how you can build on that for the next. So here are some of my highlights from 2011:

• Jan – moved out from the parental home into a room in a shared house
• Feb – promotion at work
• Mar – completed run of Teechers at Progress Theatre
• Spring – sold my beloved Mini Cooper which kept breaking and bought a rubbish old Punto for cost savings (moment of previously unseen maturity)
• Spring – started my Candida blog
• June – moved back home for a month, before…
• July – moved into a house with the bf
• July – went on my first girly holiday
• July – sold rubbish old Punto and bought sexy Corsa VXR
• September – further pay rise at work
• October – took bf away for a holiday, (our first one) though just in the UK
• November – made redundant
• November – started eBay shop
• December – secured new job at big global company!

All in all, it’s been a pretty busy year and my bf was not wrong a year ago when he said 2010 had built the foundations for 2011. This year has been insane, so much has changed! However, you’ll notice a few steps backward along the way, as is often the case in life and it seems to be these that I dwell on. Despite having made significant progress towards my goals overall, I still feel like I have wasted my year and like I’m way behind my peers in sorting out my life. Now, I confess this is partly because I happen to have especially successful friends but actually, I think it’s mainly down to me.

The bf and I had a conversation about what we had achieved this year and he could clearly check off 2 of his 3 goals and has set similarly achievable goals for next year…as has my sister. These are both people who I admire for being “sorted”. I however realised that I never break down my goals, I simply have huge ambitions which I can never achieve in a year so I am left feeling like a failure when I don’t get there. The problem is that I’m so impatient that short of achieving all of my goals in one hit, I’m not sure what success for me will look like in 2012. How do I set myself some resolutions or goals for 2012 that I can actually achieve and still feel like I’m moving fast enough? What if I set the bar lower and still fail?

Is anybody out there good at setting personal goals and can offer me some advice or do most of us live this way? It’s a vicious cycle I’d like to break some I’m on the hunt for some advice from those who are in the know…I’ll let you know what I find! x