It's two years since I sat down, on my 27th birthday, and made this list.
That means I only have one year left to make as much progress as I can against the goals I've set myself. And that means I have to get organized, and get ruthless.
Some of these are big goals, like my PhD, towards which I'm making slow but steady progress. Will I finish in time? It's virtually impossible to predict, and not entirely up to me (there are examiners, after all, to examine me...) but I'm still hopeful. I have a reasonably concrete plan, and none of the steps feel too huge.
For others - like learning new juggling tricks - I'm simply going to have to find some time to set aside. But that's a large part of why I made the list in the first place: to encourage myself to set time aside for things that I wanted to work on. Time to stop procrastinating and start doing stuff...
| Previous 6 Jul 2011 | Latest 6 Jan 2012 | |
| Academic | ||
| Complete my PhD | First tranche of experiments | Changed topic & conducted more experiments |
| Publish in an academic journal | Not started | Papers in draft |
| Present at a conference | Presented a short paper & poster in January 2011 | |
| Home | ||
| Install a woodburning stove | Fitted August 2011 | |
| Redecorate the house | Completed in August 2011 | |
| Install solar water heating | Idea scrapped - not cost effective | |
| Build raised vegetable beds | Not started | |
| Travel | ||
| Go to Greenland | Visited in June 2010 | |
| Visit the southern hemisphere | Probably New Zealand in 2012 | |
| Have visited 30 countries | Started at 20; up to 23 by Jan 2011. | 27: added Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Turkey. |
| Writing & Speaking | ||
| Have a novel published | Independently published my first two novels (Rebellion & Revolution) - getting great reviews so far, and reasonable sales | |
| Finish the Charanthe series | Rebellion (#1) published | Completed & published Revolution (#2) |
| Finish writing one standalone novel | Odd first-drafts lying around | |
| Record and podcast an audiobook | Done some test recordings | |
| Have articles printed in 10 different publications | 1/10 so far; a few further queries ignored. | Writing a travel series for a local talking newspaper/magazine |
| Average 5,000 hits a month on my blog | Started ~1,500, avg. ~2,200 in early 2010 | Over the past six months the average is ~4,000 |
| Get a slot on the local radio station | Took a short course in radio production and broadcasting, but decided not to proceed. | |
| Take at least 5 public speaking engagements | One completed talk | Two further bookings for 2012 |
| Crafts & Skills | ||
| Hand-knit a jumper or cardigan for myself | Knit myself a cardigan | |
| Learn embroidery | Various projects | |
| Learn 10 new juggling tricks | Not started | |
| Use manual camera settings most of the time | Currently rather erratic | Started a Project 365 |
| Get my Guiding warrant | Around 1/2 done | |
| Develop a board game | Made an initial prototype (lots of work still to do!) | |
| Make all my own Christmas cards | Succeeded in 2010 | |
| Complete a triathlon | ** NEW July 2011 ** Started training | |
| Sew a dress for myself | ** NEW July 2011 ** | |
10 comments:
I was about to ask, 'Where's 6 Jan 2012?' when I realised the deliberate mistake in the headings. Is there a prize for spotting it??=)
Onwards and upwards! I've been looking forward to seeing this and it's good to know that I'm not the only one who scraps certain goals if they turn out too much trouble or I just plain lose interest. Possibly both....
And I thought my plan for the coming year was ambitious. Good luck, and happy birthday!
It looks as though you are making great progress, and it is good to see that you have the courage to abandon or change goals that no longer help you. It's always a bit tricky to know when to persevere and when to stop!
Happy Birthday Sweetie!
I am so impressed with you, all this stuff makes me smile.
I made my first dress, and took it with me to Ireland. But sadly when I took it out to wear it my friend laughed at me, which in turn made me feel self conscious, so I never wore it. It was grand!
I also gave my mother-in-law your links for the two books so she can buy them for her kindle. She will love them!
You are amazing! I seriously admire you!
Wow. THis is an extremely impressive list.It's inspired me to go back to writing goals and making a vision board for the year. I think writing down what you want helps them manifest. Happy New Year!
Turning thirty is not a death sentence! If anything, it's a beginning. You have a lot of years left to get things done.
Happy Birthday!
Joyce
http://joycelansky.blogspot.com/
So awesome that you are writing a travel series for a local newspaper... I cant think of a better candidate! Here's to a happy and healthy new year and best of luck reaching all your goals!
Also happy birthday!!!
Hi Rachel! Wow you are so organized - I thought I'm pretty organized but you are even more! I wish my life is more planned well like yours. With the two small kids, my life is pretty chaotic! Happy Birthday!
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