A Constant Attempt to Grow

I am always setting personal goals for myself. Whenever something happens to indicate a landmark I will decide what I want to focus on. That makes me sound like a paragon of personal development but the truth is that the attempts to reach most of my personal goals fizzle out after a while. Life gets in the way in a number of forms, personal and professional and the goals are either abandoned or diluted or put onto the next list of personal goals! At least, that was the case until last year. Last year I finished full time work and decided that I was going to really focus on what I wanted to achieve. As is the case with me, I wrote it down and shared it on this blog. Let’s look at the list shall we?

Well, I am sure you will agree, that’s quite the list there, so what’s the progress? Now that I am no longer working full time all year round, pretty good is the answer.

Taking it from the top, I am definitely getting much fitter and I have also kept my exercises going for nearly 18 months. Oh, one thing to mention is that I started doing yoga again six months ago and the day before yesterday I was able to complete the plough for the first time ever! For those who don’t do yoga, this means lying down, bringing your legs over your head and touching the floor behind you with your toes! I never thought I’d be able to do that in a million years!

Spending on myself has definitely been in peaks and troughs. I didn’t spend anything on myself for the first four months of the year but after that it was a case of falling off the wagon! I was buying things from eBay and getting the lowest price for each item but I found myself buying more than I realised. With Christmas coming up I have reined myself in once more so I start again and try to get through next year with no discretionary spending.

Project work has likewise gone in peaks and troughs but I intend to really focus on that in the New Year. My blogging, on the other hand, has really gone from strength to strength. I have reached 17000 views for the year and yesterday I had 294 views, my best day ever!

I have really reduced my social media use because I have way more focus on other things. The two are definitely connected so long may it continue.

Work wise, I have now had two summers at the RCA which I have loved. I am a volunteer reader at a school in my local area with an organisation called Coram Beanstalk. I have an online role of shortlisting for Write the World, a website that runs writing competitions for 13 to 19 year olds. There may be other things in the pipeline but I think they will be in 2027.

The one area I have made no progress in is the creative arts so roll on 2027 is all I can say! I think the education induced fear of failure is holding me back. It’s a big hurdle to overcome but I figure that if I can complete the plough position I can do anything so watch this space!