My Goals For 2019 Revisited: 6 Months On

At the start of this year I did a post about my goals for 2019. Now that we are already half way through the year (already?!), I thought today I'd review those goals and discuss how I've been getting on with them, what is going well and what needs some work. Let's dive in:

Learn to cook more meals (A work in progress)

This one has been hit and miss throughout the year so far. I started out the year really good, even my family took notice that I was trying to make more of an effort to branch out with my cooking abilities and I do have a few new skills and meals in my repertoire now. I'd started out the year cooking different things most days however a few months I've drifted out the habit every now and again so I need to give myself a kick up the backside for the next half of the year. Ideally, in hindsight I should have set myself a more specific goal, such as "learn to cook X amount of meals" as this goal is a bit too broad. Overall I'm pretty happy with where I'm at but there is definitely room for improvement!

Have X amount of money in savings (Almost achieved!)

As I previously stated, for personal reasons I don't wish to disclose how much I want to save but I have a specific goal in mind that I am aiming for which I want to have set aside by the end of this year. If I continue past this number earlier than expected than that is just a bonus. So where am I at right now?

I'm doing really good with this! It's probably the goal I've surprised myself with the most and the goal I'm most proud of right now. Especially as I used to be terrible for spending money so carelessly back in the day, I feel like I've come along way since then. So in a few months I will have reached my target! Yippee!

Continue to save for a house deposit (Not a priority anymore)

Unfortunately due to Dan and I splitting up, I'm not saving for a house deposit anymore or should I say it isn't a high priority for me right now at least. I am still going to continue to save money anyway which may potentially be kept to one side for when the time comes for me to finally fly the nest, but I am not putting so much pressure on myself to achieve this the way I had been at the beginning of 2019.

Have a holiday (Achieved!)

I've crossed this one off my list when I went to Rome in March for part two of my best friend's hen party celebrations and my first ever girl's holiday. It was such an amazing trip to a beautiful city with lovely friends and we had such a laugh! Honestly one of the best trips I've been on and Rome is such a wonderful city that I would love to visit again and again if I could.

However, this year is turning out to be a great year for travel, as by the end of the year I will hopefully have travelled abroad four times, how crazy! I feel incredibly lucky and fortunate to have the opportunity to do. Starting with Rome as I just mentioned, I then took the plunge and booked my first solo trip where I went to Amsterdam towards the end of June which was one of the best experiences of my life and a real boost to my confidence by getting out of my comfort zone. I'm also off to Zagreb in Croatia for a project with work next week and then followed by my next solo trip to Barcelona in August. I can't wait! And here was me at the start of the year thinking that my summer would be very boring, how wrong I was! Lots of travel on the agenda for me this summer and I'm so here for it!

Learn a new skill (A work in progress)

For this one, I'd like to quote a lyric from one of my favourite songs by U2: "I still haven't found what I'm looking for". To be honest, that quote could summarise the majority of this year for me ;) It's been a year of discovering what I want out of life that is for sure! But back to this goal. I've been experimenting more with creating videos for my Youtube channel, which I thoroughly enjoy and have a lot of fun with, but I haven't really found anything else that sparks that creativity, motivation and joy in the same way yet and to be honest, I think that's ok that I haven't found it yet. I'm not going to beat myself up over it like I would have done a few months ago. There's still plenty of time this year to try different things and see where it takes me.

Read more books and have less screen time (So far, so good!)

As always, a bit hopeless on the reading front. I miss the days where I could get lost in a book for hours without any distractions or lack of motivation. I'm still currently reading To All The Boys I've Loved Before* but I've still got a way to go to before I finish it. Maybe on one of my next trips I'll find some time to get lost in a book. Despite this, it still hasn't stopped me from buying more books though... anyone else do that?

I definitely think I've found myself having less screen time outside of work more this year. Now that I have more free time at the weekends, I've found myself getting out and about more, whether that is catching up with friends, running errands or spending time with family. Even on an evening during the week, I find myself not having countless tabs open on my computer or spending hours catching up on my Youtube watch later list or scrolling Instagram like I usually would. I've also tried to put my phone on silent more on an evening so I'm less distracted by it. If only I could motivate myself to read during those spare moments then it would be a win-win!

Complete my Invisalign treatment (A work in progress)

Honestly one of the most frustrating processes I've had to deal with! Originally I was supposed to have finished my treatment last August, which seems crazy to me looking back now. But due to my carelessness I had set myself back *hangs head in shame*. However I was so close to finishing my treatment at the start of this year, only to be told that once I'd finished those aligners that I would then have to potentially wear more to fine tune any minor adjustments and then I'd be finished for good. So now I'm still in the process of wearing more aligners for another 16 weeks. I don't help myself by being an incredibly impatient person when it comes to big changes like this. I like to see immediate results otherwise I start to lose faith. Although I am starting to see certain teeth that were taking ages to move finally starting to shift in place, so that has been encouraging. I know it is worth the money and I'm sure once I'm finally finished I'll feel a lot more positive about it when I can see the final result. I just hope this treatment will be done by the end of the year. Fingers crossed!

Have more time to myself/ Put less pressure on myself (So far, so good!)

I've been dealing with this so much better compared to last year. I've made sure to set aside more free time at the weekends these past few months to do whatever I want and it's been really refreshing and rejuvenating for me. Whether that is going out and doing something on my own, in my own company or just lazing about at home playing on my Xbox. I didn't realise how much I needed to make time for myself until I had it. Especially when I was away in Amsterdam, this reinforced it to me even more. As much as I love being around my friends and family and thrive off being around people, it's been good to balance it out and occasionally be a hermit ha!

Keep regularly decluttering and tidying up my space (So far, so good!)

Another goal that I feel has been successful so far this year. Every few months or so I have a good comb through my wardrobe, makeup, skincare, books, dvds and games etc. to see if there's anything that I don't really get much use out of and either try to use up, donate or sell on. I feel like the stuff I have now I'm happy with and my room is more clutter free.

Continue to reduce my spending (So far, so good!) 

I feel I've been so much better with this compared to previous years. Yes, I've had my moments of the odd splurge on clothes (I blame Monki and they're brightly coloured, gorgeous patterned clothes!) but much more rarely than before. I've come to realise I spend my money on food and going out more than any else really. Buying clothes and beauty bits is much less now and only when I'm short on something I frequently use and I've been a lot better at buying second hand on Depop too to save the pennies.

Try and keep a diary more frequently (Not achieved)

LOL this hasn't really happened either. I started the year off pretty good at keeping my diary up to date of what I've been up to, but hit a wall again and haven't really wrote in it since. I've got so much to write about but just lack the motivation to set time aside to update it. There's just so many other things out there that I prefer to do more in my spare time right now. I'll have to get back into this by the end of the year.

Thank you for reading! <3

Let me know how you're getting on with your goals for this year below :)

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My Goals For 2019

My Goals For 2017

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