Right at the start of this year I set myself 10 goals. Not resolutions, but clear focused goals. And today I want to review them on the blog, and hopefully share the new goals for the new year sometime next week. You can read the full list and reason for 2014’s goals here.
Goals MET
1. Pass my driving test and commute with confidence.
This was a huge thing on my plate, I started learning to drive in October 2013 and more or less a year later I passed my test first time! I think that has got to be my biggest achievement of 2014, and I can honestly accredit passing to this video - please watch it if you have plans to take your test anytime soon. (and some words of advise from my grandfather - don’t think of the invigilator as anyone important. He’s just a passenger wanting to get from A-B safely.) Commuting with confidence won’t be able to happen till I get insurance - which is in less than 3 week yaaay!
2. Stick to to-do lists
Granted I made less of them this year, but I have been more successful in sticking to them! Time management has always been a bit of an uphill struggle, but I’m pleased to have managed to get this done. Onwards and upwards - oh and a good excuse to buy more pretty stationary right?
3. Stick to a skincare routine
I’m so glad I finally achieved this! It has made a drastic change to my skin, so much so that I am loving no makeup days as much as I enjoy putting makeup on, which is something I didn’t believe possible this time last year. At the start of the year my skin was normal-dry and now after months of removing makeup properly, cleansing wonderfully well and applying oils almost daily, my skin is as ‘normal’ as it will ever be. Makeup application is smoother, I need to use less and less base products and I’m even starting to see a little reduction in the under-eye circles. Basically if you believe spending 15 minutes a night on your skin is a waste of time - push yourself, stick at it and see results.
Half-Way There
1. Take more photos of day to day life
This was a huge one for me in this increasingly digital age, where photos are rarely printed at all. I think on the whole I’ve been pretty good with my beautiful DSLR. This year I purchased the Canon 50mm lens and I 100% recommend it to anyone who is on the fence. The quality difference between this and the standard canon lens is amazing, and although you have to pretty much move yourself to get closer to the subject or object it is wonderful to have in my possession. Being introduced to huggle up (post here) this year has helped me to make the most of my digital prints from instagram AND from day-to-day life. A goal I’ll be keeping up with for 2015 for sure.
2. Monthly Update Posts AND 3. Post 3X A Week
A personal set of posts for me, with the intention of helping me reflect on the year, month by month. I started off strong and as the year went on they became less and less. The last few have been pretty general. I will be keeping it up in 2015, but it links in with the point above, without a few pretty photos I feel like I can’t write a post worthy enough. Which sounds a little odd, but perhaps I need to get over it and remember why I started those posts in the first place! Writing has always been therapeutic for me, so here is to more update posts in 2015. The 3X routine has been fairly consistent so I’ll stick to it as much as I can.
4. Donate to a different charity every month
Again another very personal one. I have sort of done this, but come summer of 2014 when over 2000 people were killed in Palestine for existing all my charity excess money went to Palestine for the next few months. I then took it a step further and became an ethical beauty buyer and hopefully encourage some of you to do the same. More of that can be found on the right hand side. Also much more information on why, how and who will be posted in the next year regarding ethical blogging. It’s something that is very close to my heart.
Goals NOT met
1. Plan all assignments the same week they’re set
The only uni goal and I set and I seriously struggled with this. In hindsight I have found that making a revision timetable online and moving my deadlines a week up on the calendar are much more helpful ways of managing my time. I am continuously reading posts with Uni tips and trying to implement them into a busy schedule.
2. Save money
*sigh* Well I’m not going to pretend that I haven’t treated myself this year. I’ve invested in some beautiful makeup, really getting to know some wonderful highend brands. And on a much larger scale I have spent a lot of money learning to drive, partly buying a car, roadtax, provisional insurance etc; But and this is a big BUT - I have promised myself that spending is going to stop now. As you may have read in this post, I’m not calling it a spending ban because that sounds restrictive. Nope. It’s 100% about appreciating what my money has already earned and recognising that I have more than enough makeup for the time being. Plus as I keep saying, the next year will be pretty expensive, as running a car is not cheap. However I couldn’t be more exciting to start using my car which has been sitting in my driveway since October!
3. Develop A Healthy Routine
*double sigh* I tried, I gave up. I forgot about it for a couple of busy months. Then Ramadan came around - so a no no there (I really applaud athletes who continue training during this month). Then I tried again at the start of Uni. But commuting time wise and energy wise really got to me! So I’m hoping I can figure something out, a more realistic way of including exercise into my routine. Cannot give up with this one, stress = junk food = double chins. I’m getting a little tired of that now haha!
Thank-you for reading ♥
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