As you can see in the post title above, yes, it’s my birthday, so Happy Birthday to me! You might all been wondering why birthday goals instead of New Year resolution eh? Well, I remember I tried one when I was younger but it turns out that after 3 days I forgot all about them. As you can see, I’m not the kind of person that revolves around list or someone who keeps an appointment notebook or the likes. I’m not really organized. I prefer being spontaneous because believe it or not, I’m good at it haha. When I really want to change something about myself or do something new, I just keep that in my mind and you will see me acting on it the next day. It’s funny because when it comes to expenses, I do good with planning on them first before making any move. Well, you’ll absolutely do that when you finally realize how hard it is to earn your living.
As I look back last year, I realized that I really need to finally have a written goal and not just a resolution. Aren’t they the same? Well, according to research, 80% of people are failing to keep their resolutions. And I figured, with goals, we usually do our best to achieve it. And in order to act on it, you need to have a realistic one, for mine, I am aiming for a goal that I could do and finish just this year so I could start and create another one the next year.
When I got sick last 2013, the year after, I started living healthy; no junkfoods, no softdrinks, taking up multivitamins and the likes. But I started to get a little naughty last year and little by little I started to feel that I am one step closer to being sick again, and I don’t want that! It’s not just about my health but also with some opportunities that I let slip away because I’m too comfortable with my comfort zone. The only thing that I accomplished last year was to finally reward myself with Kindle Paperwhite E-Reader and transfer to a self-hosted website. And since I wasn’t able to succeed with my new year resolution before, I decided to make goals for my birthday instead. Who knows, I might succeed this time eh? Plus, I’ve got witnesses, so please feel free to poke me if I am starting to ditch my goals again. *wink
BOOKS AND BLOGGING
- Read all the books in my TBR. I have the habit of adding new pile of books in my TBR when I see something that might be a great read. That’s natural, all bookworms do that, but this time, I badly needed to clear my TBR first or I’ll flood my Kindle. (Plus, I badly needed some new paperbacks of my favorite books from different authors in my bookshelf this time! It’s not like I’m complaining lol, I’m just looking for some new varieties) I know it’s going to be hard, so I made a compromise. Instead of purchasing the book that I want to add to my TBR, I decided to just put them on list first then purchase them once I’m done with my TBR. So yep, I guess goodbye for some ARC for now, unless I’ve already made a promise to read them. *wink
- Grow my blog’s social media accounts following. After going to a total blog makeover late last year, I’m back to zero with my social media following. In order for me reach more audience, I need to post more often in my social media accounts in order to gain new following. Good thing post scheduler comes in handy.
- Post more frequently. I’ve checked my previous posts last year and I can’t believe I only have an average of 7 postings each month! I am paying monthly for domain and hosting for just 7 postings?! So yep, goodbye procrastination and laziness, hello to more blog posts.
- Redesign the blog and be content with it. I can’t count how many times I’ve redesign this blog since its inception. I don’t know what’s wrong with me but every time I saw a blog and loved the design, I can’t help but hate mine. So yep, I’ll definitely list all of those things that I like and combine them all to finally create my ultimate blog design.
- Start being more “personal” with my blog posts. If you read my “About” page, you’ll be greeted with my picture in my back. Haha. I want this blog to be a book, travel and personal lifestyle geek blog but I failed that one, even in the page that I am suppose to introduce myself! Well, you can’t really blame me. I sucked in English plus I find it hard to find words to express myself in writing. Since elementary to College, I only have petty grades in English. I love English, I really do, but it seems that whatever I do wasn’t enough. That’s why I don’t want any of my classmates, even my family to know that I blog. But the heck with it, I want a place that I could freely express my own and share what I love, so starting today, I’m not letting that fear keep me from the thing that makes me happy. So expect more personal approach to my blog posts in some coming days, and an updated and more personalize About page.
- Continue improving my writing style. In relation to my goal above, I’ll never lose hope and continue improving my writing skill even if it takes me some extra time writing just one post.
- Start creating posts about blogging. I remember I wrote in my first blog post after my long hiatus about sharing some useful tips about blogging but I only managed to published only 1 blog post about it last year. So starting today, I’ll erase procrastination in my system and start creating blog posts.
- Find some ways to keep the blog running. The cost of self-host blogging is not something you can just laugh about and shrug off. You pay for the domain, hosting and even its maintenance, good thing I’ve got maintenance covered. I’ll tell you more about this goal in a few minutes
PERSONAL
- Go out of my comfort zone and be brave to follow my first love. Because of the sudden termination from job late last 2015, with all the bills to pay, I decided to take the offer as a freelance worker. All of my career plans go haywire, and my plan to finally pursuing my first love went on hold. I planned on sticking up with my freelance job until the month of June last year but didn’t happened because of my monthly financial obligation with the condo that I got last year for my mom. The pay is absolutely better than my last office-based job, but I am not happy with the job anymore and I feel deprived from the thing that I want to do which is programming. I want to code. And because I don’t have any field experience means I’ll get minimum salary which isn’t enough to keep the condo and to pay all the bills including this blog. In relation to my last goal in blogging, I badly needed to find some ways to keep this blog running because aside from programming, blogging is what I always love to do. So yeah, I’m finally open for some sponsored posts.
- Stop being lazy and start reviewing. In relation to my goal above, I need to review first in order for me to land the job that I love. Well, let’s say that I am already behind after graduating from college 3 years ago. Imagine the new trends and algorithms that I miss, so yep, this year is absolutely a year for me to study and learn new things in connection to programming.
- Invest on making list of the activities I am taking this year. I’m spontaneous. When I’ve set my mind into some things, I acted on it without jutting what my plans gonna be. It worked for me last year, but since 2017 is going to be a busy year for me, I need to start writing my plans and be organized.
- It never hurts to be spontaneous sometimes. Even if I’m going to start being organized, a little spontaniety wouldn’t hurt, well, actually it’s kinda fun. I don’t like surprises, but I love surprising others. *wink
- Take care of myself. Last year, I failed to really take care of myself, I started eating unhealthy foods and deprived myself of sleep. So this year, I’ll read more but make sure that my health will always comes first.
- Be more beautiful the natural way. Well, let’s assume I’m beautiful, haha. Last year, I used so many beauty products that it took me looking like a human red chili and is scratching like heck to finally ditch it and start looking for some natural alternatives that could make me have a beautiful skin and pimple free face without those unhealthy redness. I’ve made some research and is starting taking care of my skin without using those chemical enhanced beauty products. I may be posting about it in the future. *smile
- Be fit. I’m a big supporter of YOLO, that’s also the reason why I am so big now because whenever I see food, I just say YOLO and eat them lol. Others have 3-packs of abs, while I have 2 layers of fats. My doctor once told me to never deprive myself of foods, and ofcourse I will never do that. Food is love! But that doesn’t mean I just eat everything, I’ll make sure to check that it’s healthy before stuffing it in my mouth. In relation to that, I’ll start exercising too.
- Buy a DSLR. I know it’s going to be a tight budget year this 2017, but I also love blogging about my travels. And we all know in order to be an effective travel blogger, you need to have your own camera. I’m tired of borrowing camera from my aunt which actually lives a one ride of boat away. That being said, I’ll learn to have self control in buying things that I don’t really need or isn’t in urgent need. And that’s how my #1 goal in books come in handy hehe.
- Travel as much as possible. Last year was my year of books. I’ve read books so much last year and only traveled lesser than what I really wanted. Even if I am going to have a tight budget this year, I’ll make sure I’ll set aside something for travel. This year, I want to finally travel on a new town or city alone or with some friends.
- Get my own passport. Before this year ends, I want to finally get myself a passport. Who would know, I might win a free travel abroad. (cross fingers)
- Become a better person. I’m not a politician, talented or even brilliant, so the only contribution I could give to make this world a better place to live is to become a good person and start influencing others.
So that’s it for me this 2017. Have you set your goals too this year? You can share them in the comment box below.
