Happy December 1st! Ah, the first of every month does bring a fresh energy to me. Especially now as we edge closer to the new year.
It’s difficult to imagine life after May. Life after I graduate. Life after I move back to Canada. It is a significant life change, a new chapter of my life, and I wonder what new desires it may stir up in my heart, or old plans it may put to rest. But I am open, I am open to life. I am open to changing my mind and changing my heart about things.
So I write this list more like a list of possibilities that might evolve into something different. Let’s see. Let’s see what life has in store.
Magic moments
Live deep.
❤ Reunite with Marie and Michelle (my roommates from my first year in Ireland)
❤ Have a picnic somewhere gorgeous with my husband.
❤ Reunite with best friends Emma, Becky and Choyi again.
❤ Camp in the Sahara Desert.
❤ Take part in a flashmob.
❤ Cut my hair.
❤ Go on a road trip to the Ring of Kerry, before leaving Ireland.
❤ Move back to Canada and make a beautiful home for my husband.
❤ Go camping.
Freedom
“With freedom, books, flowers and the moon, who could not be happy?” Oscar Wilde
❤ Quit chocolate completely for a period of time (minimum 1 month). Reduce intake thereafter.
❤ Give up refined sugar for a period of time. (minimum 2 weeks)
❤ Quit Facebook for a period of time (minimum 1 month)
Create
Life is art is life is art is life is art.
❤ Make a photobook.
❤ Make a video for my blog!
❤ Write one letter a month
❤ Make a beautiful video to music. Like moving photography.
❤ Put together my first book of poetry and/or short stories. Self publish for myself and my coffee table.
Soul
Cultivate Grace
❤ Complete a 40 day cycle of Surya Kriya practiced twice a day.
❤ Learn Shambhavi Mahamudra Kriya.
❤ Spend 3 weeks in an ashram.
❤ Keep a consistent yoga practice and deepen my Hanumanasana.
❤ Observe Ekadashi.
❤ Honour the full moon every month though yoga, lighting a candle, and meditation.
Learn
Acquire, refine & nurture abilities, skills, talents
❤ Graduate medicine
❤ Ease back into reading for pleasure: Read 10 books
❤ Do my Step 1 USMLE’s
❤ Learn 5 new piano pieces to play form memory.
❤ Add 5 main courses, 3 appetizers and 3 desserts to my repertoire.
❤ Start learning the guitar / ukulele
❤ Make my own yogurt and granola.
❤ Apply for a research job in the US.
❤ Read/watch the news consistently.
❤ Learn to do the Rubik’s cube
❤ Learn 5 poems from memory
I had initially planned to write my thoughts on each of these areas; thoughts on freedom, moments, creation etc, to give some insight into why I have selected these particular goals for myself. But I think I will save them for when I write and document each of these goals as blog posts.
As for now, what I will say is that this list is a beautiful guideline for where I think my life is taking me. The goal I am most apprehensive about completing is giving up chocolate and refined sugar. My addiction runs deep, people. How sweet it will be to be free of that. Pun intended.
Here are some things I like to keep in mind for implementing new goals and habits:
Review your goals monthly
If I didn’t review my goals every month, they would be long gone after about 2. Looking over your goals, and the progress you have made every month is good to keep them fresh in your mind and keep you on track.
Weekly focuses and intentions
I used to do a thing where every week I had a “theme” for my life. An area of focus. Some weeks it was something practical and external (examples: De-clutter, organize, volunteer, friendships, cooking, updating systems, waking up early etc) and some weeks it was more internal (giving, openness, honesty, communication, love, affection, peace, non-violence). I found this to be a great way to implement personal development into my every day life, rather than keeping it as a lofty and intangible thing I couldn’t really access.
To try list
Is there something you are curious about, but not quite sure if you can or even want to commit to it? Why not put it on a “To try” list and see if it makes the cut? We can all try something for a short period of time, a week, or a month and see if it’s something we would like to commit to for a longer period of time. I have a few things on my to-try list too.
Make a Win list
This is so important! This is something I used to do a couple of years ago, and somewhere along the line, I stopped. I would like to pick this up again. Basically, it involves making a list of all the things in your life that you do accomplish, and good experiences you have. Basically, an account of all your wins, from small tiny wins to big life-changing wins. It all counts and gives you a sense of all the goodness that you have cultivated through intention, creation, and perseverance in your life. It serves as a reminder of all that is good!
I hope to document with you these stories and experiences with you.
How about you? What are your goals for new year? Have you shared them on your blog? I would love to read it!
My exams are coming up on December 17th, so things might be a little bit quiet on my blog for now. Or I might decide to procrastinate from studying and be more active than ever on my blog. I can’t say for sure ;) Haha.
Love,
Malavika
PS. I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge another reason that makes December 1st so special. It’s my mom’s birthday! Happy birthday to my warm hearted mother.
Taken at my husband & I’s engagement party.
