I actually picked out my goals at the beginning of December, but I haven’t had the energy to post them until now. I’m sorry I’m three weeks late, but if you read my post-travel life update I published on Thursday, I had a good reason.
I’m not posting all my goals because there are personal and business goals I want to keep to myself, but I wrote most of them here in order to be as open as I can. I hope you enjoy.
Related – My 2017 Goals + Word For The Year
//My Word For The Year//
My word of the year last year was “hustle”. You can read more about that in last year’s goals post. I’m going to publish my 2017 reflection next, so you’ll see how I did with those goals there.
Last year was my first time ever doing a word for the year. I wasn’t sure it would help me, but I think it did help a little because my goals would come to mind whenever the word popped into my head. (which happened a lot). Unfortunately, I didn’t act on a lot of them until the second half of the year because I didn’t have a good plan.
This year, I purchased the Powersheets Goals Planner. I think it’ll help a lot (it has already) because it’s a month by month goal planner that allows me to keep my priorities straight and change and adapt my goals as the year goes on (because a lot can change in a year.
My word for this year is “Initiative”. I didn’t plan on that being my word, but after going through the workbook and brainstorming, that word came to my head.
I want to start things this year. I want to take initiative when it comes to all the things I want to do because I don’t want to wait for life to happen. It’s already happening and I want to start doing, not putting off.
//3 Life Categories I’m Focusing On//
“You can’t do it all and do it well” – Lara Casey
The Powersheets made me choose three life categories to focus on this year. Here are the options:
- Health
- Friends
- Spouse/Significant other
- Family
- Finances
- Spiritual + Personal Growth
- Work
- Recreation
In 2017, I prioritized health, family, and work.
This year, in 2018, I’m prioritizing finance, work, and friends. You’ll see that my goals reflect that.
//My 2018 Goals//
1.//Financial Goals
These are my three financial goals for this year.
A. Get A Credit Card – I honestly should’ve done this a long time ago. I’m twenty now and need to start building my credit.
B. Start Making A More Regular Income – I am self-employed, so my income fluctuates a lot. This year, I’m going to work more on my business and blog so that my income is more stable. I’d also like to get better at tracking my income because I suck at that, which makes taxes a nightmare.
C. Personal Savings Goal – I have a certain amount of money that I would like to put in my savings account by the end of the year.
2.//Travel To Europe
My travel goal last year was to go to Bangladesh and IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. I’m still in awe. My travel goal for this year is to go to Europe. I have enough money saved up because I was saving for this trip while saving for my trip to Bangladesh. Because my parents and grandparents generously paid for my plane ticket, I could book the Europe trip myself now instead of waiting a month or two. I’m hoping to make this happen this summer, so this goal could become a reality pretty soon.
“A dream without a plan is just a wish.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
3.//Start A YouTube Channel
It feels so weird to write those words!
Believe it or not, my parents suggested this to me. My very Bengali, immigrant parents. I brushed it off at first because I couldn’t wrap my head around that idea, but I think I want to do it now.
My reason for this is that I’ve poured so much of creativity into this blog and I absolutely love it, but I’m starting to lose that burst of excitement I get when I’m doing something creative. Blogging has just started being a part of my routine.
Don’t worry. There’s no way I’m giving up writing. This is my virtual journal of sorts and I enjoy it in so many ways. I just want to start something new and see how I like it.
I’ve already started preparing for this. I’ve done a lot of research, started filming, created the actual channel, etc. But I just don’t have time to launch it yet. I wanted to launch it in December but ended up getting super busy with finals and traveling, so I decided to postpone that goal for a while. I’ll tell y’all when I do it, but it’ll definitely launch before summer.
“To be creative is to let little pieces of your heart go and place them into each project you make” – Pat Bravo
4.//Make $1000 In A Month From Blog
I’ve never made $1000 in a month from blogging. That seems like such a huge milestone to hit. It might even be my hardest for 2018, but I’m going to try. This goal is attached to so many other blogging goals, but my main objective is to treat blogging like a job. Not just a hobby. I want to start taking this more seriously, which will definitely mean more content for you and hopefully more financial stability for me.
5.//Be More Intentional About My Friendships
I spent a lot of time in 2017 working on this blog, my business (it’s so strange to call it that), and school, so I didn’t spend as much time with my friends. We’re all busy and we go to different schools, so getting together can be a hassle, but I want to be a better friend this year.
Believe it or not, this goal came up while thinking about birthday cards. Before, I would make handmade birthday cards for people with really longwinded letters talking about how much I loved them and how they matter to me. I stopped doing that in the last few years.
And this got me thinking about how I wasn’t putting work into my friendships anymore. You can argue that you’re not supposed to put effort into your friendships, but I disagree. I’ve never taken my friends for granted, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t make an effort to give them a call or set up a time to eat lunch together.
And I do this stuff already. I do.
But I can do it more often.
This isn’t really a tangible goal per say, and I know making it a goal seems like I’m cheapening my friendships, but I disagree. No one would call “have more family time” an inconsiderate goal. Writing this down and keeping it at a forefront in my mind shows that I prioritize my friendships as much as I prioritize school or work.
I hope I got my point across correctly, but I’m basically rambling now, but basically, my goal is to be a better friend.
6.//Wake Up Early
I’m definitely a morning person, but I suck at waking up. It’s not even that I struggle with the early part. I just struggle with the getting out of bed and getting ready part.
In the mornings, I’ll walk across the room to turn off my alarm, then lie back down again until the very last minute. This is especially a problem on weekends if I don’t have any prior responsibilities because I’ll spend hours reading a book, on my phone, or just snuggling under my blanket.
This is not good for productivity’s sake. I can get a lot done in the mornings when I put my mind to it, but my sleeping habits have fluctuated in the last year and I really want to get my act together.
By the end of the year, I would like to be asleep by midnight and out of bed by 8 AM every day (excluding special occasions.)
7.//Read 12 New Books; Watch 12 New Movies
This goal started with reading one new book a month, but I decided to add watch a new movie every month for the sake of fun. As you all know, I love to read but haven’t read many new books recently. I want to make sure to read a new one every month.
I also really love watching movies. Going to the movies is such a fun pass time for me and love old movies like Back To The Future and Titanic, but there are quite a few classics that I’ve never watched like The Godfather and Pulp Fiction. I would love to watch movies like that so that I can understand all the references. This should be a fun goal to complete.
8.//Write Every Day
This is both a creative goal and a blogging goal. I love to write, but I don’t do it for fun every day. This blog will be one of my writing outlets, but I want to spend some time every day writing stories or journaling because I really don’t do it enough (because I write so much for this blog).
This year, I am going to write (almost) every day. It has to be completely unrelated to school and doesn’t necessarily have to be blog related. This is more of a fun recreational goal, but it’ll improve my writing skills. I think I can do it.
Well, that’s it for now. I hope all your New Years goals are going well. Please comment your goals for this year below.
What are your New Years goals for 2018? What are you most looking forward to this year?