Reflecting and Projecting

One more full day left in 2017. ‘Tis the season for reflecting on the past, but also thinking forward to the future.I treated myself to a paper planner again this year. While I like keeping all of my appointments in my iPhone, I find that it lacks focus. They’re all in there, equally important. Milestones to mark the passing of the year…

I’ve felt unfocused lately, so I started doing some digging for tools that might help direct me back towards where I want to be going. Treehugger wrote an article about 8 paper planners that would change your life. I clicked, read, and the Ink + Volt planner really intrigued me. It has space for creating monthly and weekly goals on top of your bigger, yearly goals. I has space for tracking how you are doing with these goals.

Once I was on the e-mail list, I also received the below planning sheets. They were made for the 2017 year, but fully cross-over into 2018. I’ve enjoyed thinking about my upcoming year and filling out these pages.

1. Reflecting on Last Year
2. Making Next Year Count
3. Setting Your Goals for This Year
4. Putting Together an Action Plan

Once I got going, I realized I have quite a lot of goals for the New Year:

1. My Canada bike trip, and training for it
2. Get my morning Sadhana going regularly again
3. Write at least one blog post a week
4. Journal (privately) at least once a week
5. Learn one guitar or ukulele song per month
6. Get a teaching job in Pinellas County I can bike to
7. Create one small art/craft project a week
8. Create one big art/craft project a month
9. Read one book a month
10. Sell my arts and crafts

All of these goals revolve around the theme Ink + Volt encourages you to create. Mine is: Balance and Grow. I want to cultivate more balance in my life between my career and “real life.” I want to create space for my life outside of work. I want to cultivate those loves in my life that I often shove to the side (e.g. music, making things). 

Some of you reading are probably thinking, how can you take on so many resolutions? A list of 10 does seem like a lot. But they’ve been on my mind and in the works for a while. They are things I care about that I want to add to my life, not something I need to do because it’s good for me (though doing these things is good for me).

The goal has been the same for a long while: vulnerability, empathy, personal growth, becoming more myself. It goes back to that first original painting I did back in 2012. There are ups and downs, but the waves get smaller as you grow. 

2017 had some little waves in it. And I’ve been feeling unfocused. I’m looking forward to focusing some of my energy on balancing all of the parts of me and growing the parts that have been stifled (along with those that might need a bit more fertilizer).

Wishing you a Happy 2018!!