Reflecting on 2015 and setting goals for 2016

I’ve been thinking a lot about the year ahead recently. As I’m out of the rhythm of formal target-setting and personal development that’s part and parcel of working in a regular job, I feel like I need to take some time to do a little target-setting and box-ticking. But for now, it’s not so much about where I’m going, but more what I want my journey to be like.

I haven’t really taken much of a step back since I started contracting five years ago, so it’s long overdue. In the three years I’ve had Pinsharp I’ve worked like a demon, partly driven by an insane work ethic, partly because of the relative terror of running a company for the first time. Because of that I spent a long time saying yes to everything that came my way, because ‘you never know’ – but looking back that was at the expense of my free time and sanity. It was certainly a learning curve!

Now I’m more financially settled, I feel like I can relax a little and focus on projects which I feel are the best fit for my skills, or which get me excited. Which leaves me time to achieve a good chunk of the things I’ve wanted to do for so long, instead of resigning myself to the usual well-intentioned, but ultimately doomed, wishlist of new year’s resolutions.

As I brainstormed it became clear that my goals were generally about getting a better work-life balance, whether it was getting into more of a routine, or taking better care of myself, or spending more time doing things I enjoy. Here are some of the headlines I came up with:

• Learn new skills
• Be braver
• Fail more
• Eat better
• Challenge myself
• Get more out of each day
• Train for a goal
• Spend more time with people

Then, after some pondering, these are the specific ideas I had:

• Learn After Effects
• Submit more poems to magazines
• Cook a new recipe once a week
• Make at least one video
• Go to Crossfit twice a week
• Read a fiction and non-fiction book every month
• Teach something or be a mentor
• Write the book I’ve been talking about for ages
• Travel to more places in the UK
• Learn Arabic (at least the alphabet)
• Spend more time with my family
• Keep a gratitude journal or write something every day
• Do a course in something (psychology, counselling, creative writing?)
• Volunteer at charity shop
• Start a blog to build a narrative of my experiences
• Work with more local businesses
• Get better at WordPress and coding (set up this site!)
• Start working in porcelain
• Don’t watch TV in working hours (9-6)
• Diversify revenue streams doing things I enjoy (ceramics, photography?)
• Join a local art group or society

I’ll try to comment on how it’s going in this blog. Then I’ll revisit the full list at the end of the year and see how many I achieved, and how happy I am with my progress.