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| Me stepping into the New Year in ALL the glitter! |
I'm not one for new years resolutions. I believe that you can start a new resolutions at any point in the year. So many people use the 1st of January as a marker for 'a new beginning' and that's great but the truth is if you're not going to start something in August, what makes you think that 1st of Jan will be any different. Although, I guess, any time you want to make a change for the better then that's good.
After saying all that, here are some of my new years resolutions! Ok, no not quite. Rather than resolutions I've got a few goals and challenges that I want to meet and accomplish this year and I thought that logging them down here will help remind me of them every now and again.
One of my main goals this year is to plan fun things. Get those days out, trips and holidays in my diary way in advance so I know that I have things to look forward to. I usually work most weekends so don't always have a chance to spend Saturdays and Sundays with friends, so this goal is incredibly important to keep me motivated and to ensure that I see people and have some fun. Already this year we have booked a two week road trip around California in August which is incredibly exciting! We booked the flights at the start January and I can not wait to spend evenings planning our route, booking our accommodation and dreaming of that hot Californian summer!
It's always difficult to keep up with friends, especially if you live in different cities. Some of my closest friends live and work in London and lead busy lives but this year I am going to make it a priority to make sure we meet up at least 2/3 times a year - even if that means simply spending a few hours together. It's important.
An important challenge for me in 2019 is to relax. This is usually at the top of my list every year. However, when things get busy I too quickly forget about this goal and slowly and subtly fall into a hole of panic attacks, disassociation, nausea, and health anxiety. Not fun. Actually, it's the worst. Someone recently compared mental health to fitness and it just clicked for me. I mean, I don't expect to be able to run a half marathon if I haven't trained for a year so why do I think that I can carry on to be totally healthy without continuously working on my mental health. Slowly but surly we will get there.
Last year I completed my first two triathlons. I had wanted to enter a triathlon for years but lacked the confidence to try. It's not like running where you can turn up with some trainers and you're a-ok to get going. Triathlon requires setting up your bike, wetsuits, understanding how to transition and more but I did it! With those two under my belt I want to continue with competing in 2019. I want to compete in some more sprint triathlons but I am also setting myself the goal of training for a half Ironman and completing the (half distances) Tenby Long Course Weekend that takes place in July. It's a three day event where you swim 1.2 miles on Friday, Cycle 66miles on Saturday and run a half marathon on Sunday. Exercise is something I love. I love moving my body after a day at work and running, swimming and cycling give me an hour or so a day where I can switch off my mind and focus on one thing. It's kind of like my version of mindfulness. I am not one for meditation but this is my kind of meditation - albeit a very sweaty version!
I want/need to get better with money. I need to understand more. How to get the best credit card, what is the best way to save, what bank has the best rates? I have got a lot to learn and I want to be more knowledgable about where my money is going. I have a house and am solely responsible for sorting out all the bills, paying the mortgage etc but I am very aware of how little I know about accounts and seeing as I'm turning 25 this year I think I need to get my arse in gear!
Professionally I have a few goal posts in mind that I am aiming to reach this year - one of them is to be more confident in my self and my abilities but I guess that comes with time.
2019 is set to be a busy year and I'm looking forward to it!
