It's important to have things to focus on to keep yourself from feeling like you're floating through life. Especially at my age (nineteen), it's way too easy to fall into the idea that you're not accomplishing anything. So here are my most recent goals.
- Keep straight A's. School is my main focus right now. It's my gateway to bigger dreams and accomplishments, so no matter what else I'm doing (including jobs, relationships, hobbies, etc) I need to make sure that I'm good with school first.
- Save money. To be honest, I spend way too much money right now. I'm always eating out, buying candles and Finding Dory paper towels (so worth it), and enjoying my time out here as much as I can. While it's important to have fun during all parts of your life, I need to plan for the future at the same time. So I need to keep regularly adding money to my savings account in order to have not only an emergency fund, but also money for moving out in the future, traveling to Europe (I plan to take a trip next year around September), etc.
- Read 100 books by July 2017. I really stopped reading as much this past year, and I'm ready to change that. It really helps that I've become more active on the website/ app GoodReads, where I can not only keep track of books I've read/want to read but I can also review and discuss them in online book clubs. I'm currently reading Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller - I recommend!
- Cook more. I want to be able to whip up a great meal without once consulting Pinterest or a cookbook. That just comes with practice and familiarity, so I want to cook my own dinner at least twice a week. That will also help me stay healthier and save money!
- Stay off my phone. I have gotten way too attached to my phone, and so I want to practice leaving my phone in my room in a couple hours so that I'm enjoying life without distractions. It's also what I fall back on when I'm bored or waiting for something, so I want to replace it with a book that I always keep in my purse. I think that'll be healthier than playing Candy Crush all day.
- Use my gym membership. I joined my boyfriend's gym last month, but we've only gone twice together. So one of my newer goals is to go to the gym at least twice a week, if not more. And that's additional to my jogs around the neighborhood, so I should stay in decent shape if I go at least twice. I really recommend joining Planet Fitness, since it's only ten dollars a month! They're also big on helping everyone feel comfortable at the gym, which is one of my biggest problems; I always get way too self-conscious, which will hopefully go away with time.
Those are admittedly some obvious goals, ones that most people have. So here are my more personal goals.
- Grow three different types of plants outside in pots. This will include learning about soil, fertilizer, roots, etc. I can't plant things in the ground because I'm staying at my grandma's house for only another year, but I recently bought some gardenias and planted them in a pot to put on the deck. It's really exciting to have something that can actually grow and bloom that requires regular care! So by next summer, I want three different plants in pots to take care of.
- Send thank-you cards and letters through mail. My family and friends are almost all in California, so I'm going to take the opportunity to send some old-fashioned mail to them! I just bought some stamps and some thank-you notes, and I'm going to start sending some out soon. I'm excited.
- Expand my music library. I get sick of music really easily, so I always need some new songs to keep things interesting. Lately I've been more into coffee-shop type songs; especially ones in Spanish, which relates to my next goal. I really like the Cafe con Leche playlist on Spotify.
- Go on Duolingo every day. Right now I am focusing on Italian, but I think I'll add Spanish also. It's a really great app for learning languages, and it's completely free! So I do recommend donating once in a while by buying one of their two dollar things. Not needed, but nice to keep it going and give everyone a chance to learn the basics of another language. Again, I really really recommend downloading the app!!
- Finish the Qur'an. With all of the controversy over Islam, I think it's important to know what you're talking about when discussing the issues or defending an opinion. And since everyone likes to quote from the Qur'an or simply give generalizations of it, I want to finish reading my copy (an English translation, but one given to me by an Islamic Center) so that I have a better understanding.
There are obviously some more, but these are the first ones to come to mind. My last goal - keep writing down my goals to keep them at the front of my mind!
"Happiness is not a goal... It's a by-product of a life well lived." - Eleanor Roosevelt
This is a great list! Good luck with it, I think I will make one of my own!
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