My 2023 Goals

Considering that it’s the New Year, it felt right to dedicate a post to my goals for 2023. I’m a very pro-goal person, I absolutely adore thinking up challenges and things that I want to do differently for the upcoming year that I haven’t yet managed to do. However, I’m equally not very disciplined when it comes to personal goals and so this year will be the year to change that! Whilst I think that New Year’s resolutions can be a really good thing because they make people reflect on their lives and discover the things that they would like to change, or try, I also think that this mentality should be present all year round. Waiting until the 1st January to better your life is the same as waiting until tomorrow or until Monday to start. And we all know that these days never come! So, since there is never a time like the present, here are my goals for 2023: 

•  Work less

This might sound like the opposite of a goal, but I am definitely an over-achiever and therefore an over-worker. I spent far too much time last year forcing myself to work when I didn’t want to or didn’t feel like it and I even forced myself to function on around six hours of sleep a night just so that I could get up at 5am to work and then work until late in the evenings as well. I found out through a massive burn out that it’s just not worth it. So, this year, I will be working less so that I have more time to lead a healthier life and give myself a break! I have no doubt that by being healthier and in a better state of mind and body, I will actually achieve more than through working a ridiculous number of hours a week. 

• Be more mindful

This year I aim to be more mindful in all areas of my life. This includes treating my body better, doing things that are good for me, and also being more aware of the things in my environment. It is easy to get swept up in the fast-paced modern life that we are now all so used to living, but in letting ourselves be carried along by the need for speed, we are actually missing out on a huge part of life. Being more mindful goes hand-in-hand with my first goal as it will allow me to slow down and to really think about whether or not the things that I fill my time with are good for me and will have benefits for my future. Trying out meditation is something that I wish to do this year and I would love to be able to find a way to incorporate it into my daily routines.

• Worry less 

Something that I started doing towards the end of 2022 was worrying less about things and how things might happen and instead just taking things as they come. I spend far too much time overthinking and worrying about all the possible, potential scenarios and it ends up taking a massive toll on my energy and my happiness. The reality is that it always works out in the end, no matter what happens, and usually it never goes as bad as we think it will. I need to trust myself more to handle every situation that I have to face and also to understand that worrying about it won’t change anything nor help with what’s going to happen! Being calmer and less worked-up about things actually enables me to think clearer in order to make better decisions. This then leads me to a better outcome anyway so it proves that worrying about things is totally pointless. 

• One new thing a week 

I am a huge sucker for routine. I love everything to be exactly the same every day and I frequently find myself trying to follow and stick to multiple routines at once in order to get everything done at once. Routines are very useful and also crucial to living life, but they can end up being restrictive and sometimes harmful. An aim that I have for this year is to try one new thing a week so that I am breaking out of some of my routines. This new thing could be something as small as buying courgettes instead of carrots for my weekly shop or it could be as big as starting a new hobby. 2023 is the year to embrace my spontaneous side! 

• Spend less time on social media 

I am definitely not the person that posts about their every breathing second on social media, however I do spend a huge amount of time (when accumulated together) scrolling and consuming content. Whilst I ensured throughout 2022 that my social media channels were only showing me things that were motivating, inspiring, and useful for my life, it still doesn’t make up for the fact that I both start and end my day with scrolling through either Instagram or TikTok. I wouldn’t say that I am addicted to my phone or to social media, but I am very conscious of the amount of time that I am losing through scrolling that I could be putting to better use (such as writing blog posts!). I also use scrolling as an excuse to not get things done. I follow lots of channels or accounts that post about achieving goals and self-improvement, which is great and all but if I only consume the content and don’t actually make changes in my life then it is all useless. My goal this year is to use my time better and that means less scrolling! 

Despite having a whole list of things that I would love to do and achieve this year, I’m keeping my goals at five so that I have the best chance of making changes and sticking to them. I also have tried to stay away from the classic goals of ‘lose weight’, ‘eat better’, ‘exercise more’, because I want my goals to be more specific and more tailored to my lifestyle. 2022 was a year of trying things out and working out what my needs are so I hope that this year will be a year of meeting those needs and changing my life for the better!