Looking forward

It’s the 10th of January today, which according to an article I just read means that 50% of people who made new years resolutions will have already broken them. This seems so depressing to me! I hope it’s not true.

While I’ve been a bit slow about blogging my goals and plans for 2013, I did spend a few hours on New Years Day having a big think about what I want to achieve this year. In fact I’ve been thinking about it for the last few months.

I know some people aren’t resolution people. But I think for structured, list making types like myself, the new year is a perfect time to do some thinking and planning.

Here’s my listy for your viewing pleasure and for holding me accountable.

1) Save for, plan and go to Europe.
I’ve been wanting to get back there for the last couple of years but for one reason or other, I just haven’t made it. However this October I’m going! Leigh and David and their tribe of kiddywinks have got their German house swap sorted and Mum and I are going to join them. Husband keeps changing his mind about whether or not he wants to come along, but I’m going with or without him. Can’t wait! The planning and the travelling will be amazing. The saving won’t be as much fun…

2) Organise my photos!
This is something that’s been on my to do list for too long. I have photos to be printed, hundreds of digital photos to be sorted, and boxes of my grandfather’s photos to be scanned. My goal is to finally get on top of this and do the sorting in chunks of time so it doesn’t get too tedious! I’m thinking I will dedicate an hour a week.

3) Get my ebay on! 
I have been a bridesmaid at least a gazillion times. I have dresses to sell! And they have been sitting around for years and years wasting closet space. There’s also a bunch of other stuff that needs to be purged both from my house and my parent’s place. My goal is to list one item a week from now until it’s all gone.

4) Be a better online friend!
About half way through last year, I blogged about how I wanted to be better at this. But I failed. However I’m trying anew. I read so many blogs that inspire me, make me think or make me laugh but I don’t always click through and write a message. In fact, I very rarely click through. I actually just found a post of Mel’s that I’d starred in google reader about her parent’s new campervan. I meant to show Ian the pictures and then write something about it. That was October. It’s now January and I’d say that the moment has kind of passed, wouldn’t you? I’ve been slack but I shall make amends.

To help with making this goal attainable, I’ve removed a few bloggers from my follow list so that it’s only my total, total favourites that take my time.

5) Tick stuff off the to do list! 
I’ve mentioned before that I keep long lists of books I want to read, places I want to go, movies I want to watch, restaurants I want to try, music I want to download, things I want to make. Sometimes though I feel like I spend a lot of time making lists and not enough time doing the stuff on the lists. This year, I’m going to change that. I’ve decided on 12 books that I WILL read, 12 movies I WILL see, 12 places I WILL go, 12 cafes I WILL eat at, 12 albums I WILL buy and 6 things I WILL make. One thing a month and two months per creative project seems quite attainable.

Image source.

And a couple of other things:

In the house department- We’re going to replace our decking and redo our lounge area this year.
In the reading department – I’m going to get over my OCD habit of having to finish EVERY book I start. In my whole life, I’ve only every not finished two books and I still feel guilty about them. But I’m trying to move on! After all, fife is too short to read bad books. I’m also going to start keeping a record of all the books I’ve read. Every year I say that I’ll do this but I don’t! This year though, my family has set up a facebook reading group where we can record what we read and talk about our book recommendations.
So that’s me. Now watch me go forth and start slaying my bucket list!