Maddison's Musings

Although I don't usually care about the new year, I do like the sense of happiness it can bring to some. Each year, I set goals for myself that I wish to accomplish. Goals are much different than resolutions, as resolutions seem less likely to succeed since most people drop theirs by the second week in January. I actually achieved many of my goals for 2017, and I'm really proud of myself. I got my passport, graduated high school, started college, went to six different concerts over the year, and made time for friends more. All-in-all, 2017 was a pretty good year for me. Here's to an even better 2018, but first, let's talk about some goals.

My first goal is something I set every year. I always want to continue reading and writing outside of school, but I never used to set exact goals, I would just be vague. This year though, I want to read at least 20 books and write at least 10,000 words on anything creative for myself. I'm setting my goals rather low, but I don't know how busy I'll be this year, and I'd rather achieve them than set my goals too high and feel disappointed when I don't reach them.

Now that I finally have my passport, I want to use it. I don't know where I'll go, maybe Canada, maybe Europe, but I know that I just want to get out there and travel. There are a few study abroad opportunities I'm looking into over the summer, but if that doesn't work I at least want to go to Canada or some place to get my first stamp in my passport.

I've tried both a few times last year, and I really liked it, but I found it difficult to find time to do it. I know both yoga and meditation can help calm you down and are a great way to battle mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, which is why I want to try to do both more in the coming year.

I kept a small bullet journal for last semester and I really liked it, but since I used a smaller cahier notebook, it only had enough pages for a monthly spread and a weekly spread for five months (August through December). I've shelled out and bought a really nice journal this year, and I get to do more creative designs and such with it, which I love. I hope to make my next post about my bullet journal and set up, as well as supplies and where I gather inspiration. I hope to have that post up before the month is over, but who knows.

Last but not least, I want to spend my money wiser this year. I'm a really big impulse spender, so whenever I go to Target or see something cute on Amazon, I just buy it. It's not the best thing, and I really need to learn how to budget, especially if I want to study abroad this year. Not only for travel, but knowing how to budget and prioritize my spending will help me throughout my life.

I think these goals are pretty reasonable, and the only one I'm really not looking forward to is learning how to be more responsible with my money. I quite enjoy buying things, but alas I must save up. What about you? What are some of your goals or resolutions for 2018? Let me know by leaving a comment below and I'll see you next time I post something.

~Maddison