2009: Where Are You At?
[ 10 August 2009 ]
Okay. I don’t mean to freak anyone out, but 2009 is already half-way done. I don’t know how this is possible, but it is. There are only four & a half months left in the year, so it seems like as good a time as any to do un petit review of the year thus far, & set some new goals & intentions.
It’s so easy to get swept away with work & projects & new loves that we often find ourselves scrambling to keep up & feeling kind of aimless. Having a fresh new direction & a definite vision of what you want will inject your life with purpose & excitement once more!
If you have no clue where to begin, here are some ideas…
Think about what has gone well this year. What are you happy with? What has been successful — & how did it come to fruition? What have your greatest achievements been so far?
Think about what could have been improved upon. Could you have tried harder in a couple of areas? Of the things that didn’t go well, what could you have done to change the outcome of that situation? If you had taken 100% responsibility at the time, do you think things would have played out differently?
What were your goals at the start of the year? How are they going? Are they 20%, 50% or 100% completed? If they’re not checked off yet, why not? (Don’t be afraid to admit they’re no longer important to you if that’s the case.) If they’re still things you want to make happen, what could you do to speed up your progress? Who could you ask for help? How can you break up the goal into manageable chunks to make it easier to achieve?
When you look at the people around you, what have they achieved that you’d like to do too? How can you make that happen? Can you ask them for assistance or advice?
How are your finances looking? Are you making as much money as you want? Are you saving any money or just spending it as soon as you get it? Should you ask for a raise, start a savings account, cancel your credit card, stop obsessively trawling eBay… ?!
Are you happy with your career? Do you feel stuck? If so, why? How could you alter that? Is it time for something new? How can you improve your situation? Where could you grow? How could you branch out?
What do you do with your spare time? Are you constantly playing catch-up & running errands with no time to relax & just do nothing? Is there a class you want to take? When was the last time you took a holiday? Are you in control of your free time or is someone else?
How does your body feel? How healthy are you? What are you eating? Do you exercise? Are you drinking or smoking more than you’d like? Do you need a spa day? What positive steps can you take towards a lifestyle you feel happier about?
Are you getting along with the people around you? How are things between you & your lover? Your workmates? Your kids? Do you ever see your best friend? Do you ever get personal emails?
How about you? How do you feel about the person you’re becoming? How’s your personal integrity? What are the attributes you hold in high esteem? Are you embodying them? What can you change? What can you begin accepting?
Are you involved in your community? How are you helping the people around you? Do you know your neighbours? Do you support your local businesses? What could you do to improve the lives of people in your immediate vicinity?
These were my intentions at the start of the year. Here are my intentions for the rest of 2009.
Be… More outgoing More loving of myself & others Less fearful More open More giving Go to yoga every Monday Accept more social invitations Set work-hours & stick to them! Save more money Communicate more with the people I love Strengthen my friendships Be brave Work harder Also, take a holiday Be more charming (make the effort) Get my own place in NYC (read: stop sub-leasing) ...& honestly, I need to learn how to use my camera (I have had it for three years now & I still have no idea what I’m doing with it).
How about you?
My suggestion would be to write down the things you want to achieve & put it somewhere prominent. Stick it to your front door or your monitor, slide it into the clear sleeve in your wallet, or make a big graphic image of it & set it as your desktop wallpaper.
If 2009 hasn’t been too wonderful for you so far, this is your opportunity to turn it all around. Blank slate. Here’s to raging successes, never-ending excitement & lots of love!
Love letters & feather headdresses,
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Great list Gala…Oh boy,time sure flies!
My goals are more immediate, as in try to enjoy summer before it’s over. We got so screwed with summer this year in that June was cold, July just rained, and August is speeding by.
Oh i love you Gala, Ha this is kind of funny because i’ve been writing about my current flaws and how i should remedy them all morning.
Its been 14 weeks and 4 days that i’m living in a different country and the goals that i set for myself in the beginning are faded and lost by my own stupid fears. Its so easy to let the fears talk and make yourself isolated from the world. I always tell everyone to choose their own adventures and i guess i have been too reliable on others to create my own. My boyfriend set me an ultimatum this weekend to empower myself and i guess i really needed a big kick under my ass.
So still trembling but maybe a bit excited too, i will challenge myself this week:
::No more hiding, no more ‘but i can do this tomorrow’ just seize every opportunity
::Spend as many hours as possible each day looking for work
::Develop a list of employers who may have the job i want
::Do something i’m scared of everyday, repeating is good to overcome the fear
::Speak out affirmations & visualize what i want more often
I don’t know why i find it so hard in the end to make myself happy.
Thanks for this post, Gala. It’s a great inspiration to become a better, stronger person & a wonderful reminder to stop sitting back passively.
Also, I’m really loving the topics of your past few articles. Those types of inspirational posts are what I love about iCiNG :)
Ohh, thanks for another kick in the butt! Self-reflection should be something positive, try not to look back and see what you haven’t done but the things left yet to discover.
Good luck everyone, and Francine, I hope you achieve your goals. It’s always a wonderful thing when you have people that love you and trust you to continually improve.
Cheerios,
Oh, what a great idea, a mid-year resolutions list! will do. i just knew you will say/post this, one way or another. oxoxo
Well, this year has been hellish so far!! I’m still looking for a new job, since unemployment SUCKS. I wish I was a talented writer, or at least had something to write about, because then I’d follow your example and start a blog. I mean, hell…what else am I doing, really?
However. With my free time, I’ve been spending it all changing my diet around to something healthier (I seriously want to try to be vegetarian again by the end of the year), and exercising. Physically, I feel great, and people are taking notice. What sucks, however, is that my clothes are starting to fall off of me due to weight loss, and I have no money to go shopping with, lol. But I completely intend on keeping this up. I really need to make a point into seeing if I can find any super cheap, or even free dance classes, because that would be so much fun. I’m dying to learn to belly dance!!!
Other things I want to do, is at least 40 of the 50 Things to Do Before Summer Ends list of yours. Aquire a new wardrobe (once I get a job). Visit my boyfriend back in Indiana and really figure out where things are going. Learn to let go of things I can’t control. Learn to speak up and say things, even if I’m terrified to do so. Get more sleep!!
Ooh. Camera! You shoot with a D90, right? Learning to use your light meter is important and (fortunately) REALLY easy on that model. My newest goal is to acquire one myself, since I’ve discovered the aperture/shutter speed settings are MUCH easier to use on that camera.
Birdie — D80! I wonder how different the two models are. I need to download a manual or something…
Well, this year didn’t go at all how I would have liked…but I suppose my life took the direction it needed to take for a while.
Right now I thought I would be living in Queens with the man I have loved, adored and supported for the last 4 years and working for a magazine.
What happened was I couldn’t find the dream job and had to move back to Jersey, the man I intended to spend the rest of my life with broke up with me because he “couldn’t respect my job” or some stupid bs and now I have a job I need instead of the one I want.
But, I’ve met a new love who is everything the ex was PLUS all the things I WISHED the ex was, I’m getting experience at this job that will get me the dream job and I get to spend the summer with my best best friends.
My goal is to be back in NYC by the end of the year with a writing related job, to start working on my novel before the year is out (preferably during NANOWRIMO this year), to give the new love a fair shot even though it’s all happening so fast and a little too soon considering how recently the ex bruised my heart.
This is really inspiring! I think i’ll go home tonight and really make a list of goals and where I want to be by next year. And keep reminding myself to look at every twist and unexpected turn positively. :)
My 2009 has been really great so far. Awesome things include
-Starting up my own blog, More Magic Always
-Being on an amazing adventure this summer in Europe
-Telling the person I like “I like you”
-Making lots of plans
-Feeling soooooo much more confident
-Donated 20 goats to widows in Rwanda, and 20 insturments of youth groups in Gulu, Uganda
Yep, 2009 has been pretty darn amazing already for me. If I can keep up what I’m doing I will be super happy!
My goals for the rest of 2009 are:
-Post lots of great content on my blog
-Develop a very unique sense of style. I’m doing pretty well, but I need some more investment pieces.
-Pick up dance again.
-Make lots of new friends this school year
-Start high school with open arms, knowing the school year will be awesome
This is a great idea. I need to work on my own. Though, despite some (much needed) speedbumps 2009 has been pretty good to me.
(I say this after going through a break-up after a very long term relationship & losing my job, but I needed this change. I want to start over!)
Ah, yes. 2009. It’s been a year of totally unexpected things for me, which has meant that it’s taken me much longer than planned to be doing what I want (career-wise). Things are just getting started and I am working pretty hard at it right now, so I don’t think I’ll have any regrets. i think I’ll just be proud that I didn’t totally flip out this year, and that i managed to pull myself back on track before the year ended!
I’ve crossed a few things off my ‘to do this year’ list, and added a few more things to my ‘things I’ve done this year that I’ve never done before’ list. I think things are going well :)
This article totally speaks to my mood lately! I’ve been having a bit of a panic about the future, what I’m going to do next, et cetera… My mental to-do list is coming along nicely, for the most part, thank goodness! I’ve been inspired to add a few things, though!
Great timing! I’ve been thinking about this since around the beginning of the month when I realised that we were halfway through the year. I’ve achieved a handful of goals, but there are still a few to go – pretty big ones, too. Thanks, Gala!
This is perfect timing! My year totally didn’t go to plan so far but after a few horrific months I’ve pulled myself together and am now happier than ever!
As a compulsive planner I did this last week and am so excited by my new projects and ventures!!! :D:D Litrally bouncing around I’m so happy at the moment xx
This article couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I’ve been feeling a little lost and definitely need to re-evaluate this year because it hasn’t gone as I had planned. Thanks, Gala!
mm, i second what Heather said!
I love it when you post articles such as this, about pushing yourself forward.
& btw, I think you should DEFIANTLY get the witches Roald Dahl tattoo, that book was always one of my favorites along with ‘George’s marvelous medicine’ :) xxxxxxxxx
Thanks for your writing, Gala! Your web log inspired me to sit down and organize my goals at the beginning of the year, and it is definitely one of the reasons I continued to work on my goals after writing them down :)
I was JUST thinking about this! My birthday is in a week and I was reflecting on how completely stagnant my life has been for the past year. Ugh. On the plus side, I’m feeling motivated and am looking forward to pulling myself together and getting things going. I’ve previously had trouble sorting out how to improve (I need to be X if I want Y, but in order to be X in the first place I need to be A, which requires…); it can be a bit overwhelming! I think I need to first learn how to take things slowly instead of letting everything pile up and freaking out.
Have to be honest – really enjoyed this piece, first article on here in a while that’s made me stop & think. Nice one.
I love that this subject came up, because I am having a hard time realizing that I am a lot further along than I was at the beginning of the year. The last few weeks have been full of a lot of break-throughs and I’m trying to remember that every day, it’s getting better and better!
For the rest of the year: I want to learn how to love and trust myself. I live my life for others and I need to change that. I need to put forth more effort toward myself, rather than trying to run around and fulfill others. I know basically what I need, but it’s definitely time to make a PLAN. Time to get my ass in gear!
Time to develop a plan of attack when it comes to my inner demons (or NINJAS as my ex-boyfriend termed them). Time to develop a plan of attack when it comes to the rest of my education! Time to develop a plan of attack for the rest of my early twenties!
oh my goodness, for some reason this prompted a need to know my standards. I lost my virginity to a guy I’ve known for about a month yesterday, only because I don’t value it as much as I do other things. Then what do I value? How to I figure that out? :/
my goals for this year were centered around getting out of the house and meeting people and keeping up my blog. like you, i planned to accept more social invitations, especially if the alternative was sitting home being lazy. if i didn’t have something good to do then i got off my ass and went out. the result was a lot of dates with new dudes and my girlfriends, bike rides and dance parties…which gave me plenty to blog about!
Time sure does fly! I can’t believe it’s August already. I’m definitely reevaluating a lot of my goals and still working toward a few of them. I actually accomplished about three things so far this year, so the rest of the year will be just continuing to move forward and grow.
Great post as always Gala!
this year took me in an entirely new direction, and it was scary and thrilling all at once. just a little goal but a big step for me: say hi first.
So far 2009 has been a year change, both good and bad so it balances out. I was supposed to grad school but that didn’t happen. I’m having trouble finding a job but that allows me to explore new areas I didn’t get to before. I broke up with my long term boyfriend but now feel more free and started dating someone much more healthy for me. The things I’ve accomplished: learn not to panic so often, not sweating the small stuff so much, and aiming to be happy rather than making others happy. So far it’s working.
I have a long list of things to finish up before the end of the year but I’m confident I’ll get (most of) them done.
At the beginning of this year life hit me so hard I didn’t know if I’d be able get up again. I didn’t set any goals but I did fight.
I read this piece and thought that I have not really achieved anything this year but then I realised that is not true at all. I begun exercising regularly and I’ve kept it up and I am proud of myself and the way my body has responded, I am more flexible, a lot stronger and I feel better for it.
For the rest of the year I will focus on bringing the light back into my eyes
Gala, you have been and are still my number one source of inspiration and support -thank you!
These posts are the reason I value iCing so much. Constant reminder that I can change, I can change my life & don’t have to settle for being a bitter old wench.
I love how the year is going so far! I now have my first flat all for myself (moved 2 months ago). It’s small but oh so lovely!
In addition to that I started to work in a job that I really like (it’s a training position as a bookseller).
I had a few problems in my relationship with my boyfriend, but I feel like at the moment we are more stable and closer to each other than ever. And I’m a little short on money, but I’m sure that will improve soon. I also gained a lot of self-confidence.
My life really changed very much this year. And I love it.
My goals for the rest of the year:
+be excelent at my job and establish good relationships with my colleagues
+improve my sex life with my boyfriend, try new things, be open, talk
+go vegan
+save some money, just for financial security
+Maybe travel to Ireland(I live in Germany) for a few days if I can afford it
I think that should be manageable, I’m very optimistic about this year, it’s really been the best one in my life so far (but I’m sure the future will be even better!)
Wow, when you put it like that, there really isn’t much time left this year!
I’m not too worried though for once, overall things have been great (family, fun, creativity, health, social life) though of course there are things that could be improved (discipline, not worrying).
Thanks for the reminder :)
It’s surprising that you don’t feel like you are brave enough, Gala. You must be one of the bravest people I know of. Daring to be yourself in this world- at all costs- and to go after your dreams is an incredibly brave undertaking. Your career must require a staggering amount of communication with people across the world— through both virtual and physical contact. To be able to handle all of that on a daily basis alone is very brave. Whenever I’m faced with stuff like that, I freak out and disappear.
If you’re brave enough to do all of the above every single day, you’re definitely brave enough to tackle whatever intimidating obstacles might be standing in your way right now. :)
This is a really important post for me. I have had some big goals this year- finding my first apartment, finding a job I really like, etc. but have been having a lot of trouble getting things off the ground. I’ve been putting in all the necessary effort, however it seeme the universe seems to have other plans for me. This post is a reminder that when things aren’t working in life, it’s time to take a second look at them. Reassessing my goals might help me to figure out where I could be better focusing my efforts to make dreams come true. I am totally doing this exercise tonight! Thanks as always Gala!
You have terrific goals for the rest of 2009, Gala, but they will be more easy to achieve if you make them more specific.
Define what how much money saved is more, define working harder, and what being more outgoing is for you. What is it like to be more loving? etc etc… Use concrete terms as opposed to abstract terms.
Doing so will help you (and your readers) make these intentions a reality.
All the best! xox
Great idea.
This is off topic, but when I was in Soho last week I saw that gigantic headdress inside the Tarina Tarantino store.
thanks for the mid-year reminder!
those self-reflection questions are great!!
@Gala – The differences are minimal. D90 uses more pixels per photo (so blown up to poster size, the D90’s photos would be slightly sharper). The D90 has a bigger ISO, so you could take better low-light/weird light photos.
I think most of the camera’s settings are in the same place. You still have the capability to – for example – set your front dial to your shutter speed and set your back dial to your aperture/f-stops.
Here’s a PDF-how-to-maunal-thingie for the D80:
www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d80/...
In skimming through it, the document looks pretty well written, but it’s long as f*ck. lol.
Do you shoot in RAW or JPG? I just realized (it took forever!) that Photochop’s RAW editor is the best thing ever.
/photonerd!
Gala, you are so fucking inspiring and cute it hurts.
It’s so funny that your post today was about making a list of goals for the remainder of this year because I actually made several lists today about things I hope to accomplish in both the short-run & long-run— and this is something I haven’t done in a while. So it looks like we are on the same page =) It is definitely a terrific idea for people to set some goals and To-Dos for themselves since it can help them feel purposeful, in control, and thus empowered. It is also a nice way to organize all of the little details of life that can easily trip people up if they don’t take enough care to look after them. Thanks for the inspiration as always!
I agree with Annie Spandex
so i was at the start of reading this, and i actually was ready to stop reading because i did not want to hear about new years resolutions; and etc because i’ve had a good year so far, but kind of screwed up many times. most of my resolutions i wanted to happen, didn’t. i was scared and didn’t want to be reminded of things. buttt, i finished this post and it made me feel 10x better (:, and it feels great to know i have a blank slate to start over now. i guess i could of told myself that, but your words are soso much better and motivational and yeah. just thought i’d share that (:.
Very very inspiring. I’ll take sometime to think about all the questions you brought up- Some area of my life are going great, some might be improved… And I am willing to do something about this!
Thanks for the reminder!
I was thinking about this last night, well sunday night to be precise, and what i realize is that most of my resolutions for this year were so wrong and bad, meaning? well i had planing to move to another city with my dear boyfriend, who now is my not so dear exboyfriend, and that changed a lot of my plans, so now i have to make new ones.
I have to put a cross on almost all my goals that i have in my journal, i never do this before, i always try to make come true most of them, but this year? big failure, so good time to try to come with another plan.
For me this year sucks really, since i lost my baby cat who was my best friend for 11 years, the same month that exboyfriend broke up with me, and same month that a guy that i really like it told me that he was going to be a dad very soon, and he was moving with his girlfriend. What else? oh yes i realize that 2 of my “good friends” were not my friends really and only wanted to use me, just like i said. Buuuuut, the good thing? I have health, i much better without this “friends”, i learned my lesson with exb and not making plans with other person, embrace me being single again, missing so much my dear cat, but i have two other cats that really needs me and a fish. So i’m ok i guess :)
I went all out and blogged it; but here’s my summary:
* To update my CV with a full skills audit and promote myself to potential internship opportunities. * To approach possible web design freelance work…and be prepared to work for it. * To continue to embrace fashion and establish my personal style. * To be more social and communicate with others I may not be used to conversing with. * Be braver.This year has flown by! I’m doing my HSC and everybody around me has been counting down the months 6, 5, 4… but I’ve forgotten 2009 is almost over!
My list:
*Get back to sleeping regular hours at regular times *Spend more time with all my closest friends talking about life and dreams and the good stuff *Love my family and accept them like they just accept me *Go kayaking, do a ferry trip around the harbour *Remember to do the things I love every single day
XOXO
Christine
i figured out that i didn’t want to do law any more so i dropped it and focussed on my english studies and took a writing course which i am loving!
Gala you are one fabulous lady:)
I needed this now more than ever. Thank you!
To be honest 2009 hasn’t been a great one for me up to this point.
That’s going to change though. I’m done with letting myself be led by stupid people. Now I’m going to forge my own path, and start engaging my brain (and self respect!) a whole heap more.
And I agree fully with the statement above – you are one fabulous lady!
Hey, thanks for keeping me on track. You Rock!
This year has actually been really good, musically anyway ‘cause I’ve finally got an awesome band (after trying a lot of different ones in January and February which failed!). Just going for what I want even if it’s a little scary has been giving me the best results.
For the rest of the year… I wanna keep eating like a healthy grrl, ‘cause I have been all summer and it feels great, really put effort into studying so that I can get into the college course I want, build up my wardrobe with some new clothes ‘cause my style is changing, and keep playing music and gigging as much as possible!
I’m doing well this year! My main goal was to get my etsy shop up and running and start being an independant designer, which I’ve done – finally! I’m still working on being a healthy toned person – it’s hard just to excersise and eat a salad these days, let alone change my whole way of living :) I’ve managed to eat a whole lot of fish and vegetables though, so that’s an improvement.
I’m going to carry on working on my shop and everything around it for the rest of the year, keep increasing my veg/fish/fruit/salad/juice/water intake as much as I can and spend more time PLAYING with my kids, my boyfriend, my friends and family :)
This totally inspired me to do a background for my laptop ^^ so now my desktop screams at me to love more, be courageous and to look good.
Every fall I fall in love with the H&M Divided collection and I decide to buy the whole store, but I never really do anything about it. The money problem kinda makes me forget it… but I will try to buy stuff second hand and rock my far too big wardrobe as well as I can.
This far, 2009 has been amazing, I actually got together with my boyfriend on new years day ^^ and from then it’s been a pretty smooth ride :) but it makes me lazy :P
When the school starts I will be nicer, cooler, happier, more loving and hotter than ever before.
Thanks for inspiriring me :)
xoxo
So far, 2009 has been really good to me. My goals for the rest of 2009 are to figure out more who I am.
Ah 2009 how fast you have passed by.
I would like to make comment that 2009 has so far been fabulous and I promise not to disappoint this fine year and be just as fabulous for the remainder of the last of the double zeros.
* Get a new job that fits my job want critera. * Restablish healthy sleep patterns instead of current madness. * Continue to be calm and not allow the crazy to get out. * Make the most of every opportunity presented. * Use wonderfully shiney gym card to actually attend the gym * Be nicer to my current housemate (my Mum). * Save approx $5000 just for travelling. * Redecorate my room. * Apply mysef academically. * Make some wonderfully, candy filled, positive new friends.
2009 has been.. challenging.
This article made me step up and think about it though, and now I’m trying to make some steps in the right direction!
It hasn’t been at all how I imagined it to be but, life is full of surprises!
The rest of this year is all about;
concentrating on college // maintaining friendships and making new ones // making myself strong again // complete vegetarianism // writing // blogging.
Lots of love..
Kat.. x
With TILT in mind, my resolutions for the year were pretty much destroyed unexpectedly in February… Suffice it to say me & Nightmare Brunette have some things in common. I felt really rent apart and unable to be myself, but I think this summer (not working— except on my projects, taking lots of me-time, planning my wedding) has helped the bad parts morph into something I’m starting to recognize as me again. For the rest of the year, I resolve to:
:: Eat three meals per day
:: Stay one hour late each day to help the kids with homework/whatever else
:: Spend 1 hour per day on personal writing projects
:: Meet new people & network with local artists
:: LOVE MYSELF, because I’m not perfect, and perfect is boring anyway.
Thanks, Gala.