Making Goals for 2018*

There are only just over 6 weeks of 2017 left and this hasn’t been my best year with break ups, break downs and no Walt Disney World, it’s time to look forward to 2018 and hope (as I do every year) for a better year.

In 2018 I will be turning 30. It doesn’t feel like 5 minutes since it was my 21st birthday but so much has happened in that last 9 years. First and foremost I became a mother, of course that was always in my plans but nearer my late 20s rather than early. I had few serious boyfriends and one terrible break up. I went to court and won fully custody and have been providing for my child alone ever since. I studied to be an accountant but instead I became self employed. I’ve started two books, bought a cat and dyed my hair red. I’ve been abroad so many times both alone and with LM. When I was a kid, 9 years felt like nothing, heck LM is nearly 6, but the last nine years as an adult, so much has happened. Both good and bad. But I’m finally hoping that 2018 will be my year.

I’ve started putting together some big goals for 2018. I’ve been working so hard these last few months and I want to continue to do so and I’n hoping these goals will motivate me;

Get Financially Savvy
Okay, I have two credit cards that live permanently maxed out. I pay them off then spend on them again. I would love to not have to do this. I’d love to pay them off then start a savings account. I know having a credit card and regularly spending on it is good for your credit score but it would be so nice to dip into savings rather than into a credit card and this is my aim for 2018. Unfortunately I live as part of the doomed generation and I’m never going to be financially well off, but it would nice to be comfortable.

I have researched into how I can do this and if I had a bad credit score I could go forward with a loan like this. Consolidate my two cards into one and pay that off, then once it’s gone, it’s gone. But sometimes I need a cushion in case some unexpected bill comes up. So instead I think I’m going to pay off my cards at a slower rate and split my money between them and a savings account. So once my cards are paid off this time I’ll have the start of a healthy savings account as well, meaning I can finally cut those cards up!

Lose Weight & Feel Good About Myself
As I touched on in my post last week, I’m really unhappy with myself. I hate the way I look, what I weigh, my face, everything. And as a kinda sane almost 30 year old I really need to make an effort to change this. I’m onto my 3 week of weight loss and even though I’ve only lost 3.5lbs I’m hopeful these small losses will start to add up and I’ll notice a difference soon. I feel I’ll like my face more once I lose the chubby cheeks and extra chins. I have a really small frame with no curves and I just can’t carry it. I’m hoping by eating better and cooking properly my skin will also start improving because right now it’s no wonder people still ID me for pain killers if I don’t wear make up.

At the moment I’m simply calorie counting and keeping an eye on fat content. I’m hoping to eventually evolve my diet into a vegetarian one as I’m pretty sure LM is heading that way with her love of animals. I need to broaden what we both eat first to make sure we get all the vitamins and minerals we need to stay healthy.

Finish a Book
I now currently have two books on the go and I try to write whenever I get the time but I just get distracted so easily. I have good ideas for both and a rough plan of how I want each to play out but parenting comes first and work comes second. Then I have to fit in house work somewhere. But in 2018 I want to try an finish one. Like a lot of bloggers, I’d love to take my writing to the next level and write fiction for a living, but getting the book finished is the first step.

My plan for this is to work on certain days, house work and another then leave a few days for writing, even if it means carting my ancient laptop to town and writing while LM is at drama or dance. If I want 2018 to be my year I need to do something about it.

Of course come new year, I’m sure I’ll have my list of resolutions and ways to better myself, but for the time being these are the three big ones I want to see happen in 2018.

Have you started setting goals and making plans for 2018?