This year I started the habit of setting weekly goals for myself. I have identified some categories which are priorities for me and I am setting small goals in each of these categories. This should enable me to make at least a small progress in all areas that are important for me.
Monthly goals seem not to work so well for me. But a week is a good period of time to overlook. It is not too long and not too short and since I am doing weekly reflections anyways, it is not a big deal to add the habit of goal setting to the time I anyways use at the end of my week.
I also do monthly reflections but in a more focused way – there is just too much happening in a month! I focus on two categories: my artsy life and learning. I try to keep track of my progress in arts and learning, so that I could see at the end of a longer period what I have accomplished.
What I do see in both categories is that I jump around a lot, switching between projects and topics and not really moving forward in one direction. It would be nice to have something that I can stick to and I hope that playing the guitar could be such a thing. After all I am doing it for more than 6 months now.
I also hope that setting weekly goals in 8 priority categories will also help me to stick something. For now my priorities look like this:
So for each categories I put up 1-3 to-dos or goals that I should do during that week. So far it works well although I did not reach the goals in all categories: Philosophy and Sports are doing pretty bad. Whereas housework and guitar seem to see a good time.
I will follow these habits for a few more weeks and provide an update on how it goes. In the meantime I am curious to learn: What time frame works best for you to set goals? Do you think of my strategy as goal setting or to-do-list? And what is the difference between the two?
It is not easy. It has never been. But this year came with so many bad surprises that I can hardly believe it really happened. I am grateful that those did not affect my personal life too much although I felt kind of involved in everything. I learned to distance myself from the bad news and it helped a great deal.
Of course I am not really a princess and I don’t even dream of it anymore. My visions and goals have changed so much over the past year. Emotionally I am not back where I used to be. But it does not help to live in the past.
I like to think that the past as we see it is shaped by our emotions. Bad memories and the day to day struggle fade and we see only the outstanding moments and the good times that are gone now. In our perception the past can be many things. I wish I could use it as inspiration.
But I am so afraid that my best times are already over. This is a real fear! I was so high and I fell so deep. How can I climb this mountain again? I was flying. I spread my wings fearlessly and jumped. The flight was short but very intense and I still nurture from it.
So many things hold me back from flying again. Rational thoughts mostly. I know it was not sustainable. But I loved the intensity of it and I hate the greyness of my life as it is now. I had so many feelings that got numbed. I had so many problems. Now I have just one.
It is time to bring the color back into my life. I don’t know how to do it. I will have to let go of many things. Of security and safety. Maybe the people close to me will not like this step. Like so many of my steps. But if I keep crawling I will never reach the heights that I was born to see. Maybe I will struggle many days and who knows if it will be worth it?
The only constant is change.
That has become a motto for me. It quietly slipped into my life and turned up again and again. I really enjoy an emotional roller coaster. More than a real roller coaster for sure. It makes me feel alive and I need this feeling back. I don’t want to be dying from inside.
But these both extremes can’t be the only options. I don’t know how many shades of grey exist but I am pretty confident that the number of colors is infinite. I can choose one tomorrow and another one the day after. I don’t have to stick with one version.
My favorite color is blue. But I also like orange and red and brown and so many other colors. Why do I feel like I have to choose one? There are many fish in the sea. And even more plastic. We have so many options and we drown between them sticking to what we know. After all we are just tiny little ants.
For me this thought is liberating. If it doesn’t matter what I do, I can choose what I want and what I love. That’s the theory. The practical application is much more difficult. But I choose to be gentle with me and go one step after the other.
I don’t want to be the best version of myself. Who defines what is a good version of me anyways? I don’t want to compare myself not even with myself. Because this brings me back to the good old days where everything was better and I know that I cannot go there.
I have to look forward, pull myself together and be brave again. Ups and downs come and go, what was important once will be irrelevant soon. Still the thought of decay is haunting me as well as the version that I used to be. I was so innocent. I was so full of it. I was naive and in good faith. Confident and bold.
How can I make peace with this best version of myself?
This year was more or less a quiet year without many great changes. Artistically I made only very small progress. Yes, it was possible to perform again and I spent the first half of the year creating videos. I still have many that I didn’t publish yet. I kind of got back into dancing, at least a little bit.
What was my artistic highlight of the year?
There were many great things. First of all I enjoyed it a lot to record videos in my home. Secondly, I had two performances. After such a long time without performing this was amazing. Thirdly, I had a great Saree-Shooting and a demo session with a drummer.
Not so great were definitely my failed attempts to teach me play the guitar. I was absolutely unable to find motivation for it. Right now I am thinking that I need somebody sitting next to me while practicing. Since I could not convince any of my friends yet to do that I am going to start learning from a teacher.
A bit challenging was the fact that I produced so much material and I didn’t always find the time to edit it. It was also difficult for me to find a consisting posting schedule, so that I would post regularly on Instagram, TikTok and Youtube. If you haven’t followed me yet, please go over and do so.
Do I want to continue this journey?
Dancing will always be part of me or at least of my history, but I might stay on this level of creating videos and barely performing. I already made the decision that it will stay on a hobby level. With my blog back I might engage in conversations and return back to the scene. It is really interesting for me to hear how others went through these difficult times. But mostly I am working on other projects.
What I really want to do in 2022 is start learning to play the guitar with a teacher. I failed big style in learning it by myself and I need some support to accomplish my goals. But this will definitely be the first thing I’ll do.
Other than that I want to continue making videos and uploading them. I have been a bit lazy when it comes to uploading, but I should definitely try to catch up with it. Alltogether Instagram is not my favorite platform. This is also something the last year has shown.
Will Art be a Priority next year?
I’m afraid not. It will stay on the hobby level and will be a nice way to spend my free time, but I don’t want to pressure myself. It is always difficult for me to make art just for the sake of it, because I have big ambitions and I can’t stop myself from pursuing them. But this is actually a very bad habit.
I want to make music for the fun of it, even if I have to learn how to have fun with it first. The guitar should become my best friend and I better start treating her as such. When it comes to dance there is still a lot of material that needs editing which holds me back from creating new things. So I will do one step after the other, edit the existing material and then create new.
What about the Artist Date Challenge?
Believe me, I did not forget about it completely. Just a little bit. I want to continue with it every now and then, not every week for sure. But it was great fun doing it and it inspired me a lot. So I should not quit it.
I am still thinking about my Instagram strategy – maybe there will be none in the end and I just post whatever I want. But for now I really would like to have some fun artist dates.
What about you?
Please tell me about your highlights of 2021 and your plans for 2022.
I wish you the best holidays and a great new year!
A bucket list can be many things. It can be a list of activities that you want to try, a list of goals that you want to accomplish, milestones that you want to reach or simply wishes. Ideally you set a deadline for finishing the bucket list.
A bucket list is a fun way to bring more adventure and excitement into your life. It is fun to make the list itself, but it is even more fun to schedule actions to fulfill it.
Of course you will want to tick all the items on your bucket list, but if you are unable to finish it. That is fine, too. Goals and wishes change and maybe you notice after a while that your current bucket list does not server you anymore. In that case you can archive it and make a new list!
Bucket List Types
Life Time Bucket List
This is the original type of bucket list. You create a list of goals that you want to achieve before you die.
The deadline for this type of bucket list is your next round birthday. If you are under 30 you make a 30 before 30 list, if you are under 40 a 40 before 40 list etc.
This bucket list is scheduled for one year. At the end of last year many people made a 21 for 2021 list. I suppose it will be 22 for 2022 the next year.
There are bucket lists for summer, spring and winter. Not to forget autumn / fall. Every season gives you the great opportunity to set new challenges for yourself.
There are two types of travel bucket lists. The first one is related to the life time bucket list where you collect all the places in the world that you want to see in your life.
Tackeling your goals is fun, but doing it with your loved ones can be even more exciting. So why not make a list with couple or family goals & activies?
As you can see there are many types of bucket lists. But maybe you are not sure whether a bucket list is the right thing for you? It encourages you to think creatively and come up with an exciting perspective of the future. To remove your last doubts I will answer some questions about bucket lists that you might have.
Why should I make a bucket list?
A bucket list is a great way to make your life more creative, exciting and fun. It might lead you out of your comfort zone and make you grow as a person.
If you choose to make a bucket list together with another person this might strengthen your relationship and give you lots of stories to share with others.
Ticking something of your list gives you a strange feeling of satisfaction and will make you proud about yourself.
How do I make a bucket list?
Schedule some time to brainstorm and think about the type of bucket list you want to create. If you need some short time fun in your life then a seasonal or yearly bucket list may be right. If you feel like you want to change your entire life try the lifetime bucket list.
Think of the time span that you have chosen for your bucket list and ask yourself some questions:
What do you want to see, try and experience in the future?
What is something that you always wanted to do?
How can you challenge yourself to leave your comfort zone?
What sounds silly but would be actually so much fun?
What did you like doing when you were a child?
Write down everything that comes to your mind. This first stage is just about collecting all ideas and not missing one. I suggest that you take a break after and let the ideas sink in.
In the next stage you will organise your ideas. You might not want to use all of them for this bucket list. Or maybe you came up with some things that are impossible or not in the right format, so that you have to amend them.
When choosing items for your bucket list you should have them in a form where you can easily see once it is done. For example becoming rich is not a good bucket list item whereas having one million euro on my bank account is.
Where can I find ideas for my bucket list?
The internet is full of bucket lists and you can easily find many ideas that you can use for your own list. Of course I suggest that you brainstorm for yourself as well, but it is always helpful and entertaining to see what other people put on their lists.
The best places to find bucket list ideas online are Google and Pinterest. Once you have decided what type of list you want to create you will find many ideas that you can steal.
Can I change my bucket list?
Your bucket list is yours and you can do with it whatever you want.
Generally I wouldn’t recommend to change your bucket list all the time, but if you have a list with life time goals, it might be a good idea to check it once a year to see whether you can still identify with these goals.
But if it is just a short time bucket list it is not worth the effort. Just leave some things unsolved and enjoy the other activities.
Nobody is going to punish you if you are not able to fulfill all tasks.
But since the last new life was started more than 5 years ago I think it’s fair to do it again. I got stuck in the windmills of the daily repetitions. I neglected my ambitions. I failed in so many ways to achieve my goals. But now that will change! I will document my goals and my work towards it. I will not hide my failures any longer.
And eventually I will succeed! Or not. Who knows?
But I want to invite you to be part of my journey.
What’s the deal?
I have neglected my passions and my talents. I have not done any performances for a long time and this needs to change! It will be difficult because I am still working full time, but I need to put in the effort and try my best to develop new skills and expand my horizon.
I am going to learn, rehearse, practise and eventually perform. I will see you as my accountability buddy. I will not hide anything from you. I will show you the good days and the bad days. Maybe not all the bad days and maybe not my worst moments, but you get the point. Please do call out on me!
I think it’s beautiful how many people challenge my guitar learning. Yes, I haven’t done much so far, but every question is reminding me and a motivation to sit down and practise.
So that is the deal: I work hard and you watch!
I want to live a new life. I want to be an artist. But I need some parenting from your side! It is too hard to pull everything out of me. I need the reminders, I need the pushes and I need your love and support. Please be there for me!
Leila Yuliyah 