Moving into 2024

I wasn't entirely enthused about doing my yearly review and planning cycle for 2023/2024. Last year got pretty rough with work and my mental health so I didn't do as much on my goals as I would have liked.  Once I started getting into reviewing and planning though, I ended up feeling good about it and continued through my usual goal-setting activities.

2023 Review - Intention
I really enjoyed this word for 2023. I wanted it to help me do more things on purpose, and check in regularly with my thoughts and feelings. I did that to a degree, but what I really got from this last year was my highest level intentions - what I want to do with my life, and how to start working towards being my authentic self all the time. 2023 was a success through this word alone! 

I did well with my goals for the first few months of the year, then work challenges hit big time from about Easter. It's not that my work itself is challenging, although it sometimes can be, it's more the mental exhaustion and energy output that comes from work causes problems for anything outside that sphere. I struggled with energy and concentration for much of the middle part of the year, and started properly recovering from August time. 
I'm deeply grateful to the many kind and compassionate people in my life, both at work and outside it, and to my newly found GP for helping me through those really hard months. 

I themed my goals for last year and it didn't really work as intended. I didn't focus on them 2 weeks at a time to gain momentum, it was probably too much like work that I didn't do this! 

Self: I did 2 bike rides but not one of the ones planned. Hiking training did okay for a few months then dropped off. I read one book about nutrition and my sleep routine sucked all year.

Relationships: always a good one, I feel like I've come so far with giving my loved ones the attention they deserve in my life. I did tons of inner work and connected deeply with loved ones at different times throughout the year. We did get a second cat as planned (a little black gremlin named Faye). I could have spent more time training both cats and working for the family. Again, this started well but dropped off.

Etsy shop: I refined my shop, yay! I started refining listings but got stuck pretty quickly. I have a better plan to continue with this from now.

Community: 3 blog posts for the year meant I did 25% of what I planned. Could have been worse, I guess. I didn't really reset my basics for caring for the environment. That could just about be a blog post in itself - where is your energy best spent: resetting and creating a variety of environmental habits, or focussing purely on less consumption with all the benefits that come with that? I started volunteering with the Repair Cafe Woolloongabba - it was a resounding success for me and one of my highlights for the year! Blog post on that soon.

2024 Goals
I haven't categorised my goals for this year. I've got 3 main ones and some smaller ones. I'm coming up with detailed plans to achieve the big 3, and the other goals I'll do some high level planning for. I've kept them pretty basic, the smaller ones at least, and have removed habits and connecting with loved ones from goals this year. As mentioned earlier, the connecting is going really well, and I feel having habits as goals hasn't helped me with them anyway. So I'll take them out and see what happens just living my life and striving to do better. 

1. Carnarvon Great Walk with my brother
The biggest one that will take the most time! I aim to 'train hard, trek easy' with this one. Lots of training from now, and we've pencilled in this hike for end of May. All going well this goal will be in the bag, with a wonderful experience and memories for life, by mid-year. 

2. Get a new job in my intended industry
It feels like such a bold claim to write this down on the internet. I've spoken with loved ones about this, including some friends at my current work, but writing it down makes it seem more of a solid commitment.
I'm aiming, and manifesting, and already working towards, getting a job in an industry where I can contribute to solving the challenges presented by climate change. 

3. Prepare for moving house
This will be a fun one! All my goals are fun this year but this one in particular, as it's hanging out with my husband and dreaming and planning together. We've been thinking of moving house for a while now, but we don't know exactly where or when or what we'd like to move to. This year will be about exploring and deciding those things, and if we actually move house this year it will be a bonus. 

Smaller goals:

• Empty my mending basket: I've got 52 weeks to do #mondaymending
• Monthly blog posts: as much prep up front while I've got the time and focus, and schedule them out when I know I'll have less time and focus
• 26 Instagram posts for my YellowBerryStitching page: I'm thinking of putting my sewing posts on this page, not just keep it as cross stitch. There's still stitches involved so it counts! 
• Complete refining my Etsy listings: I need to do research and practice before jumping straight into publishing refreshed items
• Find a project approach that works for me: my current approach to start, work on, and finish projects that aren't sewing isn't really happening. I'll try a few different approaches to see if I can get more non-sewing projects done

2024 Word of the Year - Movement
My 3 main goals all feed into this - physical movement, moving jobs, and moving house. Moving towards living a more authentic life, and one that has even more intention and joy.