2019: Aspirations

It’s the start of another year and, slightly rounder and more relaxed after a couple of weeks of eating and drinking to my heart’s content, it’s time to focus on my goals and aspirations. I’ve spent the first fortnight of January buried under work and ‘adult’ life but I’ve finally had a chance to sit and think about the year ahead.

I tend to shy away from the word ‘resolution’, because I’m often trying to focus my energy in new ways, rather than resolving to end a bad habit. Perhaps steering clear of tequila will be my only resolution for now…

The new year happens to be gold dust for bloggers everywhere – what better time to plan content, engage with your community and set targets? Whilst everyone else is focusing on taking up jogging or trying a vegan diet, bloggers everywhere are focusing on what sort of blogger they want to be in 2019. I’m not sure where I want this blog to go just yet, but I have a few aspirations for everything else this year. Here’s a few of my life aspirations for this year – let me know if you share some of them.

1. Adult Friendships and the Value of Experiences

The complexity of finding time for adult friendships is a universal struggle and one that is an inevitable part of growing up (for my favourite post, read this one by Chloe Plumstead). In short, growing up can mean making time for friends often feels like a forced schedule, because otherwise you miss opportunities to spend time with the people you really care about amidst general life drama.

In light of this, there’s a few people in my life I absolutely want to spend more time with, even if I’m not keen on having to plan it weeks in advance. The other essential part of this aspiration is to share experiences with these friends – not only do I want to make time to see them, I want to use the excuse of a reunion to simply have fun. Theatre trips, lunch dates, maybe a girls weekend away to a fun city for gin-fueled antics. Even living my childhood dream and seeing The Spice Girls! Last year was punctuated with exhausting deadlines and adult milestones, so it’s fun to simply plan things I’d love to do, with people I love. We’re suddenly busy, busy working woman so planning this time is essential… and you know how much I love any excuse for a brunch.

2. Out of my comfort zone or simply learning?

I’m learning to balance, slowly, the feeling of being completely out of my comfort zone and the progress that comes from pushing myself. It can be a truly uncomfortable feeling, and life as a graduate can sometimes feel far too much like I’ve jumped into the deep end without a clear plan of how to stay afloat. To be less dramatic, a goal of 2019 is to focus on positive learning experiences, whilst balancing this with recognising when I need a breather.

So, the New Year goal is to continue to push myself. This is the year to be bold and brave and start fighting that ever-constant Imposter Syndrome. And it’s the year to let myself make mistakes and allow myself the breathing space when I need it.

3. To have a little more focus and FUN blogging

The start of Soph Isobel was during my Erasmus year living in Paris, and I didn’t really have a direction. I wanted to do something creative in English when I felt so stifled trying to understand my daily classes in French. I wanted to document some of my thoughts, experiences and photos. And, most importantly, I wanted a little space on the internet for myself and my voice. Along the line, this blog has become many things, including a shining star on my CV and gossip for the village neighbours, but I’m determined that this year I’m going to take this blog a little more seriously.

I want to focus on writing that makes me happy, and on creating a space that truly feels my own. Perhaps this will mean actually investing time to learn the intricacies of WordPress… perhaps I’ll write and schedule blog posts ahead of time rather than this mad dash last minute to complete something. The more I learn about this community, and the more I fall in love with writing, my motivation grows. So, watch this space.

2019

I want to spend less time reading my horoscope and more time focusing on enjoying myself and pushing myself. Picture the montage in any Hollywood film wherein the heroine suddenly gets her shit together – that’s the goal, anyway. It should definitely include lots of cocktails and laughter. Regardless of the outcome, I’m determined to enjoy mysef. So, 2019, let’s see what you bring.