Goals for 2016

2015 was cool. It was a year of clarity in the sense that I have fully appreciated my luck and opportunities, being where I am and being surrounded by a wonderful group of friends. It was also a year in which I pushed my limits to reach goals and was sometimes still faced with the harsh reality that doing my best isn't always enough. But hey, that's life and as every year I learned a handful of valuable lessons to take to the next. Overall it was a pretty laid back year. Although I'm never keen on making resolutions (they sound a bit like false promises to me), I am excited to see what 2016 will bring. Here's to a year of overcoming challenges, whether old or new, stepping out of my comfort zone but also keeping up the good things I worked on in the past year.

I listed a number of personal goals as a sort of sketch of what I'd like 2016 to be like. I'm not trying to make big promises to myself or others, but I am going to focus on a couple things these next twelve months in order to further grow as a person and make myself proud.

I have announced this so often before to friends and family, it's time to finally stop making excuses! While I definitely felt stronger in terms of mental health in 2015, I don't always feel good physically. I've wanted to pick up sports again to build more muscle, feel energised and better in my body in general. I've been doing at-home workouts on and off for the past few months, yet I've never been consistent and that's where I need the biggest change. The next few weeks I'll be spending most of the time studying; I do take short 'workout breaks', but I plan on creating a real workout schedule starting in February.

In the same line of the previous goal, I also want to make changes to my daytime schedule. I am a night owl and while it's true that I get most stuff done in the evening, the side-effect is that I'm absolutely worthless in the morning unless I've had a good night's sleep. It often takes me a couple hours to have enough energy and do something productive. This year I want to get more out of days by waking up earlier, having a decent breakfast - something I'm guilty of skipping all the time - so that I can tick off more on my to-do list than I do now. Oh and if I actually stick to this goal, I'll have more time to blog too!

Although this goal is not the first I mentioned in this list, university has been my top priority for most of 2015 and will continue to be for the next six months! After this Spring semester, I will finally obtain my bachelor's degree. I can't imagine what I will feel when I do, but I know I've been looking forward to the moment for years.
Finally, like every year I'm hoping to do some travelling! I've always said I wanted to go to New York after I get my degree and that moment's finally approaching! I will have completed most of my courses by this Summer and have from September until January to write my master's thesis, which leaves some room for travel. We haven't started planning yet, but if you have any recommendations then please feel free to leave them in the comments or reach out to me on Twitter!

What are your personal/blogging/travel/etc. goals for this year?