Birthday Goals For 2017 | Blushing Geek

Birthday Goals For 2017

As you can see with my post title, yes, it’s my birthday, so Happy Birthday to me! You might all be wondering why birthday goals instead of New Year resolution eh? Well, I remember I tried one when I was younger but it turns out that after 3 days I forgot all about them. As you can see, I’m not the kind of person that revolves around a list or someone who keeps an appointment notebook and the likes. I prefer being spontaneous because believe it or not, I’m good at it haha. When I really want to change something about myself or do something new, I just keep that in my mind and you will see me acting on it the next day. It’s funny because when it comes to expenses, I do good with planning on them first before making any move. Well, you’ll absolutely do that when you finally realize how hard it is to earn your living.

As I look back on last year, I realized that I really need to finally have a written goal and not just a resolution. Aren’t they the same? Well, according to research, 80% of people are failing to keep their resolutions. And I figured, with goals, we tend to always do our best to achieve it. And in order to act on it, you need to have a realistic one, for mine, I am aiming for a goal that I could do and finish just this year so I could start and create another one the next year. 

When I got sick last 2013, the year after, I started living healthy; no junkfoods, no softdrinks, taking up multivitamins and the likes. But I started to get a little naughty last year and little by little I started to feel that I am one step closer to being sick again, and I don’t want that! It’s not just about my health but also with some opportunities that I let slip away because I’m too comfortable with my comfort zone. The only thing that I accomplished last year was to finally reward myself with a Kindle Paperwhite E-Reader and transfer to a self-hosted website. And since I wasn’t able to succeed with my new year resolution before, I decided to make goals for my birthday instead. Who knows, I might succeed this time eh? Plus, I’ve got witnesses, so please feel free to poke me if I am starting to ditch my goals again. *wink

BOOKWORM AND BLOGGING

  • Read all the books in my TBR. I have the habit of adding a new pile of books in my TBR when I see something that might be a great read. That’s natural, all bookworms do that, but this time, I badly needed to clear my TBR first or I’ll flood my Kindle. I know it’s going to be hard, so I made a compromise. Instead of purchasing the book that I want to add to my TBR, I decided to just put them on the list first then purchase them once I’m done with my TBR. So yep, I guess goodbye for some ARC for now, unless I’ve already made a promise to read them. *wink
  • Grow my blog’s social media accounts following. After going to a total blog makeover late last year, I’m back to zero with my social media following. In order for me to reach more audiences, I need to post more often in my social media accounts in order to gain new following. Good thing post scheduler comes in handy. 
  • Post more frequently. I’ve checked my previous posts last year and I can’t believe I only have an average of 7 postings each month! I am paying for domain and hosting monthly for just 7 postings?! So yep, goodbye procrastination and laziness, hello to more blog posts.
  • Redesign the blog and be content with it. I can’t count how many times I’ve redesigned this blog since its inception. I don’t know what’s wrong with me but everytime I saw a blog and loved the design, I can’t help but hate mine. So yep, I’ll definitely list all of those things that I like and combine them all to finally create my ultimate blog design.
  • Start being more “personal” with the blog particularly in my blog posts. If you read my “About” page, you’ll be greeted with a picture with my back. Haha. I want this blog to be a book, travel and personal lifestyle geek blog but I failed that one, even in the page that I am supposed to introduce myself. Well, you can’t really blame me. I sucked in English plus I find it hard to find words to express myself in writing. Since elementary to College, I only have petty grades in English. I love English, I really do, but whatever I do isn’t always enough. That’s why I don’t want any of my classmates, even my family to know that I blog. But the heck with it, I want a place that I could freely express my own and share what I love, so starting today, I’m not letting that fear keep me from the thing that makes me happy. So expect a more personal approach to my blog posts in the coming days, and an updated and more personalized About page.
  • Continue improving my writing style. In relation to my goal above, I’ll never lose hope and continue improving my writing skill even if it takes me some extra time writing just one post.
  • Start creating posts about blogging. I remember I wrote in my first blog post after my long hiatus about sharing some useful tips about blogging but I only managed to publish only 1 blog post last year. So starting today, I’ll erase procrastination in my system and start creating blog posts.
  • Find some ways to keep the blog running. The cost of self-host blogging is not something you can just laugh about and shrug off. You pay for the domain, hosting and even its maintenance, good thing I’ve got maintenance covered. I’ll tell you more about this goal in a few minutes

PERSONAL

  • Go out of my comfort zone and be brave to follow my first love. Because of the sudden termination from my job late last 2015, with all the bills to pay,  I decided to take the offer as a freelance worker.  All of my career plans go haywire, and my plan to finally pursue my first love went on hold. I planned on sticking up with my freelance job until the month of June last year but it didn’t happen because of my monthly financial obligation with the condo that I got last year for my mom. The pay is absolutely better than my last office-based job, but I am not happy with my job anymore and I feel deprived from the thing that I want to do which is programming. I want to code. And because I don’t have any field experience yet in that department means I get a minimum salary which isn’t enough to keep the condo and to pay all the bills including this blog. In relation to my last goal in blogging, I badly needed to find some ways to keep this blog running because aside from programming, blogging is what I always love to do. So yeah, I’m finally open for some sponsored posts.
  • Stop being lazy and start reviewing. In relation to my goal above, I need to review first in order for me to land the job that I love. Well, let’s say that I am already behind after graduating from college 3 years ago. Imagine the new trends and algorithms that I miss, so yep, this year is absolutely a year for me to study and learn new things in connection to programming.
  • Invest on making a list of the activities I am taking this year. I’m spontaneous. When I’ve set my mind into some things, I act on it without jutting what my plans are gonna be. It worked for me last year, but since 2017 is going to be a busy year for me, I need to start writing my plans and be organized. 
  • Always remember being spontaneous. Even if I’m going to start being organized, a little spontaneity wouldn’t hurt, well, actually it’s kinda fun. I don’t like surprises, but I love surprising others. *wink
  • Take care of myself. Last year, I failed to really take care of myself, I started eating unhealthy foods and deprived myself of sleep. So this year, I’ll read more but make sure that health will always come first.
  • Be more beautiful the natural way. Well, let’s assume I’m beautiful, haha. Last year, I used so many beauty products that it took me looking like a human red chili and is scratching like heck to finally ditch it and start looking for some natural alternatives that could make me have a beautiful skin and pimple free face without those unhealthy redness. I’ve made some research and am starting to take care of my skin without using those chemical enhanced beauty products. I may be posting about it in the future 🙂
  • Be fit. I’m a big supporter of YOLO, that’s also the reason why I am so big now. Others have 3-packs of abs, while I have 2 layers of fats. My doctor once told me to never deprive myself of food, and ofcourse I will never do that. Food is love! But that doesn’t mean I just eat everything, I’ll make sure to check that it’s healthy before stuffing it in my mouth. In relation to that, I’ll start exercising too.
  • Buy a DSLR. I know it’s going to be a tight budget year this 2017, but I also love blogging about my travels. And we all know in order to be an effective travel blogger, you need to have your own camera. I’m tired of borrowing camera from my aunt who actually lives a one boat ride away. That being said, I’ll learn to have self control in buying things that I don’t urgently need. And that’s how my #1 goal in books comes in handy hehe.
  • Travel as much as possible. Last year was my year of books. I’ve read so much last year and only traveled less than what I really wanted. Even if I am going to have a tight budget this year, I’ll make sure I’ll set aside something for travel. This year, I want to finally travel to a new town or city alone or with some friends.
  • Become a better person. I’m not a politician, talented or even brilliant, so the only contribution I could give to make this world a better place to live in is to become a good person and start influencing others.

So that’s it for me this 2017. Have you set your goals too this year? You can share them in the comment box below.

Birthday Goals For 2017 | Blushing Geek

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kindlemom1
kindlemom1
7 years ago

Good luck with all of your goals, personal and blogging/reading/reviewing wise. 😀

Vanessa
7 years ago
Reply to  kindlemom1

Aww, thank you 🙂

Sophia Rose
7 years ago

Happy Birthday, Vanessa! I like your idea of birthday goals for the next year. Wishing you well to achieve them since they are great goals.

Vanessa
7 years ago
Reply to  Sophia Rose

Thanks Sophia Rose. I really hope I’ll accomplish them and make this year a great and productive year for me 🙂

LilyElement
7 years ago

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! And these all sound like great goals! Maybe do progress posts occasionally? 🙂

Vanessa
7 years ago
Reply to  LilyElement

Thank you 🙂 Wow, that’s definitely a great idea. I’ll make a plan for this one. Thanks for the idea 🙂

Kristin
7 years ago

happy belated birthday! I think it’s great that you make goals on your birthday rather than a new year resolution. I have never stuck with those. I have found that when I randomly set my mind to something, it tends to stick a bit more. One year I decided to give up meat and while it was a tough thing to do, since the Mister still eats meat, I was able to stick with it for the past two years. I can’t tell you how many resolutions I made that only lasted maybe a month before I got sidetracked by something else. I love the goals you’ve set. As for being more personable and trying to be proactive on Blushing Geek, there’s a weekend blogging event coming up called Bloggiesta. Not sure if you’ve heard of it before but it’s anything from setting goals of typing “x” amount of posts, encouraging you to update your widgets on your site, and there are daily chats on Twitter where everyone talks about certain topics. It may be worth taking part of it this weekend to help kickstart one of your goals. 🙂

Vanessa
7 years ago
Reply to  Kristin

Oh my! That sounds interesting Kristin. I would really love to join, but unfortunately I won’t be available this weekend. I’m taking my post-birthday travel this weekend yay! 🙁 Is there any other dates available except this weekend?

Carole's Random Life
7 years ago

Happy Birthday! I love the idea of making goals every year on your birthday. I think that by writing it down you are more likely to achieve it. Good luck with your goals. I hope that you are able to achieve every one of them.

Vanessa
7 years ago

Thanks Carole. Yep, I really hope all will work out and achieve all my set goals for this year 🙂

Lola
7 years ago

Happy birthday! I also like the term goals more than resolutions. Sounds like you have a good list of goals here and I hope you can achieve them all or at least a lot of them. I like writing lists, it can really help to put things on focus or keep a good plan for what to do. Good luck!

Vanessa
7 years ago
Reply to  Lola

Aww, thanks Lola 🙂

martina praicy
martina praicy
6 years ago

hey vanessa. just now went through your blog, it was pretty interesting as well as motivating to do something in life rather being a numb skull. And yea!! i was searching what to do for my birthday, your page came up like a “WINK” LOL!!. TOMORROW is my BIRTHDAY, hope ill follow something instead of nothing :). thank you so much. keep going!!!

Vanessa
6 years ago
Reply to  martina praicy

Awww. Thanks Martina. I’m sorry I missed your birthday, but belated Happy Birthday. Hope you had a great time and picked out some goals you want to achieve for the next year to come 🙂

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