Category: interests

For the past few months, after landing my first full time job out of college, I really started to understand why setting goals is always important. Before, I set small goals for myself but I never really kept myself accountable for them. I’ve been lucky enough to have amazing mentors who have taught me how beneficial goal setting can be. And here’s my attempt at explaining how to set goals and how it can really change your outlook on life and help you accomplish these goals

• Set game plans. If you’re not sure about what your long term goals are, that’s totally fine. Start small. Start with a 6 day game plan. Then follow that with a six week game plan, then a six month game plan, and finally a 6 year game plan. What do you want to accomplish tomorrow? What do you want to accomplish within the next month? What do you want to accomplish by next year?

• Categorize your goals. Your goals don’t all have to be career based. You can have health goals, goals for your hobbies, heck even remembering to do laundry on time can be a goal. Once you understand the types of goals you have, then this is when you can prioritize your goals.

• Set goals every week. Choose a day to make your weekly game plan and goals. I personally prefer Sundays because in a way its the beginning and the end of my week at the same time. On this day you can go over your game plan from the previous week and review what goals you accomplished. Did you accomplish these goals? If not, what can you do in order to accomplish them the next week. Once you understand what to do, now you can make a new game plan for the next week, now knowing what you need to change to accomplish these goals. We always want to be moving forward and improving.

• Share your goals/Write them down. In order to be accountable for following up with your goals, share them! Whether this be with a mentor or a friend, once another person knows what your goals are, they can help you be accountable to accomplish these goals. If you don’t feel comfortable sharing your goals, write them down. This way you can physically see what you want to accomplish. Letting your goals manifest and being able to visually see what you want to do will just push you to try to accomplish these goals even more.

Once you apply your skills after understanding what your goals are, I promise you will feel much more motivated to work towards these goals and improve yourself in more ways than one

All throughout school, I always used planners and journals outside of class notes to keep myself organized. And to be honest, I was no artist, there weren’t any breathtaking sketches or special color coded detailed itineraries. Sure, i highlighted a few things like every other kid, but nothing too crazy. However as I began to understand how I liked to personally structure my thoughts I realized that bullet journals were for me. I started to only buy notebooks that didn’t have lines because I liked the freedom of a blank page. Still, I wasn’t crazy into color coding and I am still no artist, but I enjoy doodling just like everyone else and just having a blank canvas to write about anything. Whether it be personal thoughts, quirky doodles, or french notes, I felt comfort in having my journal as a physical representation of what goes on in my brain. And to this day I have full journals and I love looking back at them because they’re kinda like stored files of past memories. I don’t have the best memory, and being able to reflect on journals I’ve gone through in different stages of life is like having a souvenir of that certain version of me.

So that’s why I love to journal. But why should you? Well first of all, I’m not telling you to do anything. All I’m saying though is that journaling really helps me organize my life in a way that lets me exercise my creative freedom at the same time. Journals are the ultimate customizable novel of your brain. I even have a few journals that have black pages which means I have to use neon pens to write in them so it’s like a journal in dark mode which I really dig. I journaled every day in 2020 and am continuing to journal every day of 2021; It’s a healthy habit that I’ve grown because not only does it let me feel creative, it also helps me keep track of my goals and what steps I need to take in order to reach my next stepping stone to accomplish these goals. So if you happen to have some extra time and a pen, I definitely recommend journaling. Whether it be doodling, writing about your ambitions, or planning out your week, a simple pen and paper can help clear your mind… and then you can look back at it later 😉