2020 was going to be the year I stuck to my New Years Resolutions. It was going to be the year that I told myself I'd change and commit to something. 2020 ended up being the year from hell quite frankly and we've still got four months left. In today's blog post, I will be sharing with you why I have decided to abandon my New Years Resolutions.
Putting it frankly, 2020 has gone to shit. We all thought this was going to be a great year and then COVID happened. I don't know about you, but living through a global pandemic was not on my to do list for this year. I had told myself at the end of 2019 that I would make some positive changes in my life. 2019 had ended up being a pretty good year for me, but the last few months were quite difficult. I was looking forward to a chance at taking control of my life again. I've spoken about how I've been struggling with a few health issues over the past year and how it has taken a toll on my everyday life. I went into 2020 relatively healthy, but ended up becoming sick again. This obviously disrupted my plans to turn over a new leaf.
My goals for 2020 involved trying something new (drawing), reading lots of books, working on one non-uni writing project, spending less time on my phone and setting time aside to relax. Let's break down how I've been doing with each of those goals. I was doing really well at drawing. I was doing a little doodle every day up until early February when I fell ill again. I was quite enjoying it and I could see a little bit of improvement in my skills. I tried picking it up again but I quickly forgot again. I've realised that it is something I'd like to try again but once I have a bit of free time on my hands, something I very rarely have.
Reading lots of books has been something that I have been easily able to achieve. I've read almost 50 at this point which I am very happy about. I did have some slow reading months and I have been reading more three star books than normal. I haven't read a book that I would say that I've adored which is quite sad for 2020. Reading is something I'll always make time for so this goal is still one I'm going to consider. Writing on the other hand, well that's taken a back seat. Here's why. I do a Creative Writing degree. I run a blog. I'm also the editor in chief of my unis student magazine. I always have some sort of writing to be doing that I have to prioritise. I never have time to actually sit down and work on my own projects. I spend 90% of my time writing. This means when I have a chance to do something else, I'll take it. I've been reading lots and watching new things. I miss that I don't have the time to pursue my own projects but once I've graduated next summer, I will have the time to focus fully on my own projects. It was over ambitious of me to assume I'd have the time and energy to work on my own stuff this year.
Another goal I will be backing out of is less screen time. Spending lots of time on my phone does depress me a bit, but I have a reason for scrapping this goal. I've decided that I want to start putting more effort into my social media accounts. Due to COVID, I was unable to get an internship or work experience. I will be most likely unable to do so for some time. This means I am going to be graduating with nothing, which is very stressful. So I am using the wonderful gift that is the internet to showcase my "talents". By constantly creating content, it shows that I can do something. I also want to do it because it's fun. With the new addition of Instagram reels, I am going to be trying my hand at video making again. I do miss making video content and I've been toying with the idea of restarting my YouTube channel. These are all creative outlets I can use to my advantage and still have fun. However, by constantly working and essentially having an unpaid job, I do need time to relax. I have been trying to set time aside for reading and relaxing everyday. If I didn't I think I would have cracked under the pressure. It's something that I've gotten better at in the past few months and something I wouldn't have tried if COVID hadn't happened.
So going forward to the rest of 2020, what are my goals? Well I still want to read lots, that's just a given. I've been really enjoying tackling my TBR. I've also been loving creating content online, so that's something I'm going to be working towards. But the big change is that I'm going to be more flexible to my approach to life. COVID has shown me that my plans can suddenly be changed overnight. I need to adapt to the situations life throws at me. I don't have a plan for this time next year, so I'm going to focus on the now. Work hard for my degree. Manage the uni magazine and create content for that. Learn and grow my online platforms. My interests in general have changed this year. I've fallen head over heels for film and TV, it's eventually where I'd like to work. My motto is going to be work hard, play hard. It isn't original but it is something that I've truly come to believe in.
Carenza :)x
