For the last few months I have been mentally stepping out my goals for 2018. I have never really been one for new year’s resolutions, but this year I have pencilled in quite a large stack of goals that I want to smash in 2018. The year that was 2017 was full of so many different events, experiences, challenges and heart aches. It was also full of many positives and life changing decisions. These have all lead me to this pivotal moment in my life. I will be saying goodbye to my normal 9-5 and saying hello to the world and my dreams.
Bring on 2018!
I have always firmly believed that anyone can achieve anything if they believe in themselves, work hard and stay positive. I know that if I want to achieve my goals this year I need to dream big and then aim even higher. If I achieve even half of what I want to this year I will have achieved so much more than I had ever hoped.
So here is my promise to myself to aim for the stars and chase my dreams with passion and tenacity with 15 Goals for 2018:
1. Find yourself again
I don’t mean this in the cliche, soul-searching kind of way that is often thrown around. Not that there is anything wrong with that as I believe soul-searching is really important, particularly in your mid-twenties. What I do mean by this, is that I want to be myself again. When I was younger I was always very confident in who I was and my abilities. I did not have a lot of self-doubt and always believed in myself. It was these traits that allowed me to achieve a lot of larger than life goals at quite a young age.
Changes over time
Over the years however, I have become a lot more self aware, emotionally intelligent, and perceptive of other people’s feelings and emotions. This has done wonders for my friendships, relationships and general contributions to my society and communities I live in. The only problem with this is I lost a little bit, and then a lot, of myself along the way. The more I thought about what other people were thinking, feeling and really saying the more self doubt crept in. I began to question every little thing I said or did. I started to lose confidence in my decision making abilities, my social interactions and my general likability to the people who were surrounding me.
The biggest change was that I lost that fiery personality I was so well known for. I was no longer out tackling the world around me and seeking new adventures and challenges. It had also made me a lot more reserved and harder to get to know. In saying all of this, I don’t just want to find the old Caitlyn — she was great, but she definitely needed some fine tuning. I want to become myself again but in a whole new way and on so many new levels. I want to become the type of person who is capable of caring about how my words and actions affect someone else while also still living life passionately and with determination.
My goal to find the real Caitlyn this year
My goal is to be myself and be proud of it and I want to help others live that life as well. 2017 was a year full of reflection which has led me to get my life and myself back on track. 2018 will be a year full of success and smashing my goals — a year of cementing who I am and what my purpose in life is meant to be.
2. Travel Adventurously and Fearlessly
Take the world by storm!
One of my main goals for this year is to begin my journey to travel the world and to travel it adventurously and fearlessly. When I say fearlessly, I don’t mean living recklessly or not using common sense. I mean having confidence in myself and my decisions and then going with the flow when it doesn’t always pan out as planned. I want to live in the moment and not be constantly thinking about the if’s, but’s and maybe’s. It is so easy to fill your mind with doubt and concerns that you stop yourself from trying new things, going out of your comfort zone and really expanding your horizons.
With regards to being adventurous — I want to seek new experiences on both an adrenalin seeking and cultural level. I want to try new and strange food that I’ve never heard of or seen before. I want to learn how to communicate with people, even when I don’t know the language or am still learning. I don’t want to be held back by any self-doubt or false concerns. I want to live life to the fullest.
I know that this is one of the goals I can absolutely smash this year and am so excited to get started.
3. Build a nomadic and remote living
This is one of the most important goals I need to set for myself and need to work towards in 2018. I have spent much of my life searching for a career and life that challenges me and keeps me interested. I want to be working towards something that sets my soul on fire in 2018, and not just working away my weekdays! 2017 was the year I decided to really do some research and make some progress towards making this dream a reality. I have already spent a lot of time and energy creating a business plan, getting this blog off the ground, and up-skilling myself to be able to work remotely and live a nomadic life. There is still so much more to do and to keep doing.
I want to stay true to my business and creative goals this year and keep up the hard work and dedication. This year is not going to be about travel alone. I want to make travel a cornerstone of my life. Enabling myself to make a sustainable remote living is a huge part of making my travel dreams a reality. I need to make sure this is one of my goals I am completely committed to and succeed at.
4. Be positive – No complaining!
One of the biggest improvements I made in my life to date was actually at the end of 2016. I had a few massive catalysts that year that made me take a step back and take a serious look at how I was living and how I was reacting to the world around me. Before I left for my trip to Europe in August of 2016, I started working on some mindfulness techniques that allowed me to reshape my thought process. One of the most rewarding ways I changed my thinking patterns was to be more positive and to stop complaining. This may sound really easy, but for someone who has generally always been the “glass half empty” kind of pessimist it was such a refreshing and well needed change.
I realised that not everything in life had to have a negative perspective, that the world was not out to get me and that I can’t change what I can’t change. It then became so much easier to just live life, go with the flow and be happy. Instead of blaming the universe as though it had it in for me, I decided to focus on the good things in every situation. I focused on the aspects of my life that were amazing and spent more energy investing in the parts of my life that were making me truly happy and excited to be alive. I tried to make light of all situations and did not “sweat the small things” so much anymore.
Positive impacts on my life
When I came back from Europe I kept this way of thinking going for several months. As a result, I felt my whole life change. I felt genuinely happy for the first time in such a long time. It allowed me to build more meaningful relationships and experience life in a more rewarding way. If I’m honest though, let that positive thinking slip a lot in 2017 when life got busy and hard again. Only a few months ago I found myself almost completely back to where I started. I really want to focus this year on investing my energy and emotions in positive things again and getting back to where I was. I want to be that positive, happy person again which will allow me to smash my goals.
5. Be a responsible traveller who lives sustainably
The more of the world I see, the more people I meet, and the more I read about our planet, the more I realise how important it is to not only live sustainably but to travel sustainably as well. There are so many stunning natural environments and places in the world I want to experience. If we don’t do our part as travellers and as residents of this planet then there simply won’t be any more places or natural environments left to see. I am new to this way of living, but have already learnt so much from what I have read and researched over the last year and am excited to put this knowledge into practise in 2018.
6. Learn new skills and work towards mastering them
This is something I have always really enjoyed doing. I love taking on new challenges, teaching myself new skills and jumping head first into a new career. I have such a huge list of skills I want to work on this year that will keep my mind engaged and will help me meet some of my other goals. To just name a few, I need to learn some basic web development processes and coding, develop my social media marketing skills, focus on advancing my creative writing skills and also learn more detailed photography and photo editing techniques. I have all of the equipment and tools to develop these new skills and just need to stay focused on the end product and goals.
7. Put your language skills into practice
In high school, at university and now in my adulthood I have always enjoyed learning new languages. The main issue in the past was that I never really had the chance to put what I was leaning into real life practice. When I studied Japanese at school I never had the opportunity to have conversations with anyone outside the classroom. When I studied French at University, I was so focused on obtaining good grades that once the assessments were over I didn’t keep up my studies and hard work.
At the beginning of 2017 I decided to go to a language night school and learn Spanish. One of my initial goals with this was just to do something different and engaging, and I didn’t realise how much I would enjoy it. I spent one night a week for six months in the classroom with other likeminded students and travellers. It was so intriguing listening to everyones’ stories and plans about why they were learning Spanish or where they were travelling to. I felt so connected to these people and made some amazing friendships all because I decided to learn another language. This was one of the first seeds that were planted in my mind leading me to this new adventure and I’m so glad I did it.
From the classroom and into the field
This year I will be setting off to South America and Central America where I will have ample opportunity to test out my new language skills. Immersing myself fully in these countries will allow me to learn the real Spanish language and all it’s different dialects, accents and slang from a variety of countries. I know that what I’ve learnt so far is only the tip of the iceberg and I’m excited to see how much I can learn and develop my language skills this year. I will hopefully come home with the ability to say I speak fluent Spanish and tick off one of my many goals from my list — we will see!
8. Make new lifelong friendships and maintain your existing ones
One of the greatest aspects of travel, and in particular solo travel is the ability to meet new people and make new friendships along the way. I am always so excited to hear someones stories for the first time and to find out where they are from, where they are headed and why they are travelling. Travel in itself is it’s own language. It breaks down barriers and let’s people from all walks of life and cultures find common ground. Even on small trips or adventures with friends, family and partners I find it so easy to strike up a conversation with people on the road because everyone else is living with that same excitement and openness.
In my lifetime I have made many friends, some that have come and gone and others that are so close now I consider them family. I’m hoping that travel will allow me to meet some new lifelong friends and to also cement the friendships I already have. I have no idea what 2018 is going to hold but I definitely know that it is going to be an amazing year full of a lot of lasting memories.
9. Be open minded to learn and experience new cultures
It is too easy for people to experience a new culture from a place of comparison or judgement. This is unfortunately an aspect of human nature, that we can’t just experience something for what it is on it’s own merits. We often find ourselves comparing the way someone else lives in another part of the world with how we live back home. I have heard other travellers on the road complain about infrastructure, language barriers and cultural differences that caused them delays or confusion along the way. All too often I heard travellers stating how they “wouldn’t get this kind of thing back home”. I really hope that I am not this person when I begin my journey.
The whole point of travelling to a new destination on the other side of the continent is to experience a new culture and a different way of life. If I wanted to have the same conversations, the often uneventful public transport systems and the same “Aussie” meals I have had for the last 26 years then there isn’t really any point in leaving home at all. I don’t just want to experience all of the fun and exciting parts of a new culture, I want to experience it all. Hopefully I can approach the countries I am travelling to with an open mind and learn from them in ways I never thought possible. I hope that they help me grow as a person and teach me patience, understanding and acceptance.
10. Collect moments, not things
This is one of the really important goals for me and one that I actually started tackling in 2017. After the catalysts that took place in 2016 I realised that I had started valuing possessions and material things more than I valued life experiences. I was living in a three bedroom house full of expensive furniture, electronics, clothes, shoes and all sorts of other items that I thought were making me happy. Just before I left for Europe I found myself in a position where I no longer had a three bedroom house, or a reason to fill it. It gave me the opportunity to take a look at why I had all of these things and what I had hoped to gain from them.
Now I’m not saying material possessions can’t make you happy, as I know they are important to a lot of people. What I am saying is that they weren’t making me happy even in the slightest. I was in a rut in my life and was really just treading water. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go and what my dreams were. A subconscious decision had been made by me to fill that void with material possessions in the hopes I could fill the emptiness. Of course this didn’t work.
Beginning of a new era
The one thing it did do though was make me realise I needed to do something if I wanted to turn my life around and feel whole again. I began selling all of my big ticket items, as well as all of those little extra things you hold onto for years. I also parted with countless numbers of shoes, clothes and cosmetic items. The feeling of relief that went through me as people came and took these items out of my life was euphoric. I even encouraged my mum to do the same and got excitement out of seeing her life start to change as well.
What I achieved because of this change
I made a promise to myself at the end of 2016 that I would start collecting moments and not things and decided that I no longer wanted to spend my hard earned money on items that gave me a very short burst of buyers happiness, and no long term benefits to my soul and happiness. Now that 2017 has concluded I can happily say I stuck to my promise and only spent my money on experiences or items I needed to help me get out there and chase my dreams.
By cutting out unnecessary spending I was able to fund three incredible adventures in the last 18 months. An amazing trip to Europe for six weeks with my best friend, a road trip on the Great Ocean Road with my partner, and a snowboarding adventure in New Zealand with my siblings, partner and friends. It also meant I had the funds to plan and put into action the trip of a lifetime; 12 months in Latin America.
I stopped buying new clothes and shoes. I didn’t buy any more “pretty things” for my bedroom. Before I made any sort of purchase I equated the money to how long I could travel on that amount for. Consideration was given to what outdoor, photography or adventure gear I could better spend my money on to allow me to get outside and experience the world the way I wanted to.
My plan moving forward
I have now decided to sell all of my belongings and live out of a backpack for 12 months, and hopefully longer. I don’t ever want to get to a place again where what I own is more important than the moments and memories I obtain. You can’t take any of it to the grave with you but you can live a life you enjoy and are proud of. Get out there and explore what it means to be alive.
11. Learn how to enjoy your own company
This is something I have always struggled with, even as a child. I was never very good at entertaining myself and just being in my own company. I consider myself to an introverted extrovert. It is a bit of a conundrum, as it sounds. I often crave social encounters, human contact and getting out there in the world but it often depletes me entirely and causes me to seek solitude and time out. The only problem is that I am not very good at being on my own and rarely give myself the time I need to recharge and just be myself.
Travelling solo this year should give me plenty of opportunity to get better at this, to get to know myself and to enjoy moments even when I’m not sharing them with someone. It will also mean that when I share a moment or experience with someone it will be because I chose to and not out of fear of being alone.
12. Be healthy, not just fit and feed your soul
We have all had our ups and downs with weight, fitness levels and health. While I do have quite a small build I usually have to work hard to maintain it. I have become quite obsessed with this in the past. Despite this, I have learnt over time that being “skinny” or “toned” isn’t the be all end all. The most important thing to me now is that I feel fit and healthy. When I’m not staying active I can feel it drain me emotionally and mentally. With all of my hiking and outdoor adventures planned for this year, this shouldn’t be too hard to stay on top of. I just need to make sure I’m looking after my body and mind so it can be there for me when I need it to be. I can’t achieve any of my goals for 2018 if I don’t master this one.
13. Master the art of tactful packing
This is a topic I became a little obsessed with in 2017, and read a lot about. After travelling in Europe for six weeks with a 55L backpack and 10L daypack, I wish I had gone carry on only. After I returned home I spent countless hours reading posts and marvelling at the endless ways people managed to travel the world in a 40L carry on bag only. I had decided that for my next overseas trip I wanted to travel as light as possible and condense my essentials into 40L.
A spanner in the works
Then I stumbled across the amazing place that is Patagonia. At first I thought I would just hire the camping gear I wanted, including a 50L+ hiking pack at Torres Del Paine. My plan was to then travel carry on only for the rest of the time I was in Chile and Argentina. The more I read about Patagonia though, the more I fell in love with the whole Patagonian region in both Argentina and Chile. I quickly realised that I needed more than just a few weeks at this beautiful area of the world. There were too many amazing multi-day hikes I needed to tackle and I needed more time and gear to do it. Hiring gear at all of the areas I wanted to hike and camp was either not possible or not very cost effective.
After much deliberation I decided that if I wanted to do the dream Patagonian experience I needed to take my own trekking gear. This meant that I would need to take at least a 50L pack and that it would need to be checked on flights. My Patagonian dream quickly developed into a full blown Latina American adventure. I soon realised that I needed at least 12 months to experience it properly. This meant that I needed to fit trekking gear for Patagonia, as well as all my other travel gear for all the different climates and activities available in South America and Central America into my luggage.
My plan to tackle my packing goals this year
My plan is to pack as light as possible in all areas I need and make all of my clothing and gear as multi-purpose as possible. It took a lot of time and energy to research and source all of this gear and make it work together well. I think I’ve got it finally sorted, but that’s for another post. Today I just want to tell myself to try and stay true to my minimalist packing ideas and make the trip about where I’m going and not what I’m taking.
14. Find a balance that works for you
My goals for this year are all new territory for me. I am setting off on the trip of a lifetime. In addition to this I am also trying to build a remote living for myself from the ground up. I know from reading so many other travel blogs that it is very easy to become unbalanced when travelling and working abroad. So many bloggers find that they get so caught up in the excitement and hard work needed to make it in this blogging world.
It appears people often forget about the reasons they started travelling in the first place. This year will be a learning curve full of new adventures and I want to make sure I’m working hard towards my business and creative goals but that I’m also taking it all in at the place I’m travelling and the moment I’m in. Further to come on this work in progress.
15. Enjoy every day as if it were your last
I cannot stress this enough. 2017 was not just a year of reflection for me but a year in which I realised just how short and precious life can be. You never know what is going to happen or when your time is up. If you were to wake up tomorrow and know that you only had one more day to live, would you be satisfied with all that you have experienced and how you have lived? If the mere sight of this question makes you uncomfortable then the answer is probably no. If you have a huge list of experiences, dreams and goals running through your mind then it sounds like you have some work to do.
In 2017 I really started to have a hard look at my life to work out whether I was happy. Serious consideration was given to whether I was doing what my heart truly desired. I came to the conclusion that what I was doing was working to live and living to work, to eventually grow old and realise I had let life slip me by. While I am only 26 and there are plenty of years left to figure this out, I don’t want to get to that day when I realise it’s all too late and that I didn’t chase my dreams or live my life to it’s fullest. I want to explore what it means to be alive and enjoy every day as if it were my last regardless of how many days, weeks, months or years I have left.
You can smash your goals too!
I have set my goals for this year incredibly high for that exact reason. I want to develop personally beyond anything I have before. My plan is to see and experience things I have dreamt about for years. I want to go to bed each night with a smile on my face. I can rest easy with the knowledge that I am making my time here worthwhile. Hopefully my new attitude and take on life will help you find your purpose and make your dreams a reality this year too. So go out there and take the world by storm!!
-- Girl Seeking Purpose