Happy New Year!
Hello hello! And Happy New Year!
I know it's been the phrase of the week but I honestly can't believe we're in 2019! I feel like it was 2015, I blinked and next thing it was 2019!
With new a year comes a new beginning and I do like to use the new beginning to reflect on the previous year - the good and the bad - and to make a list of my achievements, and things I want to continue in the following year, as well as things that didn't exactly go according to plan and things I want to continue working on in the following year.
So I thought today I'd share some of my goals for 2019. I have split them into 3 sections - Travel, Career/University, and Personal Growth.. I feel like having this post public can maybe help me stay on track in order to achieve these goals and maybe can inspire even one person to come up with their own!
As I mentioned in my previous post, the 5 months I spent studying in South America have given me a serious case of wanderlust. At the minute, the only flight I have booked is my one to Madrid on Friday, where I'm going to be working until September. I'm so excited for my first proper office job and although I'm working 9-6 Monday to Friday, I'm going to use my free time to explore and discover more of Madrid and immerse myself in the Spanish culture for 8 months!
I also have a few holidays and days off here and there so I'll be taking every opportunity I have to travel, most likely to destinations in Europe as I won't have enough time off at once to go much further afield. I already have started planning a trip to Paris to visit some friends who are working there!
I have only a year and a half of my degree left - I can't believe how fast it's going! I've started thinking about my plans for after I graduate and at the minute the plan is to apply for an amazing internship program that I have found. The deadline for applying will be around November/December so I'm going to use this year to make myself as employable as possible by working as hard as I possibly can in the internship position I have in Madrid, and taking on more voluntary work when I get back to university in October.
Also, I'm currently reading a book called 'The Skills: From First Job to Dream Job - What Every Woman Needs to Know' by Mishal Husain and it's honestly one of the best self-help books I've read! She opens it by talking about the reality of growing up female and the gender roles that are unconsciously imposed on us and she also speaks about it from the perspective of her Pakistani background as well, which is really interesting, and then the current situation in the world of work regarding gender equality (So much has improved over the recent years but we still have a long way to go!). The rest of the book is about the essential skills every woman needs to succeed in the workplace. What I love about it is that she breaks each skill down in a simple way which makes it so much easier to know exactly what to do in order to develop that skill. I've learnt so much from it already and would recommend it to anyone, no matter what age you are or career stage you're at! So, I want to put what I've read into practice in my internship position in Madrid.
In terms of my degree, I am vowing here and now (so I need to hold myself to this!) to do all the reading I am given and to be smart about my work, specifically not spending stupid amounts of time on work that doesn't count for anything, and getting started on assignments in good time. I do work better under pressure but I don't enjoy it at all!
Throughout my time at school, I was really shy around people outside of my friendship group as a result of a combination of a few different things. I constantly worried about what people thought and felt really inhibited within myself. It was something that definitely got better when I got out of the school setting and started university in September of 2016. I didn't know a single soul at the whole university when I arrived, so it gave me a fresh start and forced me out of my comfort zone which really helped my confidence to grow. However, I knew I still had a while to go before I was completely content with myself as a person.
2018 was definitely the year in which I have grown the most as a person. I really worked on my self-esteem and I am definitely so much more confident in myself now. I learnt to care so much less about what other people think, especially people I don't even know. The second half of 2018 was when I feel like I fully started to outwardly just be myself, totally unashamedly. Being in Chile really opened my eyes to the things that really matter to me and not one of those things is the opinions of other people. Honestly, I know it may sound like a bit of a superficial example but at the beginning of 2018 I hated leaving the house without makeup on because I don't have the best skin, but when I was in South America I hardly wore makeup and as a result, pretty much every picture I posted on Instagram and Facebook was makeup-free, which was a big step for me. Those photos are my favourite ones to look back on because those are the ones in which I'm laughing, doing something silly or just having a great time with my friends. They're the photos in which I look happiest.
So, my main personal goal for 2019 is to grow my confidence even more. And what I have learnt is that the best way to grow your confidence is to step outside your comfort zone, because that's where you push yourself to grow as a person. I know that going to Madrid on my own (since I had one of my best friends with me in Chile!) will push me out of my comfort zone; I know that starting a job in which, let's face it.. I have no experience (!!), will majorly push me out of my comfort zone; and I know that setting up a life in a city I hardly know will push me out of my comfort zone. But I also know that I am confident I can do all of these things and that as a result, I will be a stronger, more rounded and more confident person for it.
And you know what? I can't bloody wait!
I'm ready for ya, 2019! Let's make it a good one!
- C x
I know it's been the phrase of the week but I honestly can't believe we're in 2019! I feel like it was 2015, I blinked and next thing it was 2019!
With new a year comes a new beginning and I do like to use the new beginning to reflect on the previous year - the good and the bad - and to make a list of my achievements, and things I want to continue in the following year, as well as things that didn't exactly go according to plan and things I want to continue working on in the following year.
So I thought today I'd share some of my goals for 2019. I have split them into 3 sections - Travel, Career/University, and Personal Growth.. I feel like having this post public can maybe help me stay on track in order to achieve these goals and maybe can inspire even one person to come up with their own!
Travel
As I mentioned in my previous post, the 5 months I spent studying in South America have given me a serious case of wanderlust. At the minute, the only flight I have booked is my one to Madrid on Friday, where I'm going to be working until September. I'm so excited for my first proper office job and although I'm working 9-6 Monday to Friday, I'm going to use my free time to explore and discover more of Madrid and immerse myself in the Spanish culture for 8 months!
I also have a few holidays and days off here and there so I'll be taking every opportunity I have to travel, most likely to destinations in Europe as I won't have enough time off at once to go much further afield. I already have started planning a trip to Paris to visit some friends who are working there!
Career/University
I have only a year and a half of my degree left - I can't believe how fast it's going! I've started thinking about my plans for after I graduate and at the minute the plan is to apply for an amazing internship program that I have found. The deadline for applying will be around November/December so I'm going to use this year to make myself as employable as possible by working as hard as I possibly can in the internship position I have in Madrid, and taking on more voluntary work when I get back to university in October.
Also, I'm currently reading a book called 'The Skills: From First Job to Dream Job - What Every Woman Needs to Know' by Mishal Husain and it's honestly one of the best self-help books I've read! She opens it by talking about the reality of growing up female and the gender roles that are unconsciously imposed on us and she also speaks about it from the perspective of her Pakistani background as well, which is really interesting, and then the current situation in the world of work regarding gender equality (So much has improved over the recent years but we still have a long way to go!). The rest of the book is about the essential skills every woman needs to succeed in the workplace. What I love about it is that she breaks each skill down in a simple way which makes it so much easier to know exactly what to do in order to develop that skill. I've learnt so much from it already and would recommend it to anyone, no matter what age you are or career stage you're at! So, I want to put what I've read into practice in my internship position in Madrid.
In terms of my degree, I am vowing here and now (so I need to hold myself to this!) to do all the reading I am given and to be smart about my work, specifically not spending stupid amounts of time on work that doesn't count for anything, and getting started on assignments in good time. I do work better under pressure but I don't enjoy it at all!
Personal Growth
Throughout my time at school, I was really shy around people outside of my friendship group as a result of a combination of a few different things. I constantly worried about what people thought and felt really inhibited within myself. It was something that definitely got better when I got out of the school setting and started university in September of 2016. I didn't know a single soul at the whole university when I arrived, so it gave me a fresh start and forced me out of my comfort zone which really helped my confidence to grow. However, I knew I still had a while to go before I was completely content with myself as a person.
2018 was definitely the year in which I have grown the most as a person. I really worked on my self-esteem and I am definitely so much more confident in myself now. I learnt to care so much less about what other people think, especially people I don't even know. The second half of 2018 was when I feel like I fully started to outwardly just be myself, totally unashamedly. Being in Chile really opened my eyes to the things that really matter to me and not one of those things is the opinions of other people. Honestly, I know it may sound like a bit of a superficial example but at the beginning of 2018 I hated leaving the house without makeup on because I don't have the best skin, but when I was in South America I hardly wore makeup and as a result, pretty much every picture I posted on Instagram and Facebook was makeup-free, which was a big step for me. Those photos are my favourite ones to look back on because those are the ones in which I'm laughing, doing something silly or just having a great time with my friends. They're the photos in which I look happiest.
So, my main personal goal for 2019 is to grow my confidence even more. And what I have learnt is that the best way to grow your confidence is to step outside your comfort zone, because that's where you push yourself to grow as a person. I know that going to Madrid on my own (since I had one of my best friends with me in Chile!) will push me out of my comfort zone; I know that starting a job in which, let's face it.. I have no experience (!!), will majorly push me out of my comfort zone; and I know that setting up a life in a city I hardly know will push me out of my comfort zone. But I also know that I am confident I can do all of these things and that as a result, I will be a stronger, more rounded and more confident person for it.
And you know what? I can't bloody wait!
I'm ready for ya, 2019! Let's make it a good one!
- C x
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