Hello 2016

Happy New Year 2016!

Happy New Year! 😊 Sydney is one of the first cities to experience the new year because of timezones, and to be honest, having lived here my whole life, I couldn’t imagine it any other way. I’m quite used to it, and then waiting until the end of my day before greeting my European or American friends – be it for new year, Christmas, a birthday, or any other occasion.

We also seem to have the best and most famous fireworks in the world, with lots of people from other countries making their way down to see amazing fireworks. They cost a lot of money and they’re beautiful and the harbour views are too. However, after going to the harbour to attempt to see the fireworks a couple of years ago, I decided it was much better watching it on television. Or if you can get a vantage point at a higher altitude – which is possible in some of the city’s outskirts, or ‘suburbia’ – you can avoid the crowds. Last night I joined Nick and some of his cool friends for a low-key get-together.

In previous years, I recounted my previous year in my ‘Hello 20XX’ posts, but I did that a few days ago at the end of 2015 instead.

‘Resolutions’, goals, and similar things

It’s very cliche to write resolutions for the new year, and to be honest I like setting goals any time that is appropriate, but I feel like the new year is still a great place to, well, start. Like I believe Liz mentioned, I had stopped openly sharing my goals because there was always some pressure and a sense of disappointment that emerged if I blogged about it and didn’t commit very well to it. I feel like I’ve changed though. I have been thinking about the OKR approach which is quite common in some companies, and basing some of my goals around that.

For those unfamiliar with the concept of OKRs: In a nutshell, you form key goals that are measurable, but are a considerable stretch and that may be almost impossible to reach. The idea is that it requires a bit of a mindset change, in that you may write a goal to ‘travel to Pluto’ rather than ‘travel to the Moon’ because it is a harder goal you may not reach – however, if you tried to travel to Pluto, chances are that you would go further than you would have gone had you aimed for the Moon instead. And you’re doing something wrong if you 100% achieve your goals, in fact 40-70% is considered good.

Just a few things I have planned

I have some strange ideas and a few notes on what I have planned for the year:

  • A trip to Melbourne at the end of January
  • A trip around Europe and to Singapore in June-July
  • A short trip to Indonesia in September for another cousin’s wedding
  • I would like a nice 25th birthday bash, but maybe not as low-key as previous gatherings
  • Trying to go through all my nail polish in a fun ‘52 weeks of nail polish’ project
  • Gradually cleaning my wardrobe and buy no more than 8 items of clothing by June
  • Still keeping away from buying more jewellery (I got a Pandora bracelet for Christmas so that’s my excuse to stop buying shit 😉)
  • Attempting to go back to the gym or at least going for long walks on the weekends
  • A bit of a detox in January for a few of my blogging ‘segments’
  • Cleaning up the design of my blog (it feels like a continuous process indeed)
  • Continuing to learn Italian (I finished Duolingo’s Italian but will keep practising)
  • Experimenting with my own form of bullet journalling which I heard about from Manda (I did do a bit in the past couple of months but I’m still working with a way that works for me)

Last year I said I wanted to stay happy and learn how to say ‘no’, because succumbing to pressure or putting ourselves in ‘ouch’ situations isn’t cool. This year I want to try and focus on handling my negative emotions better, having patience, and taking my time. Taking my time is something I think I gradually improved in 2015, but this year I definitely want to make sure I feel on top of every day. 💪

Let’s all motivate each other this year – let me know what’s on your list! 😊

PS. My blog survey is still open, I’ll be writing about the results (and the changes I will make) next week but feel free to do it if you have a break between your festivities!

Comments on this post

Happy new year, Georgie! I am looking forward to reading about your future trip back to Indonesia. (I’m a big fan of travel posts, obviously)

I bet it’s nice to be able to experience things first before the rest of the world does. haha! I’d love to experience New Years in Australia. hmmm. I do have family there!

At least I know you weren’t that person who responded to my survey with ‘travel posts’ as their least favourite thing to read! I was surprised, haha. I guess travel isn’t for everyone – I recently talked to someone at work who just wasn’t interested in travelling. We won’t be in Indonesia for long so I don’t think we’ll visit anywhere interesting, but I hope you find my other travel posts fun to read.

Come visit sometime! Having family somewhere is a perfect excuse to visit that place. ;)

Happy New Year!

I don’t think our fireworks are nearly as great as yours. They have televised fireworks down in London, but other than that not much goes on. Apparently lots of people do go to see them in London though, but I’ve never been.

Hope you manage to achieve all of your goals! The travel ones sound very exciting!
xxx

Happy New Year! Haha, oh well. The fireworks are a big thing here but I think that’s about it. It steals the show. :)

I’ll be in Liverpool and London in June, I’m very excited! Maybe we can arrange a meetup if you’re around. :D

Oh that’s great! Yeah, that would be fun!

I sorta copied your idea for this, but I did give you credit? :3

I did mention about the sharing goals thing. Now, there is psychological research on why goal-sharing can bring more harm than it can good. and often results in goals not being achieved. It’s the mental accomplishment stemming from the praise one gets about a goal and all that jazz.

The OKR approach sounds cool, though it is slightly confusing [to me]. I will probably grasp the concept a few hours from now.

I looked at bullet journaling yesterday after finding some grid paper. I’m still considering it, but will also do one more tailored to me [if I do it], because I’m not fond of the layout for it according to the site, and many of the examples I found use the layouts provided on the Bullet Journal website.

Good luck on everything!

My plans are to learn ASL, study Spanish, and to finish the scripts for one of my web series so I can have all its details sorted out before anything starts happening with it. :3

Also, happy new year!

It doesn’t sound as great when it’s described as ‘goal-sharing’. I personally think that having a close friend as a motivator works for a one-on-one sort of thing, but not publicising.

It is a pretty long video and I have not watched it myself but I always hear that Google explains OKRs very well. I probably sound like I am repeating what I have written but it basically involves making goals that are very hard to achieve, because the results tend to be better than making goals that you know you can do.

I didn’t like the idea of grid paper for some reason. I like lines. I don’t like the way it’s done on the website either. What I do, and what I like, is using the bullets for tasks and circles for events, changing the bullet to a right-pointing arrow to move a task to the future, and starting a new page for a new day. All the other bits and bobs don’t appeal to me.

Best of luck to you as well, I hope learning Spanish is fun! I heard it’s a challenge because of the different tenses, but I am sure it will be enjoyable anyway.

Happy New Year, Georgie! Meanwhile, I’m living in one of the cities that celebrates any holidays last! It sounds like you had a great celebration :).

Even though it’s true that there is a sense of disappointment when you don’t meet a goal, it doesn’t mean we’re a failure in any way. Things just didn’t work out appropriately and we got caught up in other things. There are many different approaches in setting and meeting standards/goals/etc. set in the new year. I guess we all work differently :’D.

It sounds like you’re going to have an eventful year! Hurray on getting a Pandora bracelet! Hope you’ll get all of the charms you want ;). My Pandora bracelet is getting heavier as the years go by, and it’s worth it!

The beauty of designing your own layout is that it’s an everlasting process. The web dev world is always growing and innovating.

Good luck with everything!

Totally! Every time I have failed a goal I just move it along and I look at other goals I have achieved or other little things I have managed to do. It just means I can maybe refine that goal, too.

I am now making a wishlist of all the Pandora charms I want. I didn’t think I would ever like having one, but now I do. xD It does mean I will buy less crappy fashion jewellery, which is good. Haha.

Hi Georgie, Happy 2016!! :D I have been reading your last few posts of 2015 (got sent to my email) but I didn’t get time to reply. Been busy with friends, which is good actually.

Sydney fireworks are amaaazing. The crowds seem insane though lol. I was down at one of our beaches for New Years with a friend. Very busy there as well but we got a nice spot on the foreshore (grassy area) and the fireworks were pretty awesome!

That’s a really good idea about OKRs! It’s a good way to motivate you to do something or at least get part of the way with some of your goals. I’d love to blog more this year. I’ve got so many ideas for posts etc but I just need the motivation and drive to write them all down!

Sounds like you’ve got some great things planned for 2016. I’d like to go to Perth this year to see my friend that lives there. Must make a trip up to Queensland as well. I was in Melbourne FOUR TIMES last year so it’s unlikely I’ll make it there this yeah ha ha…. But I know I’ll be doing a lot of birding adventures with my friends Ellen and Jarrad, so that’s good. I’ll get to see more of my state :D I also hope to buy a car this year!

Let’s hope 2016 is full of great memories. Can’t wait to read what it has in store for you, Georgie! <3

Happy 2016 to you too Jess! I hope it’s an awesome one for you!

OT: I hate the built-in emails that WordPress does, I think they look butt-ugly. I was thinking of doing emails myself or using a much simpler service to do a weekly roundup of posts rather than having the posts emailed individually. I’m not sure though. I know you’re one of my few email subscribers LOL.

Yes yes yes! I am sure once you get the motivation you can start blogging more. I have been meaning to write a few tips of my own on how I motivate myself and how I make sure I have a healthy flow of posts. I keep a list of ideas and add to it even when I have a crappy small idea, because you never know, you might suddenly think of a way to fuel it later on.

I have never been to Melbourne so it’s kind of a big deal haha. Good luck getting a car, too, there are a few affordable small cars out there that you can buy new for under $20K, and aren’t much more than a used one. Sometimes I marvel at how much of NSW there is, too – seeing more of our states sounds like fun, haha. :)

Sounds like you have some awesome plans set in place for 2016 :) I don’t really have anything major planned . . . yet. I should figure out some things I’d like to do this year. Hrmmmm.

Anyway, I wish you all the best in 2016, Georgie! Enjoy turning a quarter-of-a-century old! I think you should totally do something bigger than your low-key parties :D

Happy New Year! I think it’s kind of funny that it’s new year in some places and not yet in others. Although new year resolutions are cliched, I always believe that new years are good time for us to start afresh. It’s like a time capsule, and it feels nice that most people are doing this resolution thing together.

Welcome to Singapore in advance, although that’s half a year later. If you’ve not been to Singapore, I would recommend you go for the actual, hawker centre food rather than the touristy ones. When the time comes, I can give you some recommendations if you’d like.

My resolution has got to do with managing my anger and working on my relationship with my family, because, to be honest, it isn’t very good. I wish you all the best in yours.

Happy New Year! Yes, I have also enjoyed reading other people’s 2015 reflections and 2016 goals as I’ve been blog-hopping, and it’s all very positive. I really like that everyone has the same mindset at this time of year.

I did visit Singapore in December in 2007 and we had ‘real’ Asian food in the non-touristy places, even though we weren’t there for much longer than a week. I’m definitely not the kind to go to touristy places, especially not for eating. 😂 Would definitely appreciate your recommendations so feel free to email me!

Anger management is one I’ve got to work on as well. I get easily ticked off and react without really thinking, and it’s usually in a negative way. I can’t say my relationship with my family isn’t too great, but it has improved over the past year. Best of luck to both of us!

I like the idea of making stretch goals to help you go even further than normal :) All of your trips sound exciting! I look forward to hearing about them later. I also like your goals of not buying as much clothing and jewelry. For me, it’s video games. The past couple of years, I’ve been holding back and buying less. I’ve also been forcing myself to throw away or donate more things around the house to decrease the clutter. No more being a hoarder for me!

Good luck with all of your goals and plans! I hope you have a great 2016!

Love it.

This year I’ve set myself a self improvement goal. One which pushes me out of my comfort zone. It’s to meet 1 new stranger a day. The world has become so disconnected with mobile phones etc. So I’ve pushed myself to strike a small how’s your day convo with people. I’ve never felt so empowered haha!

All the best G!

Should catch up for a coffee sometime.

I saw you post one photo on Instagram! I’m so intrigued and I love the idea. I can’t wait to see more of your posts of people you meet. Of course, let’s catch up some time – I think I should be arranging more catch-ups with not just my close friends, but people whom I could get to know better. :D

Haha my friend in Australia always greets me with the new year early! It seems like you have a lot of travel plans and that’s great! The only trip I’ve gone on in the last two years was this past New Year’s and I’m thinking of traveling more once I get my Master’s Degree. I definitely think you should do something nice for turning 25, it’s a big number, and I can’t believe how close I’m getting to it as well O_o.

I hope you have a great 2016 and dealing with negative emotions is something we all have to figure out! I’ve done much better in 2015 because of my walk with God and I’m going to continue lifting what I can’t control to Him instead of bottling it up. I also try to encourage others, whether or not they are religious, to do the same because it does work!