Reflecting on the Remarkable Highs and Lows of 2018

It’s not even January yet and I’m already eager for the reset that a new year provides. As I sit in one of my favourite cafes, sipping on a super-sweet, cake-tasting cup of matcha almond latte, I can’t help but be inspired to think about how this year went. Was it a failure? Was it a success? Have I really changed in one year?

This time last year I was an undergraduate student at Ryerson University in my fourth year of Media Production. I just found out that I got the internship of my dreams and I also had just made one of the biggest human errors of my life. Unfortunately, that human error affected other people and it really affected any trust I had left in myself.

In the midst of all that drama, I was working once a week at my website design job, going to school a few times a week, preparing for a major filming day and the post-production of my thesis. I was barely attending the Taekwondo school at my local YMCA and while I loved that school, attending a Taekwondo class at 9 PM and getting home at 11:30 PM was not healthy for me. Also, I was applying for a Christmas break job at Lululemon (which I got!) and I was occasionally spending time with my friends.

God’s Plan Will Always Come to Pass

When I look at my goals for Twenty-Eighteen, this is what I wrote in my first Hobonichi. I promise you that I wrote all my goals and clarified how I would attain those goals BEFORE 2018 began. It’s a bit scary how most of those goals came to pass. God’s desires for you will come to pass so His purpose will become known. No matter how much you plan in detail, His plan will be the one that is fulfilled.

Earn a Full-Time Income as an Assistant Editor

• intern at my dream company
• be hired in April 2018
• master Avid Media Composer
• learn Davinci Code & Symphony
• master After Effects
• attend networking events

I interned at my dream company and was not hired by them, but their recommendation led me to be hired by someone else at the end of April. During my time at this job, I learned Avid Media Composer and I’m more than confident to say that I am intermediate to advanced in my use of the program.

At the Vision Media Conference I attended, I learned Davinci Code but did not practise with it much this year. I did not learn Symphony or master After Effects this year. However, I learned how to do basic visual effects work for television in After Effects.

As a member of Women in Film and Television Toronto, the Directors Guild of Canada and Canadian Cinema Editors, I attended multiple networking events and workshops. I could have been better with following up with the people I met those nights. Nonetheless, they were all memorable experiences.

100K Subscribers

• upload weekly
• share weekly
• comment/interact

HA! This 100% was a fail and did not happen. I mean, if you look at how unspecific the steps I was intending to do were, you can see how it led to lack of action and therefore no success in that area. I did not upload and share weekly or comment/interact with people online. Instead, I had an identity crisis about whether or not I wanted to post cosplay and convention content anymore. I became so lost and confused about my career in real life, but also what steps I should take next with my YouTube changed. I was changing. God was changing me. He made me come so fully out of the closet about my faith in Him that going into 2019, I absolutely must make Him the focus for my channel and every single thing I do.

I did increase in subscriber count by about 1-2 thousand, I think. Towards the end of August, I decided to join the Zero to Influence Bootcamp by Erika Viera and I hired a coach – Alisha Nicole – to help me gain clarity! I was ready to take the leap into 2019, but I was so confused about what to do first. Now, I know my why, my mission statement, my dream audience, and the content I want to post. Tech tips and faith talks for women who want to use their gifts for God and live a full life on earth.

Save Five-Figures

• pay off student loans
• make more money
• sell graphics online
• cut out many habits

I won’t reveal the number for privacy reasons, but my goal was really to have a little bit more financial freedom. I did not reach my goal, but I did pay off 100% of my student loans, I made more money, and I cut out poor financial habits. I think I finally understood how it felt to put a lot of money towards a specific goal like paying off your debt. I was so driven to reach that goal that by the second half of the year, shopping mindlessly was no longer tempting to me. Shopping is kind of like therapy to me, so cutting the mall-walking was huge for me. I still need to cut down on the fancy matcha and honey-ginger lattes, because those are very expensive.

The one thing I did not do was sell my graphics online. Since I am working full-time on my business in 2019, at some point I may sell my graphics online to see if I like it.

G License

• driving lessons with Dad
• save $600 for driving
• test for G2 + pass
• practise 100 hours
• test for G license

Yeah, so this 100% did not happen. When it comes to driving, I feel like such a late bloomer. Sometimes I feel embarrassed because of it. I come from a family of excellent drivers. My brother is a truck driver full-time and my dad drives a lot too. My sisters are excellent drivers and are praised highly by my dad. My friends and cousins drive and they’re younger than me. Naturally, I kept comparing myself and beating myself up for not moving faster and achieving this goal faster. It feels like something is holding me back. To be honest, I worked a lot this year. Therefore, I should give myself a break for not achieving such a time-consuming goal.

I Finally Went to Driving School

Here’s what I did accomplish on my list. I did do a couple driving lessons with my dad and I saved $600 for driving lessons with a driving school. I completed all the in-class lessons and just need to do the in-car lessons this January. I did not test for my G2 and G test, nor did I practise 100 hours.

The point is that I did something, and if you have a goal that has been repeating for years, don’t feel bad. Look at the steps you took to reach your goal this year, and work at the goal slow and steady for next year.

Write a Full Screenplay

• write 80 pages
• write 3 pages/day
• submit to Ink Pot

After attending a writer’s workshop, I was really inspired to write a full screenplay. Did I mention one of my close friends is an excellent screenwriter? That inspired me too. I did not achieve this goal at all. BUT, the writing bug did bite me this year.

Take a Novel Outlining Course

After I read Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (and listened to her story about how she quit her job, wrote a manuscript, submitted it to a popular writing competition and got published) I was blazing with ideas. I registered for her Novel Outlining Course which I have yet to complete. My goal is to do that in 2019. I have been collecting artwork for my characters, world-building in Scrivener and creating music playlists in iTunes for this novel idea that I’ve had since I was a teenager. I’m so excited to write it. There may not be a screenplay coming soon, but a novel is brewing my friends.

Sell Bookmarks on Etsy

I created no steps for this goal, or I did and I erased them. I wanted to have a goal that would mean I gave back to my mom. She had a bookmark business and I wanted to sell her work on Etsy. This year, she started a new business, titled it Miss Cypriana, opened her own Flea Market store, started a poppin’ Instagram and Facebook Page, and now creates balloon art at birthday parties on the weekends. All of this happened in just one year.

Fun fact, my mom PAYS me to help her (which is awesome, because matcha latte money is always a plus). Thus, I kind of reached this goal in the sense that I helped her create social media profiles to promote her business. Since I’ll be working from home in 2019, I’ll be able to work more for my mom and help her automate parts of her side-hustle.

Become a Green Belt in Taekwondo

• join my dream Taekwondo studio that’s close to my home
• attend class weekly
• train at home

Wow! The journey to finding my dream Taekwondo studio was a six-month process. In the last two months, I attended multiple studios in Toronto to find the right one. I am so happy I finally found one close to my home and that I was able to afford the monthly fee! This was such a blessing. I didn’t get absolutely everything on my list, but I really wanted a school that valued technique, was somewhat traditional, had a lot of diverse students and was clean. This is one of the biggest Taekwondo schools in Toronto with earlier class times.

I did not consistently attend class weekly, but I did attend class more than I was when attending the YMCA classes. This was due to it being an earlier class time and nearby my home. I did not train at home, which I feel would have aided in my confidence and helped me to achieve my goal of a green belt.

Overall, my progress with Taekwondo has been incredibly slow. I have been told by my instructors in the past and now that I am good and have the potential to be very good due to how my body performs naturally, but my lack of training and attendance will never get me to where I want to go at the speed I want to go at. Naturally, I want to blame my work hours and how tired I am after a draining workday and lack of sleep. My lack of sleep has been a major problem for me. I have never worked as many hours as I did at my previous job without time to sleep properly as well. This has affected all areas of my life negatively.

Nonetheless, I still went from a white belt to a Yellow belt this year, and cross my fingers, I’ll be Yellow-belt green stripe by the end of 2018 (Update: I AM!). This way I can start 2019 strong and become a green belt.

Sell Graphics Online

• sketch/research design ideas
• upload to website
• market on Pinterest online

As I mentioned earlier, I did not achieve this goal.

When Hounds Fly

• save $300

I did not accomplish the goal to put my dog in training at When Hounds Fly.

Increase Self Confidence

• attain green belt
• learn to ice skate
• drink 2-4L of water daily
• be able to do the splits
• meal prep and cook yummy food
• grow hair

This is an interesting goal. I think it should have been considered a resolution. No matter what, one can increase self-confidence by just going outside their comfort zone, and learning new things. On this list, I finally learned how to skate and do tricks (I took an 8-week course y’all), I am closer to being able to do the splits, and my hair has grown.

How to Improve Your Goal-Setting

Overall, reflecting on twenty-eighteen, I realize that the more specific my steps were (e.g. dates, hard skills/software, use of names), the more the goal hard-wired into my sub-conscious. I did not look at my goals daily. This could have really helped me work towards my goals daily. I did not have a vision board, I just had a planner, and a calendar and I wrote it down. I forgot about it in my day to day, but things were already being set into motion.

Choose Your Goals Carefully

I think it’s important to choose goals that you know MUST happen. Don’t worry too much about making it come to pass exactly how you want it to, because God’s plans are greater than your own. However, know that you should be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. Also, when you write HOW you’re going to accomplish a goal, an image should automatically come to mind that is emotionally compelling to you. It should be a milestone rather than an insignificant detail that leads you to your goal.

Sometimes, seeing how others achieved a specific goal can inspire you to be detailed with your steps.

God Has Control Over Your Life

Ultimately, God has control over your life. Let him take the wheel. Write down the vision and make it clear. Do that with grace and peace. Ask God if He agrees with your plans and if he doesn’t, LISTEN…Save yourself a little, tiny bit of pain. Remember your values and stay true to how you want to feel for the entire year. If a goal causes you anxiety and you want to feel calm in 2019, pay attention. Fear of going outside your comfort zone is different than anxiety.

Anxiety leads to nowhere, while going outside your comfort zone can lead to a whole new world.

Hope this inspired you to reflect on your 2018 goals so that you can prepare to make heart-centered and God-centered goals for 2019.

How was 2018 for you? What are your 2019 goals and how do you plan to accomplish them? Share your thoughts in the comments below.