2013 direction and goals

Every year I like to have a set goal, challenge or direction to work towards, it helps me plan my days and months better and is it always nice to accomplish something you set out for. Since returning from my trip away just over a month ago, my year is completely wide open with absolutely no commitments what so ever, meaning that I am free to shape this year (and my life at that) absolutely any way that I'd like!

In 2010 it was all about the challenge of completing my Honours thesis. 2011 was the year dedicated to planning and organizing for my big America trip, and to save money. And of course 2012 was when I embarked on said big America trip, and continued doing so before returning in February 2013.

Despite returning back to Australia 6 weeks ago I am only just now getting used to life again, and to the point where I feel ready to start planning for the next challenge of my life.

Oh, side topic: so it turns out, as I had suspected all along, that travel is indeed one of my biggest and main passions in life! So with that declared, I guess I should start revolving my life around that endeavor in some way shouldn't I, with travel requiring equal parts money, free time, and a thirst for adventure to achieve. At the moment I have a huge surplus of the latter two and am only lacking in the former, thus this year is all about saving money.

Well, to save money, but also to reconnect with my friends again. Being away from everyone while traveling was by far the worst experience of it all, to miss out on so many celebratory events such as birthdays, graduations and promotions, was terribly disheartening. But alas, moving on.

So, my first short term goals for the foreseeable future are:
- Gain sufficient employment
- Earn enough money to move out of my parents house and back to my favourite town as quickly as possible
- Have as much fun with my friends as I can

I am already off to a great start, having gained a permanent Friday employment last week, as well as some freelance programming work, I am certainly on the right track. I might even be ready to move out by the end of the month! And the having fun with friends part is easy.

Once the above are gaining motion and I am in a much better position, there are few personal directions I would like to start working towards, with the end of this year being my deadline:
- To finally get some iPhone apps onto the AppStore
- Get better at swing dancing, and my French (both of which are currently at a beginner level at best)
-  To improve upon my freelance programming portfolio and to gain more clients (currently I only have 1, although he does pay well at least)

This year really is all about just staying put, building my foundations again (with money, friendships, work portfolio), before embarking on more adventures in the near future. After the year I've just had, a slower, more evenly paced year is much welcomed.

And lastly... well, this one has been on my mind for quite some time, so I think it is time to... I don't know, put some effort into? In short, this is the year that I think I'd really like to get a nice girlfriend, to share my life with and be able to be involved in theirs as well. The timing feels right, and I know that I have mentioned this numerous times over the lifetime of this blog, especially in regards to how I'd love to travel with someone for a change instead of mostly solo like I currently do. I am turning 25 this year, and my last serious girlfriend was quite some time ago now... so, yeah, that'd be a nice additional goal to work on as well.

Hmm, so I guess that's it. I am quite excited about this year in fact. Being able to move house to be near my friends again will be a blast, and I do find the challenge of gaining employment quite exhilarating to be honest, to slowly bit by bit climb the ladder to where you hope to end up.

So now all that is left is to work towards it!