2017 Year in Review

I cannot believe that it is already time for the last blog post of the year. 2017 has been a whirlwind, and here we are getting ready for 2018 already. I tried not to set too many concrete goals for myself in 2017 because I’ve found that just doesn’t work for me. I thought I would take some time to reflect on how I did in relation to the focuses I set for myself at the beginning of the year. I also read a blog post by The Geeky Burrow yesterday, and I really liked the “what worked” and “what didn’t” style of her post, so I’m going to incorporate a little of that too.

Reflection

In January I set some broad goals for myself. These goals were intended to be areas to focus on for improvement. They didn’t have concrete definitions or finish lines in order to allow for growth while also being a bit more forgiving to myself.

• Cosplay
• Personal Relationships
• Health

For Cosplay, this was a huge year for growth. I accomplished many dream costumes, and didn’t buy costumes to take the place of unfinished projects. I have also really had a rediscovery of my love for why I cosplay this year. Overall, I am really happy on the ending note for cosplay this year. Here is are some collages of all of my costumes this year. It might be less than in previous years, but the projects were bigger and more meaningful.

My personal relationships really flourished this year. I’m not going to go into too much detail since they are personal, but I feel like the people in my life mean a lot to me. I’m happy that I feel like our bonds have been forged stronger.

Health is one I’m still working on. Overall, my mental health is much better than it has ever been. I’ve learned a lot about myself and body this year. This is the one goal this year that I think I could definitely have been a little more strict with, but I’m not unhappy. It’s taken a good amount of time to allow myself to feel this happy with myself again. I can only do better by looking forward and not backwards.

What Worked?

1. Saying No. I am a people pleaser. I hate saying no to people, but I also hate feeling like I am missing out (FOMO). This often leads to a lot of stress because doing it all is exhausting. I’ve learned my limits, and have been slowly getting better at saying no to people. Not doing it all actually really helps with my mental stress.
2. Bullet Journaling. I don’t really follow the original bullet journal format as it is too structured for me. I use it for to-do lists, cosplay planning, and even just plain old journaling sometimes. It has been very beneficial to have something I can keep my thoughts in that is as unstructured as my brain.
3. Google Apps. I’ve tried out a lot of note apps, list apps, and other types of organizing apps that just really haven’t done it for me. I love that the standard Google apps (Keep, Pocket, Drive, Calendar, Gmail, etc.) are all connected to each other. They also have a simple yet elegant design that makes navigating them really easy. It’s really helped me get organized this year.

What Didn’t?

1. Dated Planners. This goes along with the bullet journaling working. I am sporadic with my written planners, and often will use them more as a list or journal than an actual planner. Sometimes I forget about them completely, and feel terrible that I wasted several weeks or months of the planner. Around August, I threw my physical planner away, and I haven’t looked back. It just doesn’t work for the way my brain functions.
2. Clutter. I am a creative at my core, and unfortunately that often means creative explosions all over the house. Sometimes I move so fast that I don’t always clean up after myself before moving on with new projects. The clutter I create really hinders my progress though, and it’s something I definitely need to work on minimizing down the road.

I could go on and on, but those were the major things that I really think made a difference in my personal journey this year. I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year tonight. Please make plans ahead of time if you plan on drinking, and let’s start 2018 off with a bang!

What are your new year’s plans? What are some things that you feel like worked for you in 2018? What didn’t? Leave a comment below, and don’t forget to subscribe via email or Bloglovin’ to never miss a post! See you next year!