My 26 Birthday Goals

Two weeks ago I turned 26! 26, can you believe that! With that said, time just flies! In 4 years I am going to be 30, which sound terrifying to me. In this post it’s time to reflect and to look in the future. Setting goals is something I live by. I am a huge fan of lists, daily planning and organizing, especially with great looking template sheets (you can find lots of free printable templates on Pinterest). I love to tick the boxes when I have finished all my tasks for the day.

“Do something that brings you closer to your goals every day”

For a few years I am creating a list of goals I want to achieve. Some goals are permanent, ongoing or in progress. These are only an extract of my long list of goals but these are the most important for me at the moment. Now I’d like to share my 26 birthday goals with you.

Stand on my own

Get my driving license

I passed the theory test in May, at the moment I am learning how to drive. I should be done taking lessons September.

Buy a car (and pay off the debt)

The plan was when I got my driving license I would mostly use my mother’s car, although I wanted to lookout for a small car which I could afford myself. I found that car my now. It’s a Citroen C1, a special edition called Shine. I love it and I can’t wait to drive it myself!

Look for an apartment and move out

This is a goal which might not happen in the near future. It is also a financial aspect. Since I finished my apprenticeship I have to pay for a lot of things: several insurances, rent (I surely support my mother with paying our own rent), soon I’ll pay for my own car and so on.

Health

Go to the gym at least 2 times a week

Sometimes it’s quite difficult and I only go once a week although most of the time I manage to go to the gym twice a week. When I was younger I used to love to go swimming. I don’t feel comfortable to go to the swimming pool anymore, especially in the summer time. Therefore I haven’t gone swimming for many years. I thought about this for a while lately. I don’t want to take something from me what I enjoy. When our indoor swimming pool is opening in September again, I plan to go regularly.

Lose 55 pounds

55 pounds. I know that is a lot. I take little steps every day. I lost 22 pounds for now. This way is long and hard. I have up and down during this way but I never give up!

Take a month off sugar

Sugar is the body’s worst enemy. I reduced my sugar consumption a lot since I started losing weight. I feel a lot better although I’d like to know how I feel if I cut it completely.

Drink more water

Very often I am struggling to drink enough water during the day. I’d like to drink at least 3 l per day. I started to do some tricks in my daily life. I don’t drink out of the bottle anymore I fill my water in a glass so I drink more of it.

Detox Diet for 2 weeks

This is another idea which has been in my head for a while. I think I could combine this with “take a month of sugar” I have to look for more information about this topic. How do it, what to eat and not to eat and so on.


Personal

Fall in love and be happy

No luck with the men lately. I envy everyone who has found their perfect match. I hope Mr. Right will show up on my doorstep very soon :-D

Get another tattoo

Since I got my first tattoo in Ireland 6 years ago I have ever wanted to get another one. I’m going to a tattoo convention on Sunday; maybe I find some inspiration there and an artist to get it done.
Try a new haircut

I have had the same haircut for many years, only the color changed. I'd love to try out something new but I am too afraid when it goes wrong and I don’t like it at all. My hair is everything to me.
Move up in my career

I am a trained media designer. I could to further education but I don’t know what to do yet.

Get a manicure

I love pretty looking nails. I’m not very talented to do it myself so I’d love to get a manicure.

Write a letter to myself and open it in ten years

All over the web I keep seeing people sharing their letters to themselves, and the beginning of the year is a fantastic time to do it. So I am planning to write a letter to myself in the beginning of 2017.

Make a huge vision board
I love taking photographs! Have a look on my Instagram account if you like. I have seen some great places this year and took many photos; therefore I’d love to create a vision board with my photos and bits and pieces of my travels.

Blogging

Keep my blog up to date / post regularly
This is not working very well so far. Through up and downs in my personal life I can’t post regularly at the moment. I don’t stress about this anymore. Things are the way they are, so if I don’t post in a week, so what? Although I hope things get better soon so I have more time for blogging again.

Attend a Blogger event in the UK
I hope I can make this work someday. I have met so many lovely people via Twitter since I started blogging. I’d love to meet them!

Write more blog posts this year
Unfortunately I don’t have so much time as I hoped to set up new blog posts. Although I set up a list with a few ideas for new posts and series. I just need to find the time to realize them.

Clear my NetGalley shelf

Luckily I have only 15 books on my NetGalley shelf. Some of them have been there forever and are waiting to be read.

Travel

Travelling is an ongoing goal. I’ve been on the road quite a lot this year. I visited Zurich (Switzerland), Munich (Germany), Monaco, Nice, Cannes (France) and Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

Visit Ireland again

It's been almost 3 years since I travelled to Ireland the last time. I miss this country so much!

Disneyland Paris

Going to Disneyland in Paris has been my dreams since I was a little kid. When I was about 8 or 9 my family and I have planned to go on this trip, suddenly my mother got very sick. Not flu sick or something similar, seriously sick so unfortunately we had to cancel it.

Plan a Christmas trip with my mother

I am not the biggest fan of Christmas, neither is my mother. Shame on us, I know. Christmas is not the happiest time of the year for us so we wanted to get away for years but we have never done it so far.

Friends

Do a Come and Dine with Me competition with my best friends

I am a huge fan of Come and Dine with Me, it's on German TV almost every day. My friends and I have been saying that we want to something like this for ages. Unfortunately we have not come around to do it yet. Although I am very looking forward to 5 evenings of cooking, eating, commenting and rating.

Take an epic road trip
Another goal which has been on our bucket list for a long time. The plan is to hire a car, plan a route somewhere in a country in Europe and have lots of fun!

Go on a spa day together

This is going to be happen very soon actually and I am so looking forward to it! It was my best friend’s birthday in May and I (and another friend) gave her a "Girls Day Out" as present, including a nice breakfast in our favorite Café and a few hours in a local spa.

Go to Concerts

I've been lucky enough that I attended 4 concerts in 2016 so far. I've seen Daniel Nitt (a wonderful and incredibly talented German musician, Coldplay (A dream came true!), Bruce Springsteen, and another bunch of German artists at a music festival. 2 more concerts are in the planning right now.

What are your goals and how are you working towards accomplishing them?