new year resolution 2007

happy new year everyone! and yes, it's that kind of season, for greetings, wishes, years in review and goal setting.

last year, as 2005 was the one where i achieved all my goals for the first time, i set an intagible target for 2006: to feel happy with i've done with the year at the end of it, and have a sense of achievement. believe it or not, i feel none of the two.

not that 2006 has been a bad year. it's been a year of changes. a year when i quit my job in athens and moved to london, pursuing my dream of working abroad again. adjusting here. being independent again. catching up with friends all over the world. doing a bit of travel. setting more goals. getting a permanent job. taking a few risks, most of which turned out in my favour. but i feel this is the natural course of things. the sense of achievement is not there. and the cost of a few of my decisions has made its appearance on stage, in the course of time. like being away from friends and family. or getting in a pretty much conventional job role. or anything else. in 2006 i moved on, but at the end of it i feel the need to move further. and potentially faster. the problem remains i don't know where to. personally, professionally, geographically. i need to make up my mind on an number of things. and i need to have a few measurable goals for 2007 as well. and goals that depend solely on myself, so i can measure my success against them when the time for that comes around.

this is more or less how i ended up with my new year's resolution for 2007. smaller and bigger goals prioritised:

1. make important and conscious decisions and steps for my future
2. not smoke for at least 6 months (have already quit for now in case you were wondering)
3. start exercising
4. read more than in 2006
5. travel to at least 4 new countries

of course there's quite a few more things that i want and need to do in 2007 that didn't make the list. these could be to refresh my french and italian and learn a new language, to start playing music again, to get educated around specific topics or discover new passions and leisure activities etc, but they can't all fit in the list. they will be somewhere there in the background though, but the things listed above are the ones i will consistently move towards.

if 2006 was a year of changes for me, it now looks like 2007 is going to be one shaping my future in a more conscious way. time will show if i can make it happen :)