3 changes I've done this year (so far)

| 4 minutes | in Others

June is here everybody! Bringing with it the middle of the year. Which makes me wonder: looking back so far, how is this year going? Am I working towards the goals I initially set for myself, or am I just aimlessly cruising like I’ve done every single year before this one?

There have certainly been highs and lows. I’ve started a new job, made some great friends, and lost someone very dear to me. These and many other things made me give myself time and space to reflect on how the year has been going. And overall, things have been looking up.

Today I wanted to share a list of 3 changes I’ve made this year that have improved my life significantly and explain what these are and why they had a positive impact so far. All of these items came from an ongoing journey of finding my focus and feeling better and more prepared than my 2020 self. So, let’s go!

1. Consistently looking at my goals

At the beginning of the year, I created a silly Google sheet to write my goals. It’s not the first time I’ve done this, actually I’ve probably done it hundreds of times already. I have endless collections of notebooks, apps, blogs, you name it. All of them in an effort to document and keep track of my goals. I always focused so much on the medium, but I realized that it never really mattered (I’m using a google sheet after all!).

This year was the first time that I consistently looked at my goals, and that happened because, for the first time, I created conditions for it to happen. Every time I opened my browser, it was right there. So the effort of taking a look at it was minimal. Every time I see it, I think to myself “Oh! I did set some goals… Am I working towards this? What I am doing to reach this?”. And just that thought is enough to get me back on track.

2. Writing the highs and lows of each month

Everything I just said is very nice, but being asked constantly “Are we there yet?” can be incredibly frustrating. To go around this, I’ve tried my best to look at these goals as a journey: the real goal is the person I need to become. So, to keep myself encouraged, I’ve been writing a list of the highs and low points of my last few months.

Highs and lows of each month print screen

This has been incredibly helpful. On one hand, it allows me to be able to reflect on what I’ve been working on for the last few months, and most importantly, it reminds me that I am doing something. That is the little piece of information that allows me to take a look at the year and understand what I need to start working on.

To keep this, I’ve put this on the super simple table above (that I see quite often) and I’ve limited the number of characters and things I can write. This is important because it has to be really simple! Just a few keywords to remind me of what has happened that month is enough for me to remember later.

3. Started taking care of myself

Like I said earlier, it’s not really about the goals, but about becoming the person that achieves those goals. And none of that can be possible without taking the time to take care of yourself.

This has been the year where I’ve started making an effort to create a routine around taking care of myself. This involves waking up, showering, and reminding myself to wash my face and apply lotion. As simple as that. The beauty is that I have done this before, here and there but this is the first time I’ve actually I’ve made an effort to keep this habit.

Another thing is to stop nail-biting. I’ve been an avid nail biter all my life. I’ve been able to stop once or twice, in more relaxed periods of my life. When I managed to stop once more this year (during my vacation), I tried my hardest to keep it so. I noticed that I was able to stop biting my nails as long as they weren’t too long. So I started to do something I never did: I started cutting my nails. I understood that I may not be able to have long beautiful nails for a long while, but at least I am healthy.

In essence, if your mind is set on taking better care of yourself, make it a habit. Try to keep it as much as possible. Matt D’avela gives some great tips on how to create habits if you’re interested.


And that’s it for today folks. I wish you a wonderful June. Thanks for joining me today. See you soon!