my 3 year goals

Despite being an ambitious person, I don’t often set goals for myself, or for my business. I’m not really sure why. Part of me is very open to how flexible the future can be; but I think, deep down, part of me is scared of failure. Why make these goals if you’re going to disappoint yourself? I try to live in the moment and work hard right now instead of planning the future.

But you’re supposed to do things that scare you right? Or at least that’s what they say. For some reason making long-term goals scares me. A lot. 10 years? Are you kidding me? I have no bloody idea (and apparently neither do 67% of other women, according to the Bayer Millennial Goals survey). I don’t even want to think about that right now. Three years seems much more manageable… So here we go (deep breath):

1. Travel
I’ve got the travel bug. Bad. I know that travelling for the rest of my life is a long-term goal (yay! my first one), but at this point in my life (no kids, not a ton of responsibility, a flexible job), I’m itching to travel. I want to see every inch of the world. I want to meet and connect with people from different cultures. I want to push myself out of my comfort zone and try new foods. First on my list is South East Asia… and it may be happening soon!

2. Take my business to the next level
If you told me I’d be blogging full time a few years ago, I never would have believed you (so maybe it is good to be flexible about the future?) But I’ve somehow made a business out of it (I must say, I am proud of myself for that). That being said, I always want to get better. I want to create better content, improve my writing, make great connections and work on exciting projects.

3. Create workday hours
As much as I want to up my game, business-wise, I need to learn to compartmentalize my work. I’m actually not bad at compartmentalizing my life (try a long-distance relationship, you basically have to), but because my business is my own, and it’s so important to me, I have a hard time putting it away. I can get incredibly anxious when I’m dealing with emails, projects, etc. and I have a hard time putting my phone down and just watching a movie, or having a bath. I want to get better at dealing with an email or issue during the workday, and then putting it away and not worrying about it at the end of the day.

5. Read 20 books a year
Now that I’m writing this, I’m realizing I actually do have long-term goals! I am a massive book nerd and am basically always reading. I love to read before bed. I re-read Harry Potter every summer (I know…). There is nothing better than getting lost in a good book. Not even a movie can replicate it (I’m one of those annoying people who always reads the book first). So I want to continue reading for the rest of my life. I don’t want to “not have time” for it. I will make time!

6. Floss
Seriously. I need to floss much more. Just ask my dentist.

I very much enjoyed writing this post as part of the #3yeargoals campaign. The campaign launched on International Women’s Day (perfect timing) and is fronted by the inspirational Olympic skiers, the Dufour-Lapointe sisters. The more I think about it, the more goals I do have… but as someone who can be easily overwhelmed, when asked “What are your goals?” I just tend to balk, get overwhelmed and say “I have no idea!”. I’m going to hold myself to these and continue to set goals (small or large).

I would love to hear your thoughts + 3 year goals… do you write them down? Think about them? Believe in them? Comment, email me, tweet me, whatever. I’d love to hear from you!

photos by Marissa of Design Love Co.
Written in collaboration with Bayer