As part of December, I always look back at my annual goals that I set for myself in December of the prior year. One thing I already know is that this year has been all about letting go of my current set of goals and instead settling into a new life, with a new job, and a new home. It’s been a strange year, that featured the third time in as many years that Bren and I have moved since we left our apartment in Uithoorn. There’s also been a few changes here and there in my personal development and writing has been something that I haven’t been able to pick up, mostly due to lack of time and especially a huge lack of energy. As you could have read in my previous blog, I have been in a better state, mentally. But I’m slowly crawling back up! Let’s dive into some of my goals for 2023 and see how I held up my end of the bargain to myself!

Plotting and writing the first Kevar novel, by December 2023

The idea for my Kevar novels existed ever since I finished writing The Shaedon Resurgence trilogy. It’s going to be a series of five books in total, where I base the protagonists on our own cats. Each book will focus on one of them and their history. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what felt off about the storytelling, and I think I found what was fundamentally wrong about the way I was currently writing. This means that next year I’ll start from scratch with the first story, which focuses on one character and her journey back to civilization as she tries to find out who exactly she is and why she is suffering from amnesia. The story makes much more sense if I make it a spiritual journey, without bothering how things will go later, once she has joined up with the rest of the protagonists. I’ll instead focus on the journey and end the story when she has found her way.

Weigh 70 kilos and get in better shape, by June 2023

I’ve taken a new gym subscription at a local gym here in Apeldoorn. One that has a more personal approach and also has a sauna! Besides that I have started intermittent fasting and I have vowed not to drink a drop of alcohol until at least the end of the year. I have to admit that being “sober” really helps to lose weight in combination with the fasting. I’ve lost quite a few kilos and currently weigh in at 71 kilograms! So I’m nearly there. What a big difference! 🙂 Next year I want to take it down a bit further to 65 or so. But as you can see, I’m close to making it to this goal. I started 2023 weighing over 75!

Write at least one blog per week for TheGreenDream.blog, by December 2023

Blogging has not been my thing this year. Or no, let me rephrase that, because blogging is my thing. I just couldn’t find the energy to do it. Bren has been really busy with her shop and building a name for herself, so we both didn’t blog as much as we would have wanted. As I have other plans for next year, I think Bren and I will have to discuss what we’re going to do with the blog part of the website going forward.

Post at least three posts on The Green Dream Blog Instagram page every week, by December 2023

Same goes for the Instagram page. I really wanted to do things with it, but failed to find the energy. I also didn’t have a clear plan for what I wanted to post, so yeah…

Read 40 books, by December 2023

Forty books was ambitious and I managed only to finish 23. I still have a couple of weeks to finish some others. One of the things I found a lot of fun this year was listening to audiobooks, but I have broadened my horizons and also started listening to a couple of podcasts. Next year, now that we’ve settled into our new home and life, I think I’ll be able to read more. So I think I’ll keep my goal on 40 for next year, but for obvious reasons, I didn’t read as much this year as I would have liked.

Reinstate my morning routine with meditation, exercise and journaling, by December 2023

My current morning routine allows me to meditate and that’s just about it. Exercise and journaling are things that I typically take up during the evening, or late afternoon in the case of exercise. Maybe I should have rephrased this goal to “reinstate a routine”. Which I did and am currently happy about.

Other goals I had

A lot of my goals for this year were focused on blogging, diving into Pagan rituals and helping Bren with the shop. While I did what I could, I found that a lot of the things I was trying to do cost me a lot of energy, besides having a full time job and trying to do my own things. This is also what caused a lot of the troubles I found myself in somewhere around September of this year. I tried to do too much, and found out the hard way that I just couldn’t.

Instead, I intend to make 2024 a year that is more about my own passions and I’ve been playing with some ideas for a long time. One of the main things I really want to do is stream video games. Mostly Retro/Indie, but also a lot of newer Nintendo games. I haven’t figured out a name yet for this new creative outlet. But just thinking about it makes me happy and that’s what should be the main thing when you do something. I have a huge passion for video games, their history, musical evolution and trivia. They even inspired me to start writing books, believe it or not!

Conclusions to 2023

2023 has been a very wobbly year for me. I am recovering from all the upheaval and really want to make 2024 one of my best years yet. I plan to blog regularly, but I’m also looking to integrate a YouTube channel or something into all my future content creation. I’ve even been playing with the idea of starting a podcast, but I’m not entirely sure what it should be about, yet. Something video game related seems very obvious, but since I’m also into Stoicism and mindfulness, I’m trying to find a way to combine those two elements. I need some time to let the idea simmer and I’m certain something will pop up eventually. My main focus will be on starting that video game stream and talking about the games that I play and enjoy.

Have a good one!

Jeffrey