Looking Forward

     As 2024 comes to a close, I look back on everything that's happened this year, good and bad, and I realize that I wouldn't have done things any other way. For better or for worse, the choices that I've made this year have led me to the point I'm at now, peacefully tapping away at my last blog post for the year. Having said all of this, however, I still feel like I can improve on the things I've done this year, and squeeze more value from 2025 than I have from any other year, as long as I give myself clear goals and challenges to meet throughout the year. So here are a few personal goals I want to set for the new year, and I hope everyone reading this has a good 2025!

     Getting the most obvious out of the way, one of my (and every other breathing human's) goals for the new year is to work out more consistently and get into better shape. While it isn't really a unique idea for a new years resolution, I am not as hopeless as I was at the start of last year. Over the summer, I had already built up a habit of going on runs during each day, rain or shine, and throughout the fall semester, I had been occasionally going to my apartment complex gym, which was much more welcoming than the college communal gym. Having said that though, it was only an occasional venture. My goal is to work out consistently again- maybe not to the daily extent I was doing over the summer, but at least three times a week, so it doesn't interfere with my academics or extracurricular activities. Additionally, I plan on engaging in more hiking and outdoor activities, partly for my love for natural scenery, but with the added benefit of getting me moving more often!

      Another pretty obvious goal (though more specific to me) is to write more creative works! In a way, starting this blog was an attempt at getting me to write more about my interests and exercise my consistency in writing a continuous project, but I want to shift my writing goals for 2025 to be more creative. While I really enjoyed this (informative? persuasive?) style of writing, I think that it's time for me to work on smaller projects with a higher level of quality and passion placed into them. Not to say that I'm not passionate about my blogs, but there is a degree of I have to do this to writing these blogs, rather than working on a huge burst of passion and interest in a project with a deadline. So, my goal for this year is to write one script or short story for each break I have in my academic year. Spring, Summer, Thanksgiving, and Winter. If I end up succeeding in this goal, I'll come out of 2025 with four high quality, polished projects I can present on a resume and potentially get produced, which would be pretty awesome!

    My next goal is kind of a personal desire that isn't particularly useful or purposeful, but nevertheless important to what I feel like I should be doing as I start my 20s. I want to try to go on a trip/ travel somewhere once every three months this year, totaling in at least four adventures to go on in 2025! While this may sound pretty expensive and ambitious, I aim on counting any trip to a place outside of Tallahassee or Weston that exceeds three days. What I'm trying to achieve through this (beyond just draining my bank account) is to feed a sense of adventure and maturity that I want to cultivate as I become more of a proper adult. It can be easy to get caught up in heavy workloads, stressful classes, and personal deadlines, so I want to have a proverbial "carrot on a stick" for myself, that keeps me pushing past my limits for that light at the end of the tunnel. Also, I just want to enjoy more out of life beyond writing and playing videogames at home! If these are supposed to be the best years of my life, I should really take advantage of them!

       My final resolution isn't as much of a "goal" as it is a requirement for myself to stay on a good track for my life. I want to develop a five-year plan that involves academic, professional, and post-graduate milestones and how I plan to reach them, because even though I may have very little experience where I'm heading, having a general idea of what I should be doing will help me direct my efforts and give me an incentive to stay on track and on top of my work through the years. Ideally, I want to have insight into editing jobs, my post-graduate plan, and screenwriting jobs. As long as I know the steps to take in the right direction, I'm positive that my hard work can pay off, and I can make everyone proud :)

    If you're reading this and you haven't set any new years' resolutions for yourself, I promise you that setting some basic goals to reach throughout the year, in different aspects of your life, will be rewarding to you and help relieve some pressure from any current worries you have about the future. Good luck, and happy new year!!