I was inspired to write this by Pat at Retirement Transition. She so clearly articulates her 2017 accomplishments and I thought doing a year-end review would be useful to me as well. Like me, she is a “corporate refugee” so what she says really resonates since I also suffer from some of the same issues.
I was (am) an enthusiastic early retiree. But a very disorganized one who has been a bit helpless without the day-to-day bubble I used to live in. At the beginning of last year, I finally figured out that I had to build some meaningful structure in my life to move forward.
What I said in early 2017
While 2017 wasn’t perfect, I still feel good about it overall. I started out with these goals in mind.
- Make decisions
- Get organized
- Limit screentime (i.e. stop wasting time)
- Continue personal learning and development
My challenge words were “focus” and “just do it”.
How Did I Do?
I give myself a B-. I did make progress and am on the right track but need stretch myself even further.
Did Well.
- Making Decisions
– I was stuck in no man’s land for a while, frozen by the amount of choice there was. In 2017, I decided to just say “yes” to opportunities and put myself out there. It was the right call. - Structure and Income
– Project Coordinator with Photographers Without Borders, a not-for-profit organization that finds small grassroots NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and matches them with professional photographers. The resulting photography amplifies the story of the NGO. I look for NGOs across the world and co-ordinate projects through to completion. This is a 12 month commitment which requires 10-20 hours per week.
– Part time marketing and social media work for a local health clinic.
– Online transcription normally M-F in the early evenings. - Personal Learning and Development.
– I completed my Social Media certificate.
– I started to learn Spanish
– Volunteered for a local marketing association and did their email blasts for 4 months.
– Joined another Tai Chi club that teaches a more traditional and strenuous form than the one I was practicing before. - Making Connections
– At least one or two face-to-face social engagements per week.
– Networked by joining several Meet-up groups and attending their events
– Volunteered at cultural events including the Toronto Film Festival where I met a lot of fun people and honestly, had a great time.
do better
- Income. While I am officially retired, I feel a need to generate income (albeit on a part time basis). I am well below the goal that I set for myself
- Blogging. I gave up on it for 8 months. But I came back. I figure that I can still blog even while I figure out how to get where I want to go.
- Focus and organization. Definitely a DO BETTER in 2018. These are not natural characteristics for me.
- Procrastination. The flip side to procrastination is productivity. I want (no, I need) to be more productive in 2018.
- Harness the negativity. I still feel guilty and compare myself to other people.
Organizing my thoughts for 2018 and building upon the progress that I made in 2017 are priorities. I’m not making any resolutions but I will define goals that are practical and achievable and laid out in a way that works for me.
I’m looking forward to it.