July Goals

July really ran up on me, summer is basically speeding by and it's a bit scary, but I felt it would make sense to try to grab hold of this month and make every day that I have left of it count!

I've technically been on summer holiday since May (though it definitely doesn't feel like it) and you w
ould think with all the time that I have on my hands I would be a lot more productive than I actually am. Granted I work a hell of a lot and I still have one exam in August but there are days that I have off but usually I am so tired from working that I tend to spend those days in bed watching Youtube and eating pretty shit. However I'm currently home and it feel's like I'm having a bit of a detox so I feel I'm in a really good place and I'm able to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard whatever) and prioritise my life this month.

1. Get to Grips with Shorthand
Okay, if you aren't on a secretarial or journalism course you probably won't have any idea why I even am doing this. Shorthand is a type of writing that was used a lot more in the past but unfortunately for me it's a crucial part of my course and I need it to pass. And I suck at it. However it doesn't really matter to my university board and I have a month to really knuckle down and see if I can do this. Once it's over at least I can be lazy and feel less guilty about it.

2. Get back on blogging
Like I said, on my days off I tend to do...well nothing and because of that my blog has taken a serious hit. I have ideas and when I try to make them a reality I feel my writing is forced and fake which makes me not want to post at all. This is the first post in quite some time that I've sat down and the writing has actually flowed and it doesn't feel like I'm just banging my head against a wall.

3. Utilise my planner
I have a cute little palm leaf planner which I got from Urban Outfitters a while go and I go through stages of using it religiously then not using it at all. When I do use it I feel like I have a better grip of my life and because I'm currently not in uni I feel that I've been using that as an excuse to not use the planner. I'm not an organised person and really any opportunities I have to try to bring some order to the chaos that is my life, I should take them.

4. Read More
I recently bought and started reading a book called "Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race" by Reni Eddo-Lodge. Yes I may have been swayed by the fact we share a name but also I have recently been even more interested in learning the history behind black people living in Britain and spurred on my recent political and social events I have been more passionate about supporting black owned businesses and creative pursuits. The book itself is insightful and brings light to institutional racism and the covert racism that is present in everyday life. When I was younger I use to devour fiction novels and when I reached about 16 till now I stopped reading and forgot how much I enjoyed it. I want to be more aware of issues that are present and reading is a great way to do that.

This is a small little list of the things I want to achieve, there's obviously more but Rome wasn't built in a day and sometimes when you write a massive list of goals it becomes overwhelming and I wanted to start small with things that really should be achievable.

What goals do you have for this month? Have you achieved some already? Let me know

Ren x