January 2022 Goals Review 

Goodbye January!

The first month of the year 2022 has now officially ended. As I conclude this month by a review of what I’d done, this blog will show every update on my progress. From my selflove plans up to social media target, all will be tackled here as part of my self-assessment. I believe that the best way to know the status of one’s goals is to plan for it and at the same time make an assessment after putting all the plans into action. Now, for me to effectively apply all the plans that I’m doing, I need to make a review of it so I can get the feedback on things that I need to work on for the next month.

“The only way to make a spoilt machine work again is to break it down, work on its inner system and fix it again. Screw out the bolts of your life, examine and work on yourself, fix your life again and get going.”
― Israelmore Ayivor

It wasn’t an easy month for me. Some of my plans changed eventually due to the sudden situations came in. I also got sick for three days that inhibit me to do my daily task. Despite of that, I’m still thankful that I was able to focus on the things that I must do for this month. Regardless of the challenges present, I successfully end January with a smile and excitement for the new month that will come. As I work on my plans, one thing that I can say is that, it wasn’t really easy to redirect right away the things that I’m used to do. It’s very challenging to change all of a sudden because it really requires effort and consistency to do it.  Planning will always be easy but putting it into action is indeed hard! That’s one thing that I observe base on what I had experienced this month.

The journals and the blogs that I did for this month, helped me to be more motivated and focus on my goals. By setting a target and reviewing my actions on a weekly basis, it became a gateway for me to achieved what I’d set. Truly, if you break down your goals into short term and plan on things that you can do on a daily basis, will greatly help you to achieve it. It will help you to focus on things that you can control in the present and eventually grant you a step closer to your goals.

“Most impossible goals can be met simply by breaking them down into bite-size chunks, writing them down, believing them, and going full speed ahead as if they were routine.” -Don Lancaster

efficiently.  Rather than spending it in unnecessary things, it will be more ideal to spend it on things that is worth it. I learned to invest my time on something that will benefit me the most. I always believe that we are all living in a limited period, so we better focus on things that will makes us happy. For me, making my goals happen will also be a reminder for anyone that, everything is possible once you commit wholeheartedly to it.

Before assessing everything, let’s make a review on things that I planned for the month of January by checking out my previous blog about it:

Finally, we can all welcome the first month of the year 2022! Since we wanted to make this year one of the best one, we should now start to work for all the goals that we set this year. We can only make our goals possible if we will make short term goals out of what we’d planned as early as possible. Although we have 365 total days to do it, planning our month will be more ideal to ensure that we’re working on it. I also found this strategy very effective since by doing it last year, I was able to achieved the goals that I set for 2021. Working in this blog really makes me so excited to what this month will bring. The fire within me feels like igniting more every time I’m doing something for my goals. With the proper planning, it will be easy for me to focus on things that I must do on a monthly basis. This will also prevent me on not being pressured by all of what I’d planned for this year.

Like what I did last year, I planned to continue to set monthly goals for me to slowly achieve the goals that I have for this year. I believe that by doing this, the goals will be more attainable rather than working on all of it at the same time. To start this month of January, I specified the things that I must focus on so that I can have a clear mind in making my daily routine. Before we start on the thing I planned for this month, let’s make a quick recap of what goals I set for the year 2022.

Now that you have an idea on what this blog will be all about, let’s now check my progress and accomplishments for the month of January!

As you can see from illustration above, I failed to do some of it due to the rising Covid cases and at the same time when I got sick for three days. Another challenge this month is when they require to get a booster vaccine starting on February 1. This will inhibit those people who are not yet vaccinated to roam around since some establishment requires it. Upon waiting to our company’s next move, gladly they arrange their staff’s booster appointment on the first week of February. Despite of these challenges, I still continue to work on my selflove plans in order to achieve it. Although there are things I failed to do, I can still make it happen on the next month.

Now let’s carefully review the things that I failed to do and successfully achieved for this month.

UNHEALTHY HABITS FOCUS: EXCESS MOBILE USAGE

To tell you honestly, I find it hard to minimize my mobile usage since it’s been a practice of mine to check my phone every now and then. Despite of the things I set to lessen my mobile time, I repeatedly failed to do it for almost the whole month of January. Upon preparing this blog, it made me realized the time that I spent failing to achieve this target. It made me feel bad that I put into waste the efforts in making this possible. Now that I realized my mistakes, I’m more motivated to work on it in this last week of January. I may consider this month as a failure to achieve this target but I’m looking forward that I can eventually achieve it on the next month.

As I review the things I’d done for this month, I came up with three reasons why I failed to achieve this task, they are:

1. Checking the feedbacks on my social media accounts.
2. Creating content and updates for Instagram and Tiktok
3. Watching YouTube videos for so many times.

These are the main reasons why I mostly failed to follow what I set for this month. Now that I am aware of it, I planned to focus on deliberating a schedule for each point to avoid compromising the plans I made. I’ll be working on it on my February Goals so that I can ensure that this time I will make it happen.

TRAVEL: THEME PARK/HORSEBACK RIDING CLASS (January/February)

Another thing that I failed to do this month is the theme park adventure or horseback riding class. This is all because of the reason that I got sick and at the same time the implementation of the booster. Even though I wasn’t able to reach this target, I was still able to tour around one destination which is Souq Waqif. We were also able to shoot as well a video for it for our YouTube Channel. I will also be making a travel blog for that so I can add it up in my travel diaries. Here are some pictures that we took on that day.

Since this task is for two months, I think that I can achieve it on February. Since anything that concerns any outside activities requires a budget, I really need to check my funds to ensure that I won’t exceed to the planned amount. Since the month of February will also be intended for Renovation, I badly need to ensure that everything I spent is within the limit.

HEALTH & FITNESS: BOOTY WORKOUT/ YOGA

One thing that made this month special is when I started to be back on working out again. The adjustment period in the first week is really hard since my body needs to get used to it but after I got sick, I really push myself to do it every single day. Every minute that I’d spent working out became my stress relief time. I found myself so excited to have my workout as soon as I reach home from work. I also made a blog about as part of my assessment so I can ensure that I’ll be consistent to do it. You can check my blog by clicking the link below:

Since I’m done with the booty and lower body workout for this month, I am planning to consistently do it for the next month while incorporating an arm and back workout. I’ll be sharing in my next blog the target exercises the I’ll be doing so you can also do it with me. Meanwhile here are some pictures I took that I also put in my workout progress blog.

Since I already made a separate blog to review my finances let’s just have a quick assessment on the status of my funds. As you can see in the illustration above, I successfully achieved all the things I set for the month of January. Despite of the sudden emergency wherein I need to give a financial support to someone, I just deduct it in my last year’s fund to be able to secure my financial priorities this month. Another change that had taken place also this month which I also mentioned in my previous blog is the increase of the designated target for the renovation. This reason pushed me to decide to use my emergency fund to meet the budget for it.

In this month of February, I will carefully plan another strategy for me to meet my priorities in that month. Since it’s my birthday month, all I hope is my finances won’t be compromised as I celebrate my 26^th birthday. Actually, in the past days, I’d been seeing my horoscope that tells I will experience some short of budget, and I guess it will gradually happen soon. Although I’m not anticipating it, I am aware that there’s a probability it can happen because of what I decided to start which is our house rental renovation. In any investment, there will always be a risk so all I need to do is to prepare myself and the same time be strong. Now let’s have a quick review of the specific things I achieved and failed this month.

IDEAL BUDGET GUIDELINES

For this month of January, I successfully followed my planned budget. By spending the amount according to what I’m allowed to, I was able to achieved the amount for my savings fund. Although there’s other expenses that I made in the last week of January, I just deducted it to the intended budget in our house renovation. This is for the reason that I need to secure my payment for my first insurance and there’s no more source of fund available due to the increase of budget for renovation.

INSURANCE: SECURE 1^ST INSURANCE PAYMENT

For my insurance payment, I successfully secured it and even send it to my sister on the last week of January. Now that I settled the first payment, all I need to is to prepare the next one on August. As of now, I’m currently adjusting my budget for this year because I’m planning to finish the renovation within the half of the year. This is because I’m planning to go for vacation on October and at the same time apply for a new job. Since the FIFA world cup will officially start on November this year, I need to at least prepare my vacation and resignation before that month. Everything is still not yet official because I still haven’t applied anywhere. I just need to focus first in securing my savings fund and project for this year before I take a step forward in my career.

FAMILY & LOVED ONES: RENOVATE 1^ST RENTAL HOUSE

Opposite to what I expected this month, we failed to start the renovation schedule due to the adjustment of budget. For this month, my parents are busy to choose the right contractor within the budget. Now I understand how hard and expensive it is to construct a house. Even in our case which we just want to go for a renovation, it really requires time and patience working on it. We reviewed some contractors near us and carefully compare their offers. Of course, we need to consider the budget that we have so it was really a long process.

As of last of January, my parents are working on the price list of the materials so we can officially start it on February. As it nears, I also need to ready the finances for it so we can finally put it on rent right away.

I’m so happy this month because I successfully finished all my target career plans. What I did is I schedule a week for me to do it so I can ensure that I’ll finish it on or before January. Now I can officially mark check one of my career goals for this year which is to update my professional websites. Upon starting this month, I have this worry that I may fail a lot of things, but with God’s grace and dedication, I’m so proud that I was able to accomplish something in this month. These baby steps will be my key towards the goal that I’m aiming for this year. It may look blurry right now, but I believe eventually it will all makes sense.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT: FOOD SAFETY CERTIFICATE

On the third week of January, I took a food safety certificate on a UK website that I mentioned in my January 2022 Goals. The only catch is that upon finishing it, it requires a payment for me to be able to acquire the certificate of completion. Since I don’t have any credit card and I just found out that they only issue it within their area, I just gave it up despite of completing everything. Although I wasn’t able to gave any certification from that, I still considered this task a successful because I still made an effort to note down, review and assess myself in understanding Food Safety.

I still have a lot of months to work again in this goal so, I don’t lose hope that I will eventually find a free training with certification. I will plan to schedule it again on the next months that will come and ensure the right source where I can gain digital certification that I can add up in my credentials.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT: UPDATE LINKED IN

In the second week of January, I successfully update my partner and my LinkedIn account. I made sure that all of the job descriptions are right and everything is well updated as a preparation for my future application this year. To make my account striking, I also incorporate banners using Canva application and use font generators to highlight important things. Not only improving my career information, I also made a connection from some pre-opening properties and HR personnel so I can be well updated by its vacancies.

By doing this, I do think that it will be a great start for me to build up myself in order to have professional connections. Now that I am decided to take a step forward in my career, it’s a best move to ready everything including all of my social media accounts. Like how our previous training manager always say,

“You should represent yourself beyond their expectation.”

You always need to have that competitive advantage in order to caught interest. You can only do that if you make a change in yourself. As January officially end, I will continue to build my credentials and achieve my career growth plan for this year.

YOUTUBE

In the start of January, I planned to set a target of 25 subscribers and minimum 200 total views. I also shared the vlogs that are scheduled to be uploaded for that month which are:

1. CINEMATIC 4K | EXPLORE QATAR: Msheireb Downtown Doha
2. QATAR 🇶🇦| [HIS VLOG] Learning to Rollerblade for the FIRST TIME!
3. QATAR 🇶🇦| [OUR VLOG] Sisig Cravings at night!

Upon careful consideration between me and my partner, we just decided to focus on cinematic travel vlogs. To cut it short, we removed the scheduled vlogs and published only two travel vlogs which are the one we took in Msheireb Downtown and the other one is in Aspire Park. My partner also made a subscription for a playlist channel so we can avoid copyright claim. As of last week of January, we are working on one vlog we took from Souq which we will published on mid of February.

Now, we gained a total of 39 subscribers, 250 total views and 5.9 watch hours which all exceed our targets. We have a lot of plans in this channel and we’re both excited to share it to all of our viewers. This vlog will be our digital memories that we can always look back as soon as we grow old. Who knows, in the future we can be acknowledge with this? There’s a lot of things that may happen, but now, we wanted to focus in making beautiful memories while sharing it here in this YouTube Channel. Here are the videos we published in the month of January:

INSTAGRAM

Starting the month of January, I set a target of 1,050 followers. I was very worried since I’m not even on halfway on getting what I set but as I share one reel on the third week of January, I suddenly gained a lot of followers. As soon as my Instagram boost that day, I followed it right away with an update on my post, stories and reels. Because of that, I was able to achieve my target followers in this month. I also came to realized the strategies in order to gain insights which I will apply for the next month.

Here’s the summary of my updates for the whole month of January,

WORDPRESS

For the month of January, I successfully published a total of seven blogs. Most of the blogs are focuses on my life updates. There’s one blog for unspoken poetry category and another blog for Live to Inspire category. You can check below all the blogs I published in January.

Since I decided not to be discreet on my plans for this year, I didn’t share any updates of it in my Facebook account except on my Pinterest. Due to this, I experienced low traffic for this month. Now, I am planning to plan strategy in order to increase visitors on my website. I already have things in my mind that I will share on my next blog.

TIKTOK

My last month goal is to reach 600 followers and update a minimum of six videos. As of end week of January, I gained a total of 669 followers and a total update of 12 videos. Actually, I fpund it hard to cope up and I’m losing followers in the beginning of the month. I also experienced a sudden drop on my views, likes and comment. Thankfully, because of one update last January 21, which became trending and garnered a minimum of 1900 views, it helped me to gain insights to my account. Here are the top videos I uploaded in the month of January.

I will continue to set a target for the next month and at the same time plan a strategy for me to have quality post.

The month of January ended really fast. As I looked back to what happened in the past weeks, I can say that it was a really challenging period for everyone. I was so skeptical if I can pursue all the plans I made in this month, but with God’s grace, I’m so thankful that I was still able to made it happen. I failed in some aspects, but I still have this thought in me that I can still work on it on the next month. With all the things that I realized this January, I will surely apply it on my next plan. I believe that mistakes and failures will be my driving force to exert more efforts in my next move.

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”-Isaiah 40:29-31

With 11 more months to go, I will make sure that I will continue what I started. The strength and faith within me will be my guide towards the goals that I’m aiming for. This blog will be my life story and will serve as evidence that impossible things can be possible if you put your heart in everything you do. Be with me as I discover more of myself. It will be a long journey for me, but I believe that I’m not the only one who’s in the same page.

LET’S BOTH MAKE IT HAPPEN.