Review of 2011
Filed Under Life with 2 Comments
I reviewed my 2011 resolutions yesterday, but my life isn’t made up just of those four resolutions! What was 2011 actually like for me?
I started off the year with a short week long holiday in Sydney. That holiday helped me to decide the next step I wanted to take in my life – a move to new horizons. I got a new job in Sydney which meant moving cities and finding a new apartment. I also got Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy. Comparing kitten Darcy to grown Darcy is really quite amazing – you forget how small he was to begin with!
2011 was a year of focusing on myself, my needs, and what’s best for me. I got rid of a toxic drain in my life, and upgraded to a newer, shinier, more in tune model. I tried to look after myself a bit better. I started with beauty treatments, and then started working on my fitness.
I tried to collect some new experiences a bit too. I went to Mildura in country Victoria for a weekend, and then drove out to Gippsland (country Victoria again) for a night at a B&B. I spent a day in the Hunter Valley when I got to Sydney. I jumped out of a plane, got a new tattoo and went skiing. I reminded myself that travel is what makes me happy, and as a result, went to America (with ensuing controversy) and booked tickets for Beijing.
Looking back at all that…I had an absolutely massive year!
SMART
Filed Under Family & Friends, House, Life, Money, Travel, Uni/Work with 5 Comments
As I mentioned yesterday, I managed to successfully fail all of my resolutions for 2011.
Graduate successfully from my Masters with a High/Distinction average: I didn’t graduate from my Masters. Instead, I did the complete opposite of successfully graduate, and instead I deferred my last semester of study. I did get a Distinction for the first semester of study though. I start study again first semester of this year – starting late February through to mid June. I’m a bit worried about it actually – I will have been away from study for the past six months and I hope that my motivation hasn’t suffered as a result.
Take the next step in my career to a 10% increase in salary and a step up in position title: I didn’t get a discernible increase in salary nor a step up in position title. What I did do was find a new job in Sydney that is probably more focused and relevant to what I want to do in the long-term, as opposed to the work I had been doing previously. I’m doing work that involves a degree of higher level thinking – of strategy, analytics and planning. It’s a step up from the purely administrative, logistic and “doing” work that I have previously done, and offers more opportunity to broaden my skills for appeal to future employers.
At this point I don’t know how long I will stay with the role. It’s becoming clear that it’s not enough money to live comfortably on for the type of lifestyle that I am accustomed to. It is also clear that while there may potentially be long-term scope for growth in the role, it’s not something that would happen in the next two years, nor something that could allow for any short-term substantive growth in income. Yet there are clear pros to the role – I enjoy the work, my colleagues and the organisation. And if things go according to plan, staying at this organisation would make sense as they are very family-friendly and offer great maternity leave and “back to work” options. But I can make more money elsewhere for similar work within a similar not for profit environment. At this stage…I don’t know what I’ll do. I imagine I’ll see through a twelve month cycle however, and make a decision towards September of this year.
What of 2011?
Filed Under Life with 2 Comments
This would normally be the blog entry where I reflect on 2011. For the first time in my blogging ‘career’ though, I’ve run out of time to do any substantial writing. We’re about to leave the house for a NYE party at an apartment in Milson’s Point, within perfect viewing distance of Sydney’s fireworks off the Harbour Bridge. I really couldn’t ask for more for my first New Year’s Eve in Sydney.
In previous years I might have written the entry in advance and set it to autopublish…but somehow despite the fact that I’ve been away from work for the past week, I’ve had absolutely no time to myself. My brother left Sydney on Thursday after a week where we spent every single day out doing touristy activities. I’ve had an incredibly busy Christmas with Kieran’s family. I’ve had two friends from Melbourne visit me in Sydney in the past week. I’ve been picking up furniture purchased second-hand and finally starting to put my new place together. My life here is coming together.
I looked over my resolutions for 2011, and actually realised that I failed them all. I’ll explain more later (when I’ve actually got time to write more about 2011/2012), but although I technically failed them, I don’t feel like a failure. A contributing reason may be the fact that I’m continually realising that I now live in one of the most stunning cities in the world – something I didn’t envision this time last year.
Have a fantastic New Year’s Eve everyone – and I hope 2012 brings you light, love and laughter!
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