Looking back on 2013.

With the year coming quickly to a close this evening I have spent much of today thinking in reflection; evaluating progress and ticking off goals I set out to achieve at the beginning of the year. This time last year I was on the adventure of a lifetime travelling through Japan, experiencing a different culture and a different way of living. I had my eyes open to the world, seeing and breathing all of its hope and endless possibilities. I remember sitting in a coffee shop alone on New Years Day writing out what I wanted to do this year. Among my list was continuing to blog regularly and not let it be one of those things that gets forgotten about, to intern at magazines and get my experience up with the hope of one day joining the industry, to continue my budget plan and grow my savings, and the big one: to move to Sydney and advance in my career. I can safely say that I have achieved everything I wrote down that cold morning in the Japanese coffee shop but that isn't to say that any of it was easy. I have challenged myself to grow more this year than I have ever done in my life. I have pushed myself and my boundaries to achieve my goals. I set out to do things that I knew were ambitious for me but gave them a go anyway. Moving has been the most challenging, confronting experience I have ever faced but hey, I did it and it all worked out fine. Job hunting was painful with a lack of responses but I have been fortunate enough to land nicely in a place where I have found it to be more exciting and rewarding than the world of magazines that I originally had my heart set on. This year has been full of hard work, self-doubt, perseverance and surprises. It has been a good year, the most rewarding one yet. I plan on keeping my 2014 goals simple: to work hard at my new job and make new friends in Sydney.