It's officially August; birthday month and naturally a month where I get a bit nostalgic, you have been warned. It ends up being quite a busy month, with several friends and family celebrating their birthdays but also fashion week on the horizon among other things. To recap, here is what I set out to achieve last month. For the most part, I did succeed with this apart from the writing side. Actually that isn't true-I just remembered I did a fair bit of this at the beginning of July but then y'know the whole job thing happened although really that is no excuse. Anyway, August goals. Keeping this short and sweet for now...

'Adult' Properly: This might seem a somewhat self critical place to start. In fact it is but I want to stress that it's more about maintaining the illusion than the legitimacy. This whole 9-5 shenanigans is very new territory to me and I want to get better at managing my time, both to/from work and then again when I get home. It truly doesn't feel like there's enough hours in the day and things like unwinding, answering emails and to an extent looking after this blog, catching up with friends and the like are falling to the wayside. Not good. That and I am not an early morning person so I really need to have everything ready in the morning. Yesterday for instance I forgot my phone and sunglasses (semi nonessential but also, why). It is probably time to reinstate my weekly planner slash make better lists when I'm not in a dazed, end of the day state. Advice on a postcard please.

Fixate on the good: Last month some not-so-good things went down. Many were out of my control yet I still felt liable and let it cloud my mindset at times. That being said there were also some brilliant moments and I maintained my sense of humour+ability to laugh in spite of the unpredictable chaos. It is the latter I want to focus on and be mindful of, rather than the former. Daily journalling and coming up with five good things each day certainly helps but I also want to pause more during the day to mentally note when something does give me that spark of excitement or happiness.

Start a travel fund: Maybe it's because I spend a lot of my time looking at travel documents now or perhaps it's just because I feel like my Instagram feed is filled daily with pictures of far off lands. Let's be honest, holidays are more often than not the best. Anyway, I want to go on a mini-break to Sydney sometime soon so I need to start saving them $$. Plus I have dreams of going further afield eventually. The irony is that flying gives me worse anxiety now but it's worth it in the end.

-Have you got any goals for August?

I've decided to make a list of things I'd like to do or achieve each month around these parts. They mightn't seem extravagant but they're just small ways I hope to improve my day to day life or perhaps just things I am getting up to. In honesty, I think it's just something useful for me to have documented and keep in mind when I think about the grander scheme of things. These kinds of posts certainly aren't a new concept but me putting my spin on them is. Here's my goals for July. May it be a better behaved month than June was...

Take time to relax: So. Important. No matter how stressed or chaotic our lives get I think everyone could benefit from this. Whether it's setting aside time each day to read, watch something on Netflix that you love or listen to music. Do something for you that doesn't elevate stress. At the moment I'm trying to meditate daily. Meditation isn't new to me but the art of including it in my daily routine is. I recommend the Headspace app but I might look at the Calm one too. If you have any recommendations of apps or podcasts relating to mindfulness, sing out. 

A photo a day: This is more about doing something creative each day really. Each day I have to pick up my proper camera, not my phone and take at least one picture. So far, so good. I might compile these into a blog post at the beginning of next month because I think it could be interesting to look back on. 

Write more: Something else creative. I want to one day write a book and also be published in print. Two separate goals admittedly but they tie in together. I want to get writing, whether it's spontaneously or the beginnings of something that may make its way into other people's hands. I need to practice doing longer form writing too. Although I have to be honest, life does get in the way here a bit and if I don't really want to write I'm not going to force myself. That being said, I'm going to try my hardest to write some words on paper that I am proud of. 

Twenty five: Next month I am 25 and at the moment that realisation terrifies me. For many reasons which I won't get into here. I feel like 25 is a milestone, maybe more for personal reasons than anything else but I don't want it to go unnoticed. Will I have a party or will I just quietly celebrate? What does 25 even look like? This month I need to decide just that really. 

-Let me know in the comments or tweet me what one of your goals are for July. I'd love to know what you're hoping to achieve.