9 Things I Want to do in 2023

I’m not going to lie, 2022 kind of ended up kicking my ass. I can’t complain too much, but I’ve found myself drifting through the last three-four months, not really knowing what I want to do. I’ve been able to get some work and am very fortunate for that, but I’ve had no idea of what I want to do long-term. So, since 2022 is now past us, I’ve resolved to give myself a list of 9 things I want to do in 2023.

This is partially a permanent way of me giving myself a digital checklist of my goals, and whether I’ve reached them all by the end of the year. I want to do this for myself, but also hope to see if I can end up having some beautiful, random people on the internet reading this and help keeping me motivated. So, let’s get into the list of things I want to do in 2023.

1. Get a full-time job

I’ve been working a couple of part-time jobs, but the number one thing I want to do in 2023 is get a full-time job. Having finished university just under six months ago, I really feel ready to push myself out into the world and start afresh in some new place, since I’ve been stuck in Hereford. Not that I dislike Hereford, but I want to go somewhere new and start a new life.

Whilst this list isn’t numbered or prioritised, this is my biggest goal when it comes to things I want to do. I’ve applied to over 100 jobs so far, and I’ll apply to 100 more, so long as I can get that job.

2. Run a Half-Marathon (officially)

So, I’ve technically run a half-marathon before – and tend to do one every week – but an official half-marathon is something I want to do. All I need to do is sign on for one, pay my entry fee, and run it, but with the blur that has been these last few months, I haven’t gotten round to it, so I want to do it properly.

Sometime in the future – maybe 2023 – I really want to do a half-marathon for charity. I haven’t made this a separate entry, because I may not do it this year, but I want to do one. In all honesty, I’m too shy to ask people for sponsors, but I’ll get through that hurdle eventually.

3. Read 75 Books

Last year, I managed to read 140 books. No, not all of them were print books, a lot of them were audiobooks – but it still counts. In that case, you may wonder why I’m putting a goal of 75 books, but the honest truth is that I’m exhausted and don’t know when I’ll do all my reading next year. But, I still want to do as much reading as possible, within reason, so I decided that 75 books would be a reasonable goal without pressurising myself too much.

I started using Storygraph last year, but I should be more consistent with using it. That being said, I do really like it, and I want to do more with it, since last year I tended to just update my reads every couple of weeks. So, if I link my Storygraph account here, maybe you can check it out?

4. Get 5 More Acceptances

I was fortunate enough to have 12 pieces of writing accepted for publication last year, when I’d set my goal of 3 acceptances. This year, I’m going to try aiming a little higher and shoot for a couple more than my previous goal. Whether or not that will happen remains to be seen, but the very least I want to do is try and make this a reality.

One of the few things that have kept me sane this Winter has been writing, so I want to do all I can to make sure that in 2023 I keep working at it. My writing could become much worse than it already is and not get published at all in 2023, but I can only try.

5. Make New Friends

I hate to be that guy online, but I don’t have many friends. But, I would really like to change that, so, one of the things I want to do in 2023 is make a couple of more friends.

I want to do everything I can to change this, so hopefully I can change things this year. Only time will tell, but if it backfires, I’m happy being alone. Still, it would be good. I’m going to stop now before I get too occupied and start arguing with myself.

6. Read More Nonfiction – at least 10 books

This is something I constantly want to do, but I end up never doing enough of it – well, enough in my opinion. Nonfiction is something I’ve been getting better at reading, and in 2023, I’m going to try and help myself do this by reading at least 10 books in the genre.

What their subject matter is doesn’t matter to me – see what I did there? – but I want to continue the trend I started myself off with last year and get through 10 nonfiction books. I might check out the new book by Quentin Tarantino – I want to, and it’s about films, so I don’t have much of an excuse not to. Speaking of:

7. Start Documenting my Films More

Since I constantly go on about films and have always loved films, I want to do something to document the films I’m watching more consistently. I did list all the films I saw in cinemas in 2022, but in 2023 I think I should try upping my game and doing this with every film I watch. Maybe I’ll start a Letterboxd account, though I could fall down the review rabbit hole and stop enjoying films altogether. Just kidding, that’ll never happen.

8. Travel More!

I was fortunate enough to travel to two new countries last year, and I’d love to reach that same number this year. This doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll go abroad just twice, but I want to do everything I can to travel to at least two new countries, and maybe go back to some old favourites!

9. Stress Less!

I’m not going to tell anyone how to live their lives, but I think this should be on everybody’s mental lists of things they want to do in 2023 – and in general. I’ve written about stress a couple of times before – like here and here – but after the rollercoaster that was September-December, I want to do more to stress less. Ironically, this might involve me having to work less hard at reducing my stress, but I think I’ll thank myself for relaxing more.

Besides, I don’t want wrinkles, nor do I want to give myself any of the various issues that can come with stress, so I guess you could say that my real goal here is to relax more. Slightly below my job goals, stressing less is highest among the things I want to do in 2023.

Thanks for reading this, I really appreciate it. I’m not sure how far I’ll get, but I’ll do my best, What things do you want to do in 2023? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time,

Conrad 🙂