Inspiration for 2014

2014 is all about Zambia! - Picture of Victoria Falls

I am trying very had not to turn this post into a new years resolutions so here goes...

As much as 2013 had a lot of travel, this year I am trying really hard(and I mean hard) not to book so many trips out of the UK. Its tough when Easyjet are constantly emailing you with sales alerts! I am going to be firm with myself and reduce the number of international trips. It doesn't help my case when I am actually writing this in a hotel room in Kronberg, Germany but my excuse is that I am actually here for work so there!

I know everyone has yearly goals related to weightloss and all that, after eating both your turkey and the neighbour's fat Christmas bird. This year I am more inclined to change my approach to goals and my own self talk when it comes to achieving these goals. Rather than say 'this year I will try to do...', I will be changing this to 'this year I will do...'. This  way enables you to envision yourself achieving your goals as well as what you need to do to reach those goals. Also helps in getting your mindset to focus. Preparing the mind is really important when it comes down to it because your mind has to be convinced this is achievable before the body gets into it. It's mainly this part I would like to successfully learn to develop better habits that commit to make these changes to achieve my goals. I have recently come across so many people that have inspired my goals for 2014 from climbers to writers, to photographers. Below are the four category my goals fall into:

Work

I mentioned in my 2013 review that this year I will be taking on a mentoring program at work and will be launching this from February, on top of other more personal goals including passing more Microsoft exams and publishing web and mobile phone apps on the Windows 8 platform. Speaking of exams, I have one tomorrow morning and one at the end of the month so this is the last post for this month until I conquer the Microsoft exam at the end of the month. Successfully hopefully.

Climbing

I have recently come across great climbing articles and read many more via my BMC membership. That feeling you get when you read something and it totally reignites your passion for something. That's what happened when I read articles about how some climbers have greatly improved there climbing through frequent coaching on foot technique and better approach to climbing holds. As well as reading about another climber's method for capturing the best climbing photographs to the point where he climbs solo at night while self shooting his climbers(mind boogling!)

I am also giving myself a goal of being able to start tackling grade 5+ and 6a indoor climbing routes in doing so I want to improve both my fitness and this in turn will improve the climbing skills for both indoor and outdoor climbing. This year I have my mind set on more UK climbing trips as well as a summer trip to Netherlands to take on the Excalibur; the tallest climbing wall. Climbing and travel rolled into one!

Excalibur in Netherlands

Travel

Like I said above, I will be cutting down on international travel in favor of discovering and photographing some of UK's beautiful spots. I want to see the Scottish Highlands this year, I want to go camping(eek!), I want to see Fort William, Ireland and more of many parts of London I take for granted. Like the view of London from St Paul's and climb the O2. International travel is not totally off the cards though, I will be heading to Israel in March, Zambia in October also stopping by Malawi, Botswana and Namibia. This will be a special trip and I cant wait to share that with you all. From  Zambian safaris to Malawian lake side beaches and Namibian sand dunes. Makes me drool each time I think about. Everything I will be doing this year will mainly be working towards my trip to Zambia so look out for more details on this soon.

Chill out on the Zambezi River - Zambia

I am also be in Newcastle next month for the Travese 14 as well as a special trip back to Portsmouth next month so look out for the details of that too.

Photography

I have been inspired by so many bloggers, both professional and aspiring photographers that I just couldn't list them all here. This makes me want to start walking around everywhere with my Nikon but just not practical as it is weighty. Looking at the beautiful photography of Paris by Carin has inspired me to shoot more of this beautiful city that I live in( London of course!) so I will be sharing a bit more of my photography from my London solo walks. I will be spending a day with Nikon next month on a photography workshop to get to know more about the intricacies of Nikon cameras and how to get the best out of them. Another inspiration in the photography arena is Jamie Beck, whose creative works spawned Cinematography; a mix of photography and moving images to produces this most captivating cinematography. See below one of her creations.

credit

Very ambitions plans for 2014 but I am so excited and looking forward to the challenges 2014 has in store. Hope you will follow me on this journey as well as help me stay in line to achieve them all.

Whats inspiring your goals for 2014? What have you got your eyes set on doing this year?...

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