My goals tend to be very Schrödinger-like: I both have them and don't.

(In Schrödinger's thought experiment, a hypothetical cat in a closed box is simultaneously dead and alive, since no one observes it.)

To give you context, I used to set my goals in public – to keep myself accountable and share my journey as I plan things along.

Yet, it quickly turned into a roller-coaster of shame: The more times "life happened" and I didn't get to cross something out of my list, the more I wanted to crawl somewhere and hide. Despite receiving support and encouragement from others, I decided to stop setting goals out loud and rather stick to mapping out my next steps in sprints.

Keeping goals loose works for me: I don't indulge my overplanning habit (plan once, get a dopamine hit, and stash the plan away), which means I'm open to new ways and practices, and I trust myself to change things up to whatever works for me at that moment.

The only thing I've missed is sharing the real journey – and how it made easier to reflect out loud.

Thanks to one Ukrainian Instagram creator, I have an idea on how to bring it back.

I was mesmerised today when I saw her monthly "photo dump" with goals progress. There were no promises to do XYZ goals next months, no loud plans but reflections on the past month, along with celebrations of wins and realistic account of lows.

It left such kind and warm impression on me that I thought of doing this for myself, too. Instead of going into the future and planning the next month, I'd love to take a moment on how it's been.

(Let it be my variation of quickly opening the box and checking in on a hypothetical cat.)

My February recap:

1. My husband and I travelled a lot this month. We went to Hamburg (Germany) for his work: I got to spend a day in a book cafe (as in people come in, order snacks and drinks, and read; barely any conversations!) and an evening in the philharmonic hall. Then we visited our best friend in Prague (Czech Republic) whom we hadn't seen since January 2022! (That got us thinking about friendships, so my husband wrote about it on his blog.) And on 24 February, we went to Vienna (Austria) to the Ukrainian demonstration dedicated to the 2-year anniversary of the russian full-scale invasion.

2. With all the travels, I felt unwell every few days, every week. That left me with much less time to work, let alone build a habit of exercising regularly.

3. I love impressionists, and in the Hamburg art museum I discovered some new names for myself – Lovis Corinth and Lesser Ury. (We also got trailed a lot by security – as in my purse can fit all the paintings! – which gave us lots of laughs.) While I don't go to museums often and don't consider myself an art expert, art brings me so much food for thought – it's a passage into the artist's world.

4. I started writing on this blog and published 15 essays! Which means, nearly every two days I put myself out there – at first, to my husband and my close friend Christine, then to 6 of you right now!

5. I made a decision not to publish on Instagram (for now). This is my major goal for 2024 – to create content there and attract clients for my brand strategy service. I still feel like I chickened out from IG, but I also recognise how starting on my blog helps me build a practice.

6. I've worked on one client case. I'm incredibly thankful and lucky that my husband can sustain our household while I'm figuring out the next steps for my business.

7. I read 9 books – and that's the best practice I've had so far. Good old reading always puts me into curious & creative mode.