Thinking about the future is honestly something that gives me a bit of anxiety. I am sure there are others of you out there that share the same feeling about what’s to come. Goal setting has always been apart of my life thanks to my parents and coaches growing up. School, job interviews and dating also never let me escape questions surrounding what my goals are for the future. If I had a dollar for every time I was asked that my 5 year goals are, I would probably be retired by now. This whole idea of 5 year goals seems a bit archaic to me, don’t you agree? As millennials, our lives are moving at a super fast pace. The things that our parents may have accomplished in a few years, we can do in one. More importantly, with more options made available to us, the probability of our life paths changing is actually higher than our parent’s generation.

To celebrate International Women’s Day today, I hosted a midday run for a group of 15 women who I have known over the years and recruited to be part of Nike Women run group to train for last year’s 15k. I looked at this group of phenomenal women today and realized that we are all of varying ages and subsequently at different points in our lives. Over the last three years I’ve watched these women’s lives grow so much. From new careers, returning back to school, beautiful weddings, unfortunate break-ups, pregnancy, home buying, injuries – it’s as if our little group has experienced every monumental life moment between us. After not seeing my crew for a while, it had me thinking of my goals and where I see myself in the next three years.

It’s a daunting question and to be honest, the older I get, the harder it is to answer. I think part of the reason people fear goal setting is because they know whenever they say their goals out loud or write them down, all the sudden they become real. You have to take the actions to make them come to fruition. If someone told me three years ago this is where and what I would be doing, I would never believe them. I would have imagined I would still unhappily working my corporate job, in a toxic relationship married to my ex-fiance and possibly with one child or one on the way. However, I am certain that this is exactly where I am supposed to be in my life right now.  Coincidentally, Bayer Inc. just launched a campaign created to inspire millennial women to get serious about planning and achieving their goals – so here is where I come in. Perhaps, me getting through the difficulty of being honest with myself and writing this post, it will encourage some of you to do the same and take your future into your hands.

My three year goals are three fold. Funny how the number three seems to be a reoccurring theme here doesn’t it. Lifestyle/Health, Career and Personal Life. One of my goals is to have my kidney and fibromyalgia flare ups fewer and farther between. I know that I will never fully lead a normal, healthy life due to these conditions, but I know if I continue to make positive changes to my eating habits, stress levels, sleep, run, workout and keep finding alternative treatments for my conditions, I can lead a far more healthier and pain free life. The older I get, the more challenging my pain related issues are, especially when it’s cold outside. By the time 2019 rolls around I’m going to have to seriously consider spending the winter months working remotely from a warm, tropical climate which has strongly been suggested by my treating physicians. Warm consistent temperatures and sunshine has been medically proven to help those who suffer from chronic pain related diseases like fibromyalgia.

After building my brand online through my website, I am starting to get a clear vision of what my next steps should be career wise. I have revamped the list of brands I would love to work with. I’d like to think I’ve done a good job at connecting with an audience and telling a brand story with the amazing companies I currently work with, but the next piece to this puzzle has to be creating a separate revenue stream outside my blog in the form of tangible products. I’ve always known my blog was just going to be a platform for other things. It’s a challenge being a content creator in Canada. For some reason brands are still new to the idea of paying influencers for content. It’s a constant struggle to get a lot of companies to understand the value in what we do and I have learned to say no to opportunities where my quote rates can’t be met. There’s still a lot of work I need to do to formalize my next steps and of course I can’t share too much info, but I would love to either collaborate with another brand or create my own activewear pieces in the near future. I am a huge fan of the benefits I get from juicing. It has helped tremendously with my conditions so I also have an interest in creating a custom juice collection with a cold pressed juice brand.

Over the past few months I have made some major changes in my personal life. I try to no longer work on weekends which makes me work more efficiently from Monday to Friday. I make sure to carve out time for date nights. I have incorporated a strict bedtime during the week so I am better rested and armed to take on my busy schedule. Besides my loving man and dog, I have nothing really tying me down here. My job pretty much allows me to work anywhere, so there is literally no excuse not to be traveling anymore right? All the traveling I’ve been doing for the last couple years has for work. It’s time for me and my other half to cross off one destination on our bucket list a year where I am not required by work to document the experience and create content. Usually when I travel, I am not living in the moment. I am too preoccupied trying to capture or create an experience to share with my followers. That has to change. I would also love to acquire another property. I’ve actually become obsessed with this idea. I feel comfortable in the place I am in my relationship to begin thinking of co-owning a property, which is a big deal for me. My ex-fiance’s was not involved in the purchase of my first property. Time to take the next big step!

I know you are probably wondering, “What about marriage? What about a baby?” Well after my heart breaking end to my engagement, I am not sure where my head is at in regards to marriage. However, I do know I really would love to be a mother. In order to focus on achieving my three year goals, which will make me healthier and more financially stable, bringing a baby into the world is going to have to wait a little bit longer. I have grovelled about this for some time now with fear that I may be making the wrong decision in regards to continuing to prolong Motherhood for professional and personal goals. Terrified that I will have that same feeling Carrie Bradshaw did in Sex and the City. Waking up at 40 and realizing I forgot to have a kid. The fear of every childless women – finally deciding that we want to start a family and our bodies say it’s too late. For now I am just going to have to put trust and faith in the universe and remind myself what’s meant to be will be and in the meantime, I’m doing research and looking into the new kinds of contraceptives that are out there until I am ready.

What are some of your three year goals? And as a woman, will getting pregnant during the next few years significantly impact you achieving your goals? I would love to hear your thoughts on this so tweet me, snap me, or mention me in any goal setting posts you share on Instagram using the hashtag #3YearGoals.

If you’re like me and pregnancy doesn’t happen to be apart of your three year plan, talk to your healthcare provider and/or visit BirthControlForMe.ca to learn about different contraceptive options that are currently available.