Plans for 2024.

…just to add, I use SailRail (Train and ferry) to travel home to Ireland via Holyhead but I just wish they would build the high-speed rail tunnel from Holyhead to Dublin under the Irish Sea (they keep shelving the plans) but the Irish government are making plans to massively upgrade the Irish rail network, making more of Ireland accessible out of Dublin 

Travelling by train is a much more civilised way to travel compared to air travel, especially on the Eurostar from London St Pancras - once you get to Paris, the high speed rail connections to Italy from France on SNCF French railways are really good - and even though Milan and Venice are very expensive, travelling by train in Italy is a joy, the trains are so stylish, especially in First Class - I personally love anything Italian and being Irish, I love Italian culture, customs and traditions - being Catholic, visiting the Vatican City State and especially St Peter’s is something really special as over the years, many Priests I’ve known have studied for the Priesthood in the Irish College in Rome and they have all loved the experience 

Good luck with all of your plans :o) I went to Tokyo a couple of years ago and it was a fabulous experience. The people are very nice, the building architecture is stunning and unique, and the food is different but a good different.

I hope you get to go, it's a lovely place to visit.

1 - go to Tokyo and the Girburi museum at Koenji, and maybe Fukuoka.

2 - find a place to live

3 - be more confident over all.

4 - finish this book im writing.

5 - enjoy the outdoors a bit more.

I have no lack of desire or ambition, but I often face difficulties in completing my lofty goals. For instance, I'd like to control my weight, which can be quite challenging. Additionally, I aspire to write a book, but I must admit it's somewhat of a grandiose undertaking for me.

Here's to everyone finding peace along the way regardless of end results. 

I hope you got through Xmas ok and best of luck with all your plans for next year :o) 

I only have one plan for next year really. I do my autistic groups and talks, normally they take place at the coffee shops or the town hall but I'd like my own venue to use for this. That way I can have autism friendly lighting, make sure it's quiet and the walls aren't too bright. I am hoping that I can make this happen but it might have to wait until 2025 if I can't do it next year.

I never bother with New Year’s resolutions as I never keep them - a lot of my problems stem from not having the right kind of parenting and not having the kind of ultra strict parenting and sufficiently strict parental discipline that I should have had growing up - my dad should have carried out his threat to put me in the army to make a real man out of me and I’ve come to realise that I did not get slapped often enough and hard enough as a child which only made my autism worse before it was diagnosed many years later - when I was sent away as a child for 9 months to a residential psychiatric facility for attracting and inviting bullying behaviour to myself (being hopeless and heedless) an important opportunity to diagnose my autism was missed which could have been much more easily corrected by corporal punishment that I badly needed growing up 

here here, bricks are small, buildings big!

InfinitePlanner said:

I seem to have spent most of my spare time in recent months trying to come up with some grand scheme for transforming my life, centred around moving somewhere different but also usually involving changing careers or quitting work. If I am completely honest with myself, it is partly a distraction from actually doing anything, and the downside of any such plan is that I would need to take myself with me. Instead, I should probably focus on the small things, and try to recapture some of the joy in everyday life.

Hi InfinitePlanner, you’re demonstrating some really solid self awareness there and I have to admit I’m guilty of exactly the same thing. 

Maybe we should take a bottom up approach to improving our lives, concentrating on the little things that make life better, instead of making grand plans that we’ll never have the resolve to follow through on.

Like you, I would love to go to Rome. Wandering around amongst all of that history and architecture would be fascinating. And the pasta and pizza! However, the fact that I have had three books about the city sitting on my shelf for the last 15 years suggests that it probably will not happen in 2024. I need to plan everything in detail, and 12 months may not be sufficient time to do that! I do not necessarily need to stick to every aspect of the plan, but the reassurance that it exists is a prerequisite. The main snag is the length of the planning stage almost always provides sufficient time for my anxieties to talk me out of anything. I did manage my first holiday in more than a decade this year, four days in Devon, which I am hoping may provide a foundation for another excursion in 2024.

The flight is probably the only part of the Rome adventure about which I would not be anxious. All I need to do is sit there, read a book and ignore everyone else, with drinking water and toilets always within striking distance! Nevertheless, the train sounds a wonderful way to travel to Rome, and I imagine you would pass through some beautiful landscapes. You would need to walk between stations in Paris (had been thinking about doing something similar to Switzerland!), so could easily turn it into a two-centre holiday! I hope you make it there soon.

My main plan for 2024 is not to have a plan! I seem to have spent most of my spare time in recent months trying to come up with some grand scheme for transforming my life, centred around moving somewhere different but also usually involving changing careers or quitting work. If I am completely honest with myself, it is partly a distraction from actually doing anything, and the downside of any such plan is that I would need to take myself with me. Instead, I should probably focus on the small things, and try to recapture some of the joy in everyday life.

The other key aim is to be kinder to myself. Some people may say that I have already gone too far in that direction given the volume of chocolate that I lavish on myself, but I could really do with toning down the self-criticism, as that only reinforces my inertia and sense of worthlessness rather than motivating me! I think that is why your openness and eloquence, and that of others on this forum, is such a positive thing, because it reassures me that I am not the only one who struggles with aspects of life that many people would consider to be straightforward. Instead of constantly berating myself for finding certain basic things very difficult, I need to discover some acceptance and focus on locating that sweet spot where I push myself a little but not to the extent that I fall off a cliff. One difficulty in all of that is the way in which I have internalised the expectations of others, so I could do with blocking out those voices and concentrate on the attributes I have rather than worrying too much about what is missing. Nothing too ambitious then!

Best of luck to everyone in their endeavours in 2024. If you do not achieve everything that you would like to then do not worry, as 2025 will be here before you know it (was aiming to go out on an uplifting note, but that actually sounds quite depressing!).

A reading list? Uh oh.. my obsession lol. Would love to have a peek if you don’t mind sharing!

I’ve just subscribed:)

first overall plan and goal of 2024 is to pay off my mortgage, which would be a early settlement as i only just reached my first year of it and have 9 years to go as it was a 10 year one but i never intended to go the full distance with it and always had planned to pay it off early although my goal was before the 5 year mark where the fixed rate term ends, but i plan to pay it off 2024 instead, and have most of the money to do so, and also have crypto i can cash in to get me the rest.

once my mortgage is paid off my next plans are to get a new washing machine as my current ones broke, and get a dehumidifier... these appliance likely cost about as much as my monthly mortgage repayments cost so its a fitting redirection of those funds once i freed them up.

then after that build out multiple different cash pots of security, one figure push my bank to to secure against any job loss and carry me for a few years without worry, another amount i will be putting into assets like gold as its tax free and makes sense if the economy collapses, another bit perhaps into a savings account.

i dont want anyone to have any negative impact on my life again, to reach that state i need economic security as i plan. that way no one can negatively impact my life from the outside so easily again. and i can chill and be able to relax a bit more and not stress out so easily.

One thing I would love to do is go to Rome in Italy. I want to travel the whole world TBH, live life, see all the sights, and get a taste of what it's like basking in another culture. It's also nice to see a lot of history, I would think.

My biggest grievance with this idea is flying, I hate the idea of flying, so anxious just thinking about it. I'm willing to give most things a try, just once but flying is something I will never do. It goes beyond anxiety and rests at petrified. Lol.

I just Googled travelling to Rome and it turns out you can go by train, in less than 2 days! I think that's incredible TBH. Even with additional stops and different trains I would definitely be willing to do this.

I love trains. Lol.

I don't work right now so wouldn't have the money to do this but if I can get a job and have enough funds before the end of 2024 then I'll definitely do this. If not, then I'll aim to do it in the future some time.

Thank you very much!

Im volunteering as a fundraising volunteer at a cooperative that is focused on circular economy and community sustainability practices. I'm also volunteering as a mental health peer support volunteer to meet people experiencing poor mental health and support them in their recovery journey! I'm very excited.

I hope you achieve your own goals for the year and know that there's a community for you hear to listen when needed! 

I saw in another thread you mentioned Belfast? I visited there with my mum and nanna in 2017. I thought Ireland was beautiful.

Ooo best of luck with all your goals for next year... I hope you'll find success with each and every one of them! ️ 

What sort of volunteering are you hoping to do? 

Whatever you decide on I hope your enjoy it.

Best of luck! Anxiety sucks, here's hoping next year will be a much less anxious year for you both.

Best of luck with your driving I really hope it goes well for you!!! I passed my test a few years ago and the freedom you get with driving is awesome. You won't know yourself once you've passed.

Hi Take5. This is something I really would love to do. I would rather work from home, I get so anxious just walking to the shop... Thanks for the idea it's definitely something I will be thinking about. I love classic cars and spend 90% of my time working on them.