Making long term goals happen

How my goal happened in an unexpected way, but also planned. 

Soon, for the very first time in my life, I will be moving my main address. Yes, I lived in many places in The Netherlands and even lived across the European continent. Like England, Germany and Austria. Moving is nothing new to me, but there was always a stable address. Well, in a few weeks that address will change and with that kind of a change, a lot of organising like sorting through stuff happens. When I stumbled upon a bullet journal from the first half of 2022 I could not help myself but read it. 

A goal becomes a plan
At the start of 2022 I wrote down 4 long term goals. Due to my name change, the process started in 2023 and ended late 2024, I was distracted. Nevertheless, never underestimate the power of the written word. They say: once you write down a goal it becomes a plan. I can attest to that. 

When I took a close look at my goals I noticed I reached 2 out of the 4 goals. The other 2 goals? Don’t even worry about that, because I am actually already halfway achieving those as well. Even if you can’t work directly on your goals day in and day out, you can still reach them as long as you set your mind to it and do the work even if they are small steps. 

My top goal
Surprise hit my face when I noticed the goal I gave the top spot: work for or with a Korean company. Here comes the kicker, when it was the start of 2022 I was actually living in Berlin and I was studying German and Korean at the same time. However, I was studying Korean for less than 2 years and very much on and off. I had no plans where I wanted my Korean language studies to take me. I didn’t even plan to live long term in Korea. Honestly, I think I would like to do a long stay in Korea, so like 3 to 6 months max. But that is pretty much it. I never seeked out a specific company I wanted to work for or with. So I simply forgot that I had this long term goal.  

Writing musical essays 
From the start of 2022 we move to the late summer of 2024. The “Crazy” mini-album by Le Sserafim played through my speakers during a drive I took. Funny enough, when I was on my way to get my new passport after my name change. I already adore Le Sserafim, but with the “Crazy” album especially I found myself having a certain connection with this album that I always remember that specific day when listening to it. I dived deep into the lyrics and meaning behind the artistry. At the same time I was missing writing essays for school, so not to let all my research go to waste I wrote an essay about that album. There was no plan of me publishing that specific essay on my blog, but I did anyway with a pit in my stomach. I was not sure if it was the right thing to do. Was that the way I wanted to make my blog grow? 

An answer didn’t wait for a long time. That specific essay is the most read piece on my blog of 2024 and even of 2025! Every month it still gets hits all over the world, like Korea. 

Domino effect
Writing musical essays, in particular K-pop related, started off my growth in writing those kinds of blogs more and more, and also experimenting with different styles. How can I make a concert blog interesting in a way that my new skill, writing musical essays, can shine? When writing my blog about the Stray Kids concert the domino effect (pun intended) happened without me even knowing. A Korean company noticed me, they had seen multiple pieces of mine and wanted to work with me!

When I received an email from a major K-pop related company, I am not ashamed to admit that I thought it was fake. I could not believe the email was real, but it was and they wanted to pay me money to make a blog about them. A company I had planned years ago to pay a visit whenever I would find myself in Seoul, Korea. 

You fear it? Jump anyway
What if I never took a chance on myself? And didn’t publish the first musical essay? I know this blog is my corner of the internet, but still… I hesitated. Was I really going to change the DNA my blog was known for?
I am personally a big believer that you should jump regardless, it’s okay to jump scared. So I did, and changed the direction of my blog. Not only that, I changed my chances. My chances increased by doing something I love to do, about a topic I am genuinely interested in.   

Making long term goals happen
Long story short, how to make long term goals happen:

• Set goals
• Make a plan
• Take the steps
• Change the plan accordingly if needed
• Do the things to increase your chances
• You fear it? Jump anyway

Not all goals will be reached in a lifetime, but never disregard the skills you developed or maintained along the way in hope of reaching your goals. They might come in handy for another goal. 

Do I have new long term goals? No, but I should! Especially since I reached 2 out of 4 goals with the other 2 already at halfway point. By the end of the year I will have a sit down with a cuppa and dream up new dreams, so I can make those new goals. 

Love,