Life & Style | People

Gill Varley: I’ve achieved so much

UK-based Gill Varley tells Friday how the book Your Best Year Yet helped change her life.

  • By Gill Varley, Special to Friday
  • Published: 22:17 December 27, 2012
  • Friday

Gill Varley standing atop Mount Kilimanjaro
  • Image Credit: Supplied picture
  • Gill Varley on the way to realising her dream of standing atop Mount Kilimanjaro.

“I heard about a woman who moved from the UK to Australia as a result of reading Your Best Year Yet. I loved the idea of making things happen, so I got the book.

Since I first read it, I’ve achieved so much in all areas of my life, and there are a lot of things I might not have done if I hadn’t sat down and worked through the questions to determine what I really wanted.

Some things don’t sound like huge achievements – like our family holiday to Northumberland, UK, in 2012 – but it was only by going through the book that I discovered what was important.

I joined a singing group, built a vegetable patch and went to New York with my partner, Mike, as a direct result of the book. I climbed the Yorkshire Three Peaks one year, then the UK National Three Peaks the following year.

In my role as a mother, I had a goal of breastfeeding our daughter Seren, who’s now three, for her first 12 months, taking our son Luc, ten, on a youth stelling break and organising memorable birthday parties for both children.

I’ve identified work goals, such as project managing an undergraduate prospectus for the university where I work and rebranding my freelance copywriting business.

One of my biggest goals was to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to mark my 40th birthday in 2012. This came with lots of other goals, such as training, preparation and fund-raising.

It was an amazing experience to reach the peak and raise more than £4,000 (Dh23,750) for Hope and Homes for Children, which helps children across Central and Eastern Europe and in Africa.

Doing Your Best Year Yet between Christmas Day and New Years Day has become a ritual for me. I always find I have achieved far more than I’d remembered and it sets me up for a really good year ahead.”

Gill Varley, 40, is a copywriter from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, UK.

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