I know, I've been meaning to post more. But honestly, I just wasn't feeling that inspired. And then I started planning out a post for next Monday and realized I hadn't even talked about my yearly goals yet! Oops...
via Jen Kay for The Everygirl
1. Organize, organize, organize. I definitely upped my organization game in 2016, but it's not at its peak. I've been loving using my planner to help keep my life organized, but my home organization isn't where I want it to be so this is one of my top priorities for the year. I just want everything to have a place so that my apartment always looks clean and in tip-top shape!
2. Journal all of my grateful and happy moments. Speaking of my planner, I've transitioned my Happy Planner into just that - a place where I write down something I'm grateful for or a happy moment that occurred that day. It could be something as small as "I went to Starbucks!", but I've found that it helps me be more appreciative each day.
3. Be more positive. This sort of goes along with #2, but I'm trying to be more positive in my daily life. I don't want to call myself a Negative Nancy or Pessimistic Peggy, but I'm not the peppiest or cheerful person out there. My tendency is to look at the negative first and I'm trying really, really hard to change that outlook. Writing down something that brought me a little bit of joy every day is certainly helping!
4. Read more. I shared my reading list this past fall as an incentive to get back into reading. I used to be someone who read every single day, but I really attribute that to having lived in the city and having to commute to work. Now that I live and work in NJ, I drive every where and it really cut down on that time I spent reading. I set up a goal to read 25 books this year and I'm currently on a roll! Look out for another reading list soon.
5. Lead a healthier life. I grouped exercise and eating healthier together because let's face it, they go hand in hand. Getting into shape and finding the right exercise routine is usually on everyone's list, but this year I'm really trying to commit to this. So far I've done pretty well. I've found an exercise that I LOVE, and it's actually made me want to eat better! Win-win.
6. Get enough sleep. Going to bed at 2 AM is my jam. Being a night owl is something I inherited from my mom, but I've realized that I cannot go to bed at 2 AM and wake up at 7 to go to work. I'm someone who needs 8 hours of sleep. I'm aiming for a bedtime of 10 or 11 PM each night. We'll see how this goes...
7. Wake up early - even on the weekends! If I go to bed in the early hours of the morning, I can end up sleeping til 10 or 11 or 12... It's awful. Really awful. Because then the day is half gone and I could have done so much in the morning. Ideally, I'd like to wake up at 5 or 6 AM on some weekdays so that I can get a good workout in {won't lie, has yet to happen} and 8 or 9 on the weekends {has happened}.
8. Spend less, save more money. This is another goal that I have every year. I'm trying really hard this year to save more money that I have in the past by doing the reverse 52-week money challenge in addition to my usual savings schedule. I also have plans on doing a few no-spend months throughout the year. Updates and tips to come!
9. Blog more! Holy crow, have I let my blog and YouTube fall to the wayside. A lot of times I feel so discouraged or uninspired, especially because I don't want to write and film all things fashion all the time. I've started keeping a notebook of ideas for blog posts and videos so I'm hoping to amp up the content in February!
10. Make time for friends. I am quite possibly one of the worst people at keeping in touch with people. I have a habit of never wanting to initiate the conversation {probably the only child/introvert tendencies in me} so now that I live in NJ and a lot of my friends live in the city or other states, I never make the first move to set up a time to visit. Also, I always hate feeling like I'm bothering someone. Is anyone else like this? Any tips on how to get over it?
To keep myself accountable this year, I'm planning on writing at least one blog post a month on how I'm getting on with my goals. I definitely threw myself into this at the start of the year so I'll let you know how it's going and whatever progress I make!