Wow!
I’m sure I’m not alone when I say where did the past year go? 2016 flew by in the blink of an eye, yet I do feel like I accomplished a whole lot, and my year was well and truly crammed full of so much stuff that I barely even had chance to stop and breathe.
As we enter a new year, I know most people are setting goals, making resolutions and planning what they would like to achieve in 2017, and I am no exception. But first, I wanted to take a moment to look back on what I planned to achieve this time last year, as it is so easy to set goals and targets at the beginning of the year, but just as easy to forget what they were by the end of it. So I looked back to my first post of 2016 that I posted a year ago tomorrow, to see what resolutions I had set myself for the year:
Read.
This was on my resolution list last year and the year before, and I would probably like to keep it on there this year too. I actually got off to a great start with this one, but I do feel like the past few months I have gotten busier and busier, and unfortunately reading took lowest priority. One of my hopes and resolutions is to make more time for me, so reading will be something I intend to do in this time.
Blog.
This is one that I know I achieved 110%. I made the effort to push my blog last year and really put my all into keeping up regular posting, getting myself a site that really fits with my personality, investing in better equipment, and pushing myself overall to do as much as I could. In fact, Jay would probably say that I did too much of this at points, as I stayed up until all hours making sure I got posts out twice a week, and when I wasn’t at work, I was working on my blog or attending a blog-related event. It definitely wasn’t easy, but I am so proud of how much it has grown this last year, and ever grateful to the great brands I had the opportunity to work with.
Invest.
I meant this all senses of the word, so I will say that in some ways I achieved this, but in others not so much. In the money sense, I feel like I definitely achieved this. I made sure to save money each month, made more sensible choices with my budget, and best of all, I invested in my first ever Chanel bag – which I am hugely proud of. The feeling of saving every penny up yourself, and finally walking out of the shop with that one thing you have wanted for years is an incredible feeling. I also invested in my blog which definitely paid off. The only thing I hope to improve on this year is investing time in myself and my body.
Positivity.
In 2016 I definitely had a more positive outlook on life. I think there are always ways I can improve this, and I am known to be a worrier, so there were certainly occasions where I could have been more positive about things. Despite this, in general I feel this is a gradual lesson to train your body and mind in, so as long as I’m heading in the right direction, I am happy with that.
Be bold. Be brave. Be you.
Last but not least, this quote that still appears on my Insta bio today, was something I hoped to live by more, and I know I achieved this. 2016 brought challenges, rewards, new jobs, memories, friends and family, positives and negatives, and a whole lot more; and I can whole-heartedly say I handled each and every one with the above always somewhere in mind.
And now to look forward.
The main theme that covers everything I hope for in 2017 is balance. I think this is super important, and whilst my goal is to eat healthily an exercise, I will balance this with enjoying dinner out with loved ones and not feeling guilty. I will balance working and blogging with relaxing and me-time. I will balance treating myself to new clothes or makeup with giving to charity and having a clear out.
This year I am setting myself a few main goals I hope to achieve, each with different elements within them.
My main goal this year is to be more organised with my time. Towards the end of last year I got so busy that things were just piling up on me; I spent my days busy in work and my evenings blogging, and then straight to bed to repeat the next day. It can feel super stressful and impossible to tackle if you aren’t organised or planned, and you always need to take some time for yourself to make sure you don’t burn yourself out. This year I hope to work even harder on my blog, as well as making sure I get some much needed me-time, but the only way I will achieve this is to plan my time better.
If you are in a similar situation then my advice would be to invest in a dairy or journal, and always make a list of everything you need to do. When you can see the list in front of you it feels much more manageable, and you can then split items down into time slots, or plan what day is best to fit certain activities in. My mum bought me a diary for Christmas, so I will be trying to use this every day to plan my time.
My second goal ties in with my first, and will be to make more time for me, and to do things that I know will make me feel better about myself. I want to plan in time to read and relax, and make sure I get enough sleep; which my body is crying out for at the moment! I also will make more time to exercise and work out; I was on and off with exercise last year, but now I feel more motivated that ever. In the last 6 months I have learnt so much about how the body works, how to eat well and how to live a healthier lifestyle in general, and I am so ready to put all this into practice. Finally, I want to make more time for me and my loved ones. My boyfriend and I spent the last year working opposite shifts, so despite living together, we only really saw each other during the weekend. At times it was really hard and we struggled to fit everything in that we wanted to do at weekends, like seeing loved ones and going on dates, as well as the every day stuff like cleaning the apartment, cooking together and just watching a show or two. This year we are both starting new jobs in January, which means we will actually see each other in the week, and be able to spend more time on all the other things we couldn’t before.
My final goal is a common one, and one that ties in to both of the above – to live a healthier lifestyle. This isn’t really a new thing for me, as I have already made great progress with this over the past couple of months. Despite this, I still ate everything in sight at Christmas, and this combined with drinking each weekend with my boyfriend just because we felt like seeing each other was a cause for celebration, has certainly had it’s negative effects. However, it’s all about balance! So I don’t feel guilty about it and I won’t dwell on it – I enjoyed the treats and now I am ready to get motivated and make 2017 everything I want it to be, whilst feeling fitter and stronger than ever before.
So here’s to 2017 – to spending time with loved ones, working hard, always learning and pushing myself, making time to relax, bigger and better dreams, travelling, having fun, living in the moment, and working towards the best me I have ever been!
I hope you guys had an amazing 2016, and are looking forward to the new chapters 2017 has to bring. Let me know in the comments what goals you have set yourself this year!
LL x
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