MY NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

MY NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

After yesterdays post all about setting better and achievable New Years resolutions, i’ve taken my own advice and had a jolly good think about what 2016 means for me, what I want to achieve, when I want to achieve it by, and also taken a little reality filter too … just to make sure i’m not dreaming of things i’ll never quite be able to stick to. So in the spirit of starting the new year fresh, here are my resolutions for the year ahead.

MY BIG 5 FOR 2016

#1 WORK LIFE BALANCE

If there’s one thing that 2015 has taught me, it’s how important work life balance is. With a demanding career, a driven personality and a full time blog, I can often find myself working into the ground, and 2015 was the worst yet. With a crazy work schedule, I found myself spending all day & night at work, and weekends either in the office, flying or just scrabbling to catch up on life. It wasn’t healthy & it certainly wasn’t sustainable. My New Years break was just what I needed, a full three weeks off to shut off from work entirely, and i’ll be starting the New Year with a new role, a new challenge, and a much better perspective on my work life balance priorities. A clear work / life split is a top priority for 2016, there’s no deadline or timeline on this, its a lifestyle shift I plan to make immediately.

#2 MINDFULNESS

I’ve spoken a little bit about wellbeing and mindfulness on my blog before (see my edits here & here), and much like my work life balance resolution, it’s something I need to master a little more in the year to come. From living in the moment, ensuring my stress levels are kept in tact, and genuinely looking after my health a little more … i’ll be giving mindfulness a big embrace in 2016, starting with my new Mindfulness colouring book which I’ll start Jan 1st.

#3 FITNESS

This last two years i’ve really let myself down when it comes to health and fitness, having been a committed netball player (playing club & county, running a team in my previous job & being captain for my uni team before leaving uni), a pilates & spin frequenter, and generally living an active life style, the last two years has seen all my healthy living fade away (sadly in replace for work – see point 1). 2016 is the year to kick start my healthy living again, not least because I want to shift the excess weight i’ve gained (i’m not in a happy place figure wise) but also because I want to ensure i’m living out my 20’s in the best health possible. This year I want to join a netball team again, and sign up to a regular spin or pilates class which i’ll attend each week. I don’t want to over commit or scare myself silly with a weight loss diet, for me this is about shifting my lifestyle back into a more healthy place. Permanently.

#4 BLOGGING

I’ve blogged everyday since October 30th 2011. That’s 1,587 posts since I launched it. I’ve not missed a single day.

I love blogging and I genuinely invest everything into this little space. I’m so proud of what i’ve achieved, i’m proud of my re-design & move to a  self hosted site which happened at the beginning of 2015 (and in reality has taken the entire year to perfect), my improved & increased focus on photography, the incredible partnerships I’ve been fortunate to have with some of my favourite brands (and being signed to an agency network) & generally just the fact i’ve managed to juggle both my blog and work throughout what has been quite a tough year. And most importantly that you all come along to read & follow the journey (Thank you) …

But if i’m honest I can’t help but feel that despite my efforts, passion and dedication, my little blog hasn’t grown or blossomed as I had hoped it would in 2015. Whether that’s my  high expectations or driven nature, or a reality, this year has felt hard and slow success wise for me. Perhaps it was my time being limited so much by work that I couldn’t attend events, or perhaps my lack of proactive business proposing to brands & companies, or perhaps my content (i hope not), but regardless of the ‘why’, 2015 hasn’t felt like the success I could have wished for. And so I hope 2016 will be …

And to help focus my attentions & ensure i’m not just being hard on myself (I have a habit of this), I’ll be setting myself some specific blog goals to help me get the time I want to focus on my content, and hopefully to help grow my blog and the traffic it gets again in 2016, and generally to help me be able to take the leap one day of making this my sole business. I might share my goals with you in a separate post if you’re interested?

#5 INVEST

I have a wonderful life, a gorgeous flat & so many lovely belongings which i’ve invested in over time. But the one investment I feel is missing, is investment in the property ladder. This year I hope Jase and I will be able to invest our money to either part own our wonderful West London home, or perhaps by our own little place to do up.

In the meantime, it’s about time I finally gave in and bought myself my Chanel Boy bag. A reward I promised myself for my hard work over a year ago now.

So there you have it, my 5 resolutions for 2016. In reality they’re all quite big lifestyle shifts, but to ensure I can finish 2016 and say i’ve ticked them all off, i’ll be breaking them down and tackling each one little bit at a time.

I’d love to hear what your New Years Resolutions are?