GOALS GOALS GOALS! That is what today's post is all about! To be honest, I didn't even want to make any New Year's resolutions because I never really seem to stick to them! But, I am a BIG fan of setting goals and making to do lists to help reach them! And sometimes when we write out our goals (no matter how big or small) and then make a list of what needs to be done to reach them, they don't seem so unattainable anymore.
So, here are my top goals for 2019 broken out into categories...
. . H E A L T H G O A L S . .
Optimal health has become my main priority in 2019. This encompasses not only physical health, but emotional and mental as well. I am a firm believer if you do not take care of yourself first, you will fail at caring for others around you. I really want to focus on creating healthy habits that start from the inside. Eating better, sleeping better, drinking more water, fitting in exercise... these are all tasks that I can easily fit into my day, it's just making them a priority.
So here are the actions I plan to take to make these goals achievable!
1. Drink more water: I'm really trying to be better about this! I have my yeti tumbler that I will be filling up at least 5 times a day!
2. Workout at least 3x per week: We recently joined our local community rec center and I plan to take full advantage of their equipment, group fitness classes and child care! They also have a great indoor pool with a shallow area where we can take the boys! Taking the boys swimming on a Saturday morning is definitely counted as a workout!
3. Eat cleaner: I noticed last year when I was eating 'cleaner' that I not only lost a lot of bloat, but I also felt better physically. I have tried a few different diets and through trial and error, I have realized that some dairy, gluten and high amounts of sugar have a negative effect on my body. High amounts of these ingredients lead to stomach issues, feeling sluggish and leave me feeling hungry. I am going to do my best to cut out these ingredients in my diet as much as possible.
4. Watch my daily macros: I learned about macros from my friend Abby last year and it really opened my eyes to the way I was fueling (or not fueling) my body everyday. By tracking my macros I am able to see how much fat, carbs and protein I am consuming. When I first started tracking my macros, I realized that I was eating way too many fats and carbs and I wasn't eating enough lean protein through out the day to give me energy. So, by tweaking my diet and adding more lean proteins and cutting back on fat, I became so much more energized throughout the day!
5. Track my calories in the MyFitnessPal app: I started using this app after I had Camden 4 years ago to help me track my daily calories to lose the baby weight. Fast forward to this past year and I started using it again to not only track calories, but it also tracks my macros for me. You can set a goal as to how much weight you want to lose and it will give you an estimation of how many calories you should be eating everyday, You can also adjust you daily macro goals so this app does that for me as well!
2. Workout at least 3x per week: We recently joined our local community rec center and I plan to take full advantage of their equipment, group fitness classes and child care! They also have a great indoor pool with a shallow area where we can take the boys! Taking the boys swimming on a Saturday morning is definitely counted as a workout!
3. Eat cleaner: I noticed last year when I was eating 'cleaner' that I not only lost a lot of bloat, but I also felt better physically. I have tried a few different diets and through trial and error, I have realized that some dairy, gluten and high amounts of sugar have a negative effect on my body. High amounts of these ingredients lead to stomach issues, feeling sluggish and leave me feeling hungry. I am going to do my best to cut out these ingredients in my diet as much as possible.
4. Watch my daily macros: I learned about macros from my friend Abby last year and it really opened my eyes to the way I was fueling (or not fueling) my body everyday. By tracking my macros I am able to see how much fat, carbs and protein I am consuming. When I first started tracking my macros, I realized that I was eating way too many fats and carbs and I wasn't eating enough lean protein through out the day to give me energy. So, by tweaking my diet and adding more lean proteins and cutting back on fat, I became so much more energized throughout the day!
5. Track my calories in the MyFitnessPal app: I started using this app after I had Camden 4 years ago to help me track my daily calories to lose the baby weight. Fast forward to this past year and I started using it again to not only track calories, but it also tracks my macros for me. You can set a goal as to how much weight you want to lose and it will give you an estimation of how many calories you should be eating everyday, You can also adjust you daily macro goals so this app does that for me as well!
. . B L O G G O A L S . .
So many blog goals this year! I really want to start building this little blog of mine! I've been doing this as a part time hobby for over 5 years now and I'm ready to really put in the time and effort to make it successful! What is a 'successful' blog? Well, I'm sure it's different for every blogger, but for me it means to turn it into a profitable business. I want to pitch to and work with more brands that I love, I want to share more with my readers, I want to push myself out of my comfort zone!
So, in order to be more productive in the new year, I really need to buckle down on my time management and planning ahead with the blog content.
1. Post 2x per week: I'm not off to a great start here yet! I average about 1 blog post per week, so hoping that my new schedule will help me complete at least 2 blog posts per week.
2. Plan content/photos one week in advance. This is the hardest part of blogging and posting on social media for me. Trying to get enough content to post everyday on IG is tough! I don't have an instagram husband (he's just so busy with work during the week) and I am not really ready to pay a photographer to take my photos. SO, you may be seeing a lot more mirror selfies! But, I do plan on scheduling a photo session at least once a month to have professional photos ready to post.
3. Pitch to 1 new brand per month: Pitching to brands is something that is so foreign and scary to me. I've always just let brands come to me. I've collaborated with some awesome companies and have received some great products, but I want to do more in the upcoming year. I know that having sponsored posts and collaborations with companies and brands is the true way to make this blog a business, but I will only collaborate with brands and companies I truly love!
4. Increase my instagram followers to 10k: This will be a big milestone! Since I share my daily outfit inspiration, beauty products, lifestyle items and basically everything over on my instagram feed and stories, it would be so much easier for your all to shop if I had the swipe up feature! In order to have the swipe up feature in instagram stories, you have to have over 10k followers. So that is my goal!
5. Communicate more with my followers and readers! I really want to create a community atmosphere with my blog and social media accounts! Sometimes it feels like I'm talking to myself lol! But, I love hearing your feedback in comments, DMs and even a simple 'like' of my photos! I'd love to get to know you all more, so please feel free to reach out to me anytime!
So, in order to be more productive in the new year, I really need to buckle down on my time management and planning ahead with the blog content.
1. Post 2x per week: I'm not off to a great start here yet! I average about 1 blog post per week, so hoping that my new schedule will help me complete at least 2 blog posts per week.
2. Plan content/photos one week in advance. This is the hardest part of blogging and posting on social media for me. Trying to get enough content to post everyday on IG is tough! I don't have an instagram husband (he's just so busy with work during the week) and I am not really ready to pay a photographer to take my photos. SO, you may be seeing a lot more mirror selfies! But, I do plan on scheduling a photo session at least once a month to have professional photos ready to post.
3. Pitch to 1 new brand per month: Pitching to brands is something that is so foreign and scary to me. I've always just let brands come to me. I've collaborated with some awesome companies and have received some great products, but I want to do more in the upcoming year. I know that having sponsored posts and collaborations with companies and brands is the true way to make this blog a business, but I will only collaborate with brands and companies I truly love!
4. Increase my instagram followers to 10k: This will be a big milestone! Since I share my daily outfit inspiration, beauty products, lifestyle items and basically everything over on my instagram feed and stories, it would be so much easier for your all to shop if I had the swipe up feature! In order to have the swipe up feature in instagram stories, you have to have over 10k followers. So that is my goal!
5. Communicate more with my followers and readers! I really want to create a community atmosphere with my blog and social media accounts! Sometimes it feels like I'm talking to myself lol! But, I love hearing your feedback in comments, DMs and even a simple 'like' of my photos! I'd love to get to know you all more, so please feel free to reach out to me anytime!
. . H O M E G O A L S . .
SO. MANY. HOME. GOALS. I have so many projects in my head that I want to complete in our house this year, but I'm really trying to be realistic. Bill and I are all about getting finances in order first before completing any big house projects. Our house was not very aesthetically pleasing when we first moved in almost 2 years ago. We basically painted the entire house and completed a major project that was a little tricky.
So, here's my house goal list for the year:
1. Have our kitchen cabinets painted white and change out hardware: This is something I knew I wanted to do as soon as we moved in. However, we kept going back and forth if we wanted to wait to just do a complete kitchen reno because I don't really love our counter tops and backsplash, but I can live with them. And I think if our cabinets were painted, they might look a little better. So, instead of waiting another 5 years or so to do a complete reno, we decided we can just have our cabinets (professionally) painted white and change out the hardware for a quick update. I think that will totally change the feel of our house and make it feel so much more light and bright!
2. Redecorate the dining room: I want to paint our dining room, change out our light fixture, and add a new rug. Possibly get new chairs for our table as well.
3. Update and decorate the downstairs half bath: The little half bath on our first floor needs some help. I want to paint and change out the mirror and possibly the sink. Also, adding some decor pieces.
4. Update Bennett's room into a 'big boy' room: This will be the year we give Bennett a proper bedroom! His room has 3 grey walls and one red accent wall that I've been meaning to paint since we moved in and it hasn't happened! This will be the year we transition Bennett from his crib to a big boy bed, so I will decorate his rooms and we will get him a new bed.
5. Organize the playroom! This one is something I need to do desperately! Not a huge project, but just really organizing and purging toys and craft supplies.
6. Purging and Organizing everything! I really want to start organizing every room in our house! Starting with our pantry and kitchen and moving to a different room every month!
Day Designer Planner 2019
. . P E R S O N A L G O A L S . .
Lots of personal goals as well. Time management is going to be my main priority this year! Having 2 little ones that aren't really in school yet (they go to daycare 3 days a week while I work and my parents help out some during the week as well!) makes being a working mama tough! I want to be home with them, but I also want to work and have something for myself! Time blocking my day our will help keep me on task while the kiddos are out of the house.
1. Work on time management. I have created a color coded spreadsheet with my daily to do list in excel. This is something I reference daily to make sure I am on task. I also write my to do list in my daily planner! I LOVE this planner and have been using it for years now because it makes my life so much easier! Every day has its own page and is broken down by time slots and there's also a daily to do list I can jot down.
2. Be more present when I'm with my family/the boys: This is really something I need to work on! Being in this blogging/social media world makes you feel like you have to be 'on' all the time and have your phone attached to your eyeballs. This is SO bad! I have decided that when I'm home with the boys, that I have to give them my full attention and put my phone DOWN! Starting with the week days, I plan on putting my phone away from the hours of 5pm - 8pm (or bedtime). Then on the weekends really trying to put my phone away while we are having family time. I'm also thinking about doing 'social media free Sundays' I've heard of others doing this and it sounds perfect!
3. Take time for myself: I want to make sure I'm scheduling some me time throughout the week. Wether that's to get my nails done, solo shopping trip, or a girls' night out!
4. Read more. Trying to read one book per month! Recommendations welcome!
5. Give back to the community. This is one that I'm hoping to brainstorm about with my family. I really want to do some sort of volunteer work this year and get our family involved.
I have so many more goals in my head, but I also don't want to overwhelm myself! I think setting realistic goals with action items helps to make them more achievable.
I want to personally thank you all that follow my blog and social media! With out you all, this little blog of mine would not be possible!
So tell me... What are your goals for 2019?
