I distinctly remember one specific blind date I went on in college. The guy was weird and I avoided him as if my life depended on it after our date was over. BUT we had a brief conversation about New Years Resolutions and, unfortunately, I am always reminded of it on New Years Day. Essentially, I told him that I didn’t believe New Year Resolutions worked, so why would I bother? He spent the next ten minutes passionately telling me that if I didn’t set “resolutions” my life would cease to have direction and meaning. Dramatic? Yes.
I still don’t do resolutions. What I do do, is goals. They’re the same thing, I know. But, to me, the intent is different. I make goals for the entire year, and I constantly update them. Currently, I have a list taped to my fridge, of all the things I want to accomplish that year. I don’t feel a lot of pressure to get them all done. I think that with New Year Resolutions, specifically, there’s a lot of pressure associated with it. If you don’t follow through, you’ve failed. Goals are more flexible. You can amend goals. I have an entire page of new goals and things that I want to work on in 2018. And I truly believe that this new year will be better than the last. Filled with new experiences, new places, new people, new ventures.
1. TRAVEL
We love traveling, and we weren’t able to do nearly as much of it this past year as we would’ve liked. I was too sick while pregnant to travel, and traveling with a baby is hard. However, we’ve made traveling a priority and are so excited for all of the trips we have in the works for the year. My travel goals for 2018 include visiting 3 new countries, and at least 6 trips.
2. BUSINESS
I don’t talk a lot about my full time job here on the blog. I’m a content writer, and honestly, I love it. Writing is something that I’m passionate about, no matter the subject matter. That being said, my blog is what I love. If I could blog full time, I would. In 2018, I want to see a lot of growth with my Instagram. And I want to hold myself to my goal of 3 blog posts a week. I also have another exciting business venture that I’ve been sitting on and preparing since October…The exact launch date is TBD, but currently my fingers are crossed for sometime in February. BUT. Coming Soon to an Instagram Account near you, is my online shop, Juniper Oak! *confetti*
3. WRITING
As aforementioned, I love writing in all shapes and forms. My blog sees the majority of my personal writing. However, I have a half finished novel sitting in my google drive right now that I really want to finish this year. I don’t really talk about my fictional writing publicly, but I think now is a good time to. Because this time, I’m serious, I’ll actually finish this one.
4. FAMILY
The past 8 months have absolutely flown past and before I know it, Bastian will be 18 years old. Excuse me while I sob for a second. This year, I want to put a focus on the relationships I have with Seth and Bastian. It’s all too easy to get swept up in all of my to do lists and writing projects and tasks that need my attention. Far too often I neglect the most important relationships in my life. With my postpartum depression(somewhat) under control, I’m ready to focus the time on my family relationships that they deserve. This year, I’m striving to be a more attentive mother, a more loving wife, and an overall nicer person.