2018 New Year’s Resolutions

Happy 2018! I can’t believe another year has come and gone again. 2017 just flew by, and it was such an amazing year. I am not usually one for New Year’s resolutions, but this year I think these are necessary. I have a few goals for the new year and some are the usual, like getting to the gym and not shopping as much, but others are more personal. I am writing down these goals for the world to see and for everyone to hold me accountable to getting there. In business school I learned about setting SMART goals, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely. In order to set my self up for success I am setting these goals with a realistic plan. Read on to see my 2018 New Year’s Resolutions!

2018 New Year’s Resolutions

Fitness

One of the most typical New Year’s resolutions there is, completely unoriginal, and yet it makes the top of the list. Since I stopped training for races I’ve had a hard time motivating myself to work out consistently. Ever since I was young, I was always “working out” to reach a goal, whether it was a part in The Nutcracker, a tennis match to win, or to finish a marathon. I have a really hard time with just working out to be healthy since I don’t have a big issue with gaining weight.

SMART: My goal is to go to the gym/run/yoga at least 3 times a week starting now!

Saving Money

I’m a 25 year old with expendable income, and I have a shopping addiction. Blogging really perpetuates the shopping addiction, and I end up spending everything I make to buy more clothes and take more photos. I don’t spend money I don’t have, but I do spend money I should be saving. So I’ve taken some steps to move more into my savings so that it isn’t as readily available. I have also taken steps to set a more realistic budget with my spending. I started using Mint and it has helped a ton already!

SMART: I plan to set a budget and stick with it each month so I can save up for the future.

Be More Selfless

When I was home over Thanksgiving my mom said something to me that I didn’t realize was a problem. I talk about myself all the time. I always have something to say which isn’t always a bad thing unless I’m not paying attention to the other person. I have never been good at asking people questions about themselves, but this is the goal for this next year. I want to be more selfless. I want to get to know people better, make new friends, and stop talking about myself.

SMART: When having a conversation with someone, wait until they ask about me. Be present in the moment.

Planning

This one is mostly in reference to my blog because the rest of my life is pretty well-planned. My content calendar for the last 6+ months has been non-existent. I’m posting to be consistent but not necessarily because I have something great to share, which isn’t how it should be. I want to actually help people with this blog and post useful content, not just photos of myself. So I want to make a plan to share real, thoughtful posts that you want to read.

SMART: Create a monthly content calendar and use it. Post relevant, useful content that people want to read. Quality over quantity.

Be More Punctual

I’m always late. To everything. “Early” is not in my vocabulary, which is really a problem. Luckily I have a job that is flexible, and friends that know me well enough to lie about the time we need to be somewhere, but that isn’t how it should be. This goes along with being more selfless, and respecting the people’s time that I’m with, or showing my gratitude for my job by being there on time.

SMART: Stop hitting the snooze button and get my butt out of bed in the mornings to be at work by 9am.

Bed Time

I am a terrible procrastinator, and a night owl which don’t go well together. I was always the person in college who would stay up until morning to finish a project because I couldn’t sleep knowing it was unfinished. I like to have closure on projects I’m working on, or shows I’m watching, so basically if I start something I have a need to stay up to finish it. My bed time, or lack there of is directly related to a lot of these other goals, so ideally some of them happen at the same time.

SMART: Go to bed before 11pm on week nights.

What are your goals for the new year? PS in the spirit of creating a content calendar, comment below with what you’d like to see more of in 2018!