2018 Goals & 2017 Goals in Review

It’s hard to believe that 2017 is but a distant memory – the year just seemed to fly by!  As I have the last few years, I’m going to review how I did on my 2017 Goals and also set some new goals for 2018!

2017 YEAR IN REVIEW

GOAL: TRY NEW THINGS

• Golf: Didn’t happen – maybe this year!
• Learn web development: I did start taking courses on web development – coding is a lot more complicated than I realized!  I’m still working through these.
• Try a new food:  Brussel sprouts (roasted with bacon and maple syrup – the only way they’re edible; Tomatoes (I wish I could like them but I just can’t do it); Almond milk (In an effort to reduce the amount of dairy I consume); Sushi (I had a California roll – not crazy about it).

Other:

• I tried horseback riding for the first time (LOVED it!)
• I moved to the dark side and started playing around with Instagram stories (fun and addicting!).

GOAL: DECLUTTER & UTILIZE MY STASH

• Get rid of beauty products that I’m hanging on to that I no longer use: I did a complete declutter of my beauty products early last year and blogged it all – see the posts here, here, here, here, and here.
• Focus on using the products that I own instead of purchasing more: I didn’t do as well with focusing on using my products in my collection as I would have liked, but I did reduce the amount of products I added to my collection overall (Proof: I didn’t make VIB Rouge this year!).

Other:

• I completed my very first Project Pan!
• I went through my entire house and decluttered and reorganized, and held a garage sale afterwards where I made $600!

GOAL: BETTER MY BLOG

• Determine what my ideal posting schedule is and stick to it: Determined that Tuesdays & Thursdays work best but didn’t stick with it.
• Determine and stick with a schedule for engagement with other blogs: Determined that reading and commenting on one blog a day works well but didn’t always stick to this.
• Determine and stick with a schedule for social media: Nope
• Follow and engage with one new blog a week: Nope
• Create and develop my blog’s brand: Nope
• Create a customized blog template: Nope

Other: Yikes – not too successful here!

• I did fix an issue that was plaguing me for months where my images weren’t showing up on my blog – all by myself!
• I designed a new blog header
• I moved to a new web host provider (which so far, I’m much happier with!).

GOAL: LIVE HEALTHIER

• Work my way up to strength training 3 times a week: Nope
• Drink more water: Success!  Most days it’s all I drink!
• Eat less junk: Does eating less dairy count?

Other:

• Mid-last year I started intermittent fasting and I lost 5 lbs by doing so – I plan on continuing with this in 2018.
• I also discovered that dairy was the main cause of my reoccurring breakouts which was kind of devastating to me because I LOVE cheese!  So I scaled back on my dairy intake significantly; for the most part, I’ve completely stopped drinking cow’s milk and drink almond milk instead.  I’ve also cut out ice cream for the most part – once in a while I’ll have it but it’s rare.  As for cheese – this was the hardest one – I still eat it but in reduced quantities.  I saw a huge change in my skin for a while and then Christmas came and I indulged and paid dearly for it.  🙁  I’m getting back on track now and my skin is too thank goodness!

GOAL: BE MORE PRESENT (continued from 2016)

• No cell phones at the dinner table: Better but still happening way more than it should.
• Read a book or colour before I go to bed instead of spending time on my phone: Rarely happened.
• Keep my phone in my purse when out for dinner/coffee/in the car: Fail

Notes:  Why are these things all so hard to do?  Probably because I’m completely addicted to my phone!  I’m determined to try harder on all of these in 2018.

2018 GOALS

So I’m doing something a little different this year – rather than listing a bunch of things I want to accomplish, I’m going to pick a guiding word for the year instead!  You may have heard of this idea before but I learned more about it on A Pair & A Spare’s Blog.   A guiding word is meant to center and consolidate your thinking about what you want to accomplish for the year, while ensuring continuous mindfullness and flexibility on your goals.

My guiding word for 2018 is FOCUS.  I’ve mentioned on here before that I’m a huge procrastinator – and I’m finally at a point where that can no longer continue being that way.  My exceptional procrastination skills are what stopped me from accomplishing the majority of my goals from last year; I have too many things to accomplish in 2018 and I know that if I don’t make a conscious effort to rein my procrastinating skills in, I’m not going to be successful.

Here are my goals for 2018; if they seem a little light, note that I have a really big one that I can’t share quite yet that is going to take up a big chunk of my time so I don’t want to overcommit to anything as I have in the past:

• BLOG: Focus on completing 2 posts per week on my blog
• PRESENT: Focus less on my cellphone; log out of my social media accounts at the beginning of my workday/log back in after dinner but before bed
• ENJOY: Focus more on enjoying the beauty products in my collection (see my Monthly Makeup Focus post for more details on how I’ve already started doing this!) and less on purchasing new products.
• READ: Focus more on reading books – at least one a month
• HEALTH: Focus on completing one workout a week

What are your goals for 2018?