Let's chat 2021 goals

We did it, we have got through the first week of 2021! 

I know that sounds rather dramatic but I feel a sense of relief and yet a sense of motivation at the idea that I have got through this week. 

In the past, when a new year hit it felt like a new start and I would feel motivated and ready for what the new year was to bring with goals and aspirations ready to go.  But this year I did not and have never felt more unlike myself and anxious going into the new year.  

These past 7 days have been a real struggle for me as I don't know why but I really thought this year the madness would be over and things would go back to being relatively normal. But they didn't and everything seemed to hit me like a tone of bricks.  I am still not able to see my family, go round for tea, playing games and giving them a hug.  My job has changed and may not go back for a while. My routine is constantly changing with the christmas break, working from home and last minute changes due to the virus. I felt so unmotivated and just wanted to stay in bed with most evenings crying behind closed doors. 

After a pep talk on the phone with my family and my boyfriend being a real rock, I began to feel better towards the end of this week.  I feel more like myself and ready to take on the new year.  I realised that I had to take a step back, focus on one thing at a time and breathe.  There were a few things that got me out of the January blues including a few quotes: 

"I know your sad, so I won't tell you to have a good day.  Instead I simply advise you to 'have a day.'  Stay alive, feed yourself well, wear comfortable clothes and don't give up on yourself just yet.  It'll be better soon.  Untill then, have a day." - Unkonwn.

From this, I learnt you do not need to be happy and motivated all the time, infact I think it is quite impossible and that is okay.  It is okay to not be okay.  You don't need to rush into anything and can do things when you are ready.

"Don't forget, you are human.  It's okay to have a meltdown.  Just don't unpack and live there.  Cry it out and refocus on where you are headed." - Hoda Kotb

I hate felling down and negative.  Especially infront of other people as I don't want to be a debbie downer and bring everyone down. So, I would bottle it up and I think it all got ontop of me and I cracked. Although at times I didn't know when it would end and felt rubbish that these negative feelings wouldn't go away, it felt good to have a good cry and I did feel better after a few days.  I am so lucky I have such an amazing boyfriend who was there to comfort me and my family to reassure me everything was going to be okay. 

Now I have had my meltdown, I feel ready to take on the year, one step at a time.  With that being said I wanted to share my goals for this year.  I have said in the past that I don't put pressure on myself to achieve these and try not to make them too specific as I have found that has worked for me.  So, I intend to do that this year too as I set the following goals/aspirations: 

• Enjoy every moment - If this year has taught me anything it is this. Embrace every hug, savour every last word and simply enjoy every minute.

• Keep fit - I really enjoyed fitness last year both running and going the gyms when allowed.  I feel it did wonders for my mental health too, so I want to keep this going this year.  I also have the added and more specific goal within this to run 10 miles.

• Continue to grow my blog - I have absolutely loved my blogging/ instagram platform and everything that has come with it. I have met some amazing people and found a real comfort in it.  It has allowed me to be creative, express myself and have fun and I hope this hobby continues to grow. 

• Stick to a skin care routine - I have said a few times I want to have a good skincare routine and I always seem to start well then stop.  So, I am setting this goal again in the hope that I stick to it.  I got a few new skincare bits for christmas and I can't wait to try them!

I have a few more personal aspirations that I would prefer to keep to myself but right now I am happy with the goals I have set and who knows, as the year goes on I may change them or think of more.  

I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope you are all doing okay in light of everything going on right now. If you ever need to chat please leave a comment or my inbox is open on my Instagram. 

New Year goals

In some ways January is one of my favourite times of the year, as for me, it's a fresh start. I am one of those people who like to set myself goals of things I would like to improve on for the next year. I try to make these as relaxed as possible and not to be too specific by setting dates or targets, so then if I don’t achieve them it is not such a big deal.

This year going into a new decade, I have tried to think not just about goals for 2020, but for the next 10 years. In this post I thought I would share these with you...

Goals for 2020:

1)      Run 10miles – Now I know earlier I said I wasn’t going to make my goals specific, but this one has a good reason. At the end of October I will be running 10 miles to raise money for a charity close to my heart (more on this in a blog post to come). So, this has now become one of my 2020 goals and is the first ‘target goal’ I have had in years.

2)      Skin care routine – I have wanted to get into the habit of having a skin care routine for a while now but have never quite found the time or have simply forgotten about it. I would say I am very lucky in that I rarely get spots except the odd hormonal one which are like second heads! However, I have always said it is important to look after you skin whether you get lots of spots or none at all.  So, this year I am going to start in the hope that it continues over the next decade.  

3)      Read more – I have always enjoyed reading and found it nice way to relax and get lost in another world. However, I always say I never have time for it meaning I only really read when on holiday. For Christmas I was very lucky and got a kindle from my parents, I was so excited and couldn’t wait to use it! I have now made it half way through a book by simply putting down my phone in the evenings and have found it so relaxing.

Goals for the next decade:

1)      Don’t care about what people think – I think this is something everyone goes through at some point in their life. I have always thought that this was something that got easier with age and for me I feel this is true. In some aspects of my life or at certain times I feel I don’t care what people think, yet in other times I do care and let it take control of me. This is something I want to change over the next decade as quite frankly I am tired of letting my thoughts of what people MAY think rule what I wear, what I do or how I feel.

2)      Look after me more – I want to start doing this in a number of ways and start putting my mental and physical health as more of a priority.

One way in which I will do this is by keeping my fitness levels up and eating healthier. Last year I reduced the amount of sugary squash I was drinking and swapped to water and green tea and it made the world of difference! Since the start of the year I have been going to the gym more and found this has been a great way to release stress and anger from work and life.

Another way I will do this is by thinking more about myself. Getting rid of negative people and doing things I want to do by saying NO more. I have always struggled with saying no or thinking more about other people than myself. This has lead me to do things I don't always want to do and missing out on things I do want to do as a result. But over the next decade, I hope to get out of this and starting thinking about me and what I want. 

So, these are my new year and new decade goals. I will have to remember this post and look back on it in the next 10 years to find out whether I stuck to them or not...