Happy 2018! I'm not typically one for resolutions for the new year; not because I don't want change in my life, but because sometimes resolutions can feel unattainable, or something you need to change over night. I'd rather focus on the changes I made in 2017 I want to keep, and goals I want to move towards in 2018. Here's a list of 5 things I'm keeping from 2017 and years past, and 5 things I'd like to work on in the new year.
Keep
- Keep Being Active!
I found the love for it years ago and it's cool I've still kept with it. Although the differences between years past and now is I used to work out to achieve thinness. I knew with working out, eating healthy (and less), I'd lose weight. That goal changed in 2017 and I figured out I exercise to feel energized, empowered (I can deadlift 250lbs!) and happy! Oh, do I feel SO GOOD after a work out, because I did something for me, and felt powerful while doing it.
Video courtesy of @fasterfitness
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Continue focusing on finances
Last year Chris and I made it a goal to work on our finances and stop living paycheck to paycheck. We met for a few hours going over our personal income, combined income, bills, expenses, and how much we wanted to save. With all that in place we were able to give ourselves a weekly allowance and budget for our expenses and figure out the minimum and maximum we could save each month. It's helped a lot because I am no longer living paycheck to paycheck and saving every month. This year the plan is to save even more and really discuss our goals for the year and following years and what we need to do to get there. -
Cooking with Liz on Instagram Stories
HAH. So, funny story, this started out of boredom. Chris had some work to do and I wanted to make a dish I saw on Bon Appetit. Chris typically does the cooking and I help but I thought it'd be a nice gesture to cook for him while he was working. Like I said, I was bored, so I just had the idea of hey, why not record what I'm doing and post it? Because I was a little insecure at first I played it back and saw what I recorded and thought, "NOPE!", but Chris encouraged me to post it and said "Just do it, it's funny!". So there it went and I received a lot of direct messages from friends saying, "YES!" "Keep this up!" "This is hilarious!". Who knew? So, why not continue, and it's fun to look back on and see how ridiculous I was. But it's another element that aren't just photos, because sometimes with photos they have to be so particular and perfect the fun is lost.
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Continue feeling Confident
This one has taken me most of my twenties but I feel like I am finally there! Of course there will be days where I feel inadequate, but most days I feel good about my whole self-who I am as a person, partner, friend, employee. I'm so much happier when I feel good about myself, and feeling happy brings so much joy in my life. -
Continue Writing
Whether it be professionally or personally. I LOVE IT! My digital marketing position for writing Instagram captions has given me so much joy. Every time I curate a personal blog post I feel so happy. It's a rush of excitement, feeling creative and productive and I love the feeling.
New Goals
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Keep writing!
Hey, this is the second blog post of the year and I'm feeling pretty good about it! I think working on content I want to cover, or write about and have those down in a journal or calendar to focus on will help me achieve this goal. My other goal is to continue getting writing jobs, paid or not. I just want to write and get really good at it, and bring my personality into story telling. Like I said, I LOVE IT SO MUCH! -
Be more proactive with finding time to hang out with friends
I LOVE HANGING OUT WITH FRIENDS! And I feel like I don't do it enough. It's easy to stay home, cook dinner, watch a show or movie and call it a night, especially because I do it with Chris. But, it's also so nice to get to spend time with my girlfriends and catch up. Girl time is so important and I feel like December really redeemed that. Every weekend I was seeing my girlfriends for whatever the reason and it was just nice. So to more friend time!
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More Adventures!
Whether it be day trips, weekend trips or week long trips, I just want more adventure! I want to explore neighborhoods, foods and culture. Whether it be in the United States or somewhere internationally (finally renewed my passport!) Some placed on the bucket list this year: Seattle, Napa/Sonoma, Mexico City, Charleston, Spain, Almafi Coast and Utah. Some of these might be unattainable, but if Chris and I keep working on our finances we might be able to budget for some epic trips!
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For real, find a new full time job!
My 'day job' is not my dream job. I hope to transition to full-time writing in 2018 where I can quit my day job I am no longer passionate about and really focus on creating through writing! -
Record Adventures
I typically will keep my phone hidden in my purse when out on adventures just because I don't think about pulling it out. Later, I think how I wished I pulled out my phone to take photos and/or video. I dabbled in a little recording last year with some day adventures and hoped to create a short video of the fact (hasn't happened yet). But, looking back at the recordings it's really fun to watch! So much personality and it brings me back to the day rather than just looking at a picture. My goal is to learn video editing too so I can create short, edited versions of my trips.
Here's to 2018! What are some of your goals for the New Year?
