Yes, you read that write - twenty n i n e teen. Where does the time go?! I know a lot of people don't like these kinda posts, and I totally get it. The whole 'New Year, New Me' mindset does fill us with this weird pressure to make drastic changes to not only ourselves, but our lives. That's why I choose to see it differently.
A new year is essentially a new beginning. It's the perfect time to wipe the slate clean and leave any negativity in 2018. Give yourself a fresh start. I still like to set my self a few little goals, but I'm not gonna beat myself up come December if I haven't achieved them all. The New Year is when I feel the most motivated and inspired to put the wheels into motion, and not focus on the bad things that the previous year sprung upon me.
Like I said, I like to set myself a couple of goals or 'resolutions', but they're not drastic changes. My main focus of this year is to be happy. However, as someone who's self employed, I do find it helpful to set myself some business goals to try and check off for this year.
So, what can you expect to see from me this year?
A more laidback approach to my content
This 'goal' for sure, it going to be the most challenging for me, as I'm such a perfectionist. 2018 saw a lot of breakdowns from me because I thought my content wasn't 'good enough' or I could 'do better'. The amount of posts I'd written, or photo's I was ready to publish that I ended up trashing because they weren't polished enough, or didn't seem like my best work really got me down last year. And honestly, I think that's just down to insecurity, and comparing myself to others. So this year, I want to take a more casual approach to my content, and publish what I want to publish, without feeling guilty or not good enough.
Experimenting with my photography
2018 was definitely the year of trying to find my photography style. Rewind a couple of years back and I used one camera, and one lens for EVERYTHING. Moving into 2018, I did my homework and brushed up on my photography skills, and finally invested in my dream camera, and a couple of lenses to alongside it. Not only that, but I changed up my editing style, and played around with Lightroom presets. Moving forward, I want to continue experimenting with my photography and editing, until I find what works best for me.
Be better at the social side of blogging
Something I really need to work on this year is being more active on my social media channels. And I don't just mean tweeting what I had for dinner yesterday, but truly engaging with you lovely lot. Sparking conversations, getting to know more about everyone, brainstorming with other bloggers etc, is what I envision for 2019. In the summer I started to use Instagram stories to talk about PR packages I had been sent, events I was attending or just general natter, and I'd really love to pick that back up again! I loved reading the replies and your thoughts on certain products I was trialling, so being more vocal in this community is definitely on my to do list.
Be better at the social side of blogging
Something I really need to work on this year is being more active on my social media channels. And I don't just mean tweeting what I had for dinner yesterday, but truly engaging with you lovely lot. Sparking conversations, getting to know more about everyone, brainstorming with other bloggers etc, is what I envision for 2019. In the summer I started to use Instagram stories to talk about PR packages I had been sent, events I was attending or just general natter, and I'd really love to pick that back up again! I loved reading the replies and your thoughts on certain products I was trialling, so being more vocal in this community is definitely on my to do list.