2018 Goals

Happy New Year! We are officially a week into the new year and now all the holiday festivities (including my birthday week!) are really over... I figured it was time to sit down to reflect on 2017 and think about where I want to go in 2018.


2017 was a really wonderful, difficult, and amazing year for me. I experienced so many challenges and opportunities for growth. It was a year of travel, time spent with people I love, and new experiences. It will always be a year filled with fond memories that I will hold close.

Before we move on to 2018, let's review the goals I had set for 2017...

Personal:

+ Graduate from college! YEP! I did it! Feels so great.

+ Photograph a wedding | Couldn't make this happen in 2017 (I really did try!), but it is still something I'd love to do!

+ Go to Japan again This happened right after graduation at the end of May! We had a great time and hopefully I will get around to sharing photos soon.

+ Read 15 books | Didn't quite meet this goal... I think I read about 4 books total. Giving this another shot this year!

+ Minimize belongings and buy/keep only things that bring me joy | I made a few trips to Goodwill to donate things, but I still feel overwhelmed by my belongings sometimes. I'd definitely like to keep trying to cut down on the junk I have that I don't really need.

+ Have another internship and/or start working a full time job (!!!) DONE! I returned to the same company that I did my summer internship at in 2016 for another summer and then I started a full time job as a designer at a different company once my internship was over!

+ Go camping somewhere new | We didn't fit any camping trips in this year, which was a bummer! Hopefully we can plan something for 2018.

+ Make a better morning routine to start my days off with Nope. I have a routine, but is it better? It would be nice to not always be rushing out the door every morning!

+ Visit Big Sur, Texas, and Portland I didn't make it to Big Sur or Texas in 2017, but I did get to cross Portland off my list! I also went to Palm Springs, Japan, and Mexico, so I think I did alright in the travel department ;)

+ Continue to pursue photography for fun and as income I did a little bit of both! Got to shoot some photos of loved ones and also had a paid photography gig. Would be great to do more of each this year!

+ Spend more time with my family While I would always happily take more time with my family, I did get to spend more time with them in 2017 than I did in 2016, so I call it a win! We had some great family time over the summer and holidays :)

+ Build savings and pay off all credit cards (and maybe even start to pay off student loans?) In the last months of the year, I did get to start finally saving money which felt nice! Still have a long way to go though so I will keep working on this.

Wellness:

+ Find a healthy lifestyle that works for me | I did another round of Whole30 and experimented with Keto a little bit, but I still have a lot of work to do in this department.

+ Implement a good skin care routine I read articles and watched beauty videos, and purchased items to create a new skincare routine that I am pretty happy with. I will be sharing about this eventually for those interested :)

+ Exercise regularly and try fun new things | Nope. Aside from going to yoga a handful of times and going to the gym here and there, I didn't focus on this nearly as much as I would have liked to.

+ Practice self care by taking time to spend alone, having coffee dates with myself, getting my hair or nails done, reading, walking my dog, etc. 

Blogging:

+ Blog consistently and keep it fun | 2017 was the quietest year here on the blog. I'd like to change that this year!

+ Make new friendships with fellow bloggers and connect more with others | Can't really do this if you don't blog!

My 2018 goals...

+ Make new friends
+ Get healthy and fit for myself
+ Make at least one photo book or scrapbook
+ Do freelance design work to keep building my portfolio and generate extra income
+ Read 18 books
+ Pay 5k off of student loans
+ Finish putting together travel videos from our past trips and keep up with the future ones better
+ Go camping at least once
+ Join a book club
+ Entertain friends and family more at my apartment
+ Don't waste food that I buy
+ Go to bed earlier and get up earlier so I don't have to rush so much in the morning
+ Visit Hawaii, Texas, and Chicago
+ Make money from my photography and finally shoot another wedding
+ Play a sport for fun regularly
+ Save money and pay off all credit cards
+ Buy less things I don't actually need

I really enjoy writing down my goals for the year in a blog post like I have done since probably 2013, but sometimes it can be discouraging to see the same ones carried over from year to year, over and over again. I guess that's just life though and we are constantly a work in progress, you know?

This year I am hoping will be a little different. It will be my first year out of college and therefore I will have more time and more income to work with. I am really looking forward to actually having free time! Instead of going to school, then work, then home to do homework and having to do schoolwork on the weekends, I will actually have time to do things that I want to do! Like read books, create things for fun, exercise, and take care of myself. College is like constant survival mode! I am so happy to be on the other side of that. It is a tough life and I am going to enjoy every moment that I can now that all of my hard work has paid off.

What are your goals for 2018? Did you set any goals in 2017?