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While January is not one of my favorite months, I do love the clean slate that it brings… the holiday décor comes down, the house gets scrubbed, and it’s the start of a new year which brings the chance to start fresh. I’m a very goal-oriented person and I’m highly self-motivated, so I always jump at the chance to make a list of ways to improve myself and the lives of others around me.
While January is not one of my favorite months, I do love the clean slate that it brings… the holiday décor comes down, the house gets scrubbed, and it’s the start of a new year which brings the chance to start fresh. I’m a very goal-oriented person and I’m highly self-motivated, so I always jump at the chance to make a list of ways to improve myself and the lives of others around me.
Before I get into the goals
for the year, I want to talk about the word I chose to be my theme for the
year. In 2016 it was LESS, in 2017 it was GROW, and for 2018 I have chosen JOY. Our year last year was a bit of a bummer, so
I am hoping to experience as much joy as I can this year. Instead of dwelling on the negatives in life,
I’m going to actively try to find the positive in every single situation and do
little things every day that make me happy.
I want 2018 to be a year filled with love, laughter, and happiness, and
I want it to be a year filled with all the best things that life has to
offer. It’s all about making memories
for my little family in 2018!
Now for the goals…
Personal
Add quiet time to my morning routine. Now that I’m
a stay at home mom, I have way more time at home and this year I’m hoping to
establish some quiet time either first thing when I wake up or first thing when
I get home from dropping the kids off at school. I want to use this time to read my daily
devotional, pray for those on my prayer list, write in my gratitude journal, and write in my One Line a Day books
for the kids. I'll probably also use this time to look at my planner and look at the day ahead so I know what to expect. This will help set a good
tone for each day!
Be positive, worry less, complain less. These were
all on my list for last year, and this year I’m determined to make it a
priority.
“Fill someone’s bucket” every day. At the
beginning of this school year, Jacob came home discussing how everyone has an
invisible bucket and as fellow human beings, it is our job to fill each
person’s bucket instead of emptying them.
We do this by being kind to others, helping others, and nurturing others
instead of being mean, insulting, or hurting others. I’m hoping to achieve this by randomly
complimenting someone, sending a friend a quick text of encouragement, mailing
a little note to let someone know I’m thinking of them, and other small things
like that. All it takes is a few simple
words or a kind action to completely turn someone’s day around.
SLOW DOWN and just be. Aside from watching TV with B in the evenings, I never do
this. Ever. This year I want to spend more time snuggled
on the couch with my babies, I want to stop what I’m doing and read a book, and
I want to drive slower and take in all the sights instead of rushing around
constantly.
Figure out how to make money from home. Just
the other day I was telling Brian how I feel like I am pretty good at a lot of
things, but I just can’t figure out the ONE thing that I’m best at, which makes
it hard to know which direction to take when trying to start a business and
make money from home. Do I open an Etsy
shop with some kind of hand lettering or art?
Do I come up with a tangible product to sell? Do I write a book? Do I try to pursue making money just from
blogging? Or do I just scrap all of that
and try to find a part-time job that can be done at home? This is the year that I need to finally
figure this out so I can continue to be a stay at home mom.
Let kindness be my king. I’m
constantly preaching to the kids about being kind to one another and others,
but unless they see it in action, they will likely never learn. While I always try to be kind, there is
definitely room for improvement in this category for me personally.
Relationships
Work even harder to treasure my relationship with
Brian. Do sweet things for him for no reason, make
sure he knows that he’s without a doubt the number one person in my life, read
The Five Love Languages together so we can learn each other’s love language,
continue to go on monthly date nights together and try to sneak in an overnight
trip sometime if we can. Things like
that.
Treasure relationships with the people who I don’t
see every day. Since I ended up mostly focusing on myself
last year, I want this year to be the year that I establish those deep and
meaningful connections with all of the amazing people in my life, including the
ones who I don’t see every day.
Margarita nights with my girlfriends, movie nights with my mom, lunches
with my dad, lunch dates with old coworkers, text messages with my blogger
friends… the list goes on!
Make new friends. As an adult it’s so hard to make friends. Why is that?
And in addition to that, Brian and I are both very shy around people we
don’t know well, and that makes it even harder.
This year I would love to make some new friends. A new girlfriend who I can grab a cup of
coffee with? A new couple for B and I to
double date with? Bring it!
Home
Clean out everything, simplify, and get rid of
clutter. Now that I’m staying at home I have huge
plans in 2018. I am getting ready to
clean out every single inch of this house… every room, every cabinet, every
closet, every box, every drawer, every little nook and cranny including
electronics like my computer… no space will go untouched. I’m also going to purge like there’s no
tomorrow and then I’m going to organize everything that remains to maximize
functionality.
Sell old stuff. After I get everything cleaned
out I’m going to sell everything that I can and donate the rest. Ladies, what’s the best way to sell old kids’
clothes online? I have a TON so I need
easy!
Be intentional with the things I buy. Since I no
longer have a job, money is tight so it’s time to stop buying frivolous things
and concentrate only on stuff we need.
This is also a huge part of simplifying because we won’t be bringing
more “stuff” to contribute to the clutter.
Cut long-term to do list down by 50%. Now that I’m
not working, I’m going to tackle that long-term to do list like it’s my JOB!
Health
Continue chugging water. I want to
make sure I get my daily intake like I’m supposed to.
Get in the best shape of my adult life. Now that I
have more time, I want to continue going to the gym at least 2-3 times per week
to get my cardio in, and now that my chronic pain has lessened tremendously I
want to work even harder at strength training and get in serious good
shape.
Eat less sugar. I am not one to even attempt to
try Whole 30, not that I don’t think I can do it, but because I just don’t
really want to. But I would like to
adopt some of the Whole 30 meals and incorporate them into our lives to try to
be a bit healthier. Let’s face it, I
love my Halo Top and my wine so I have no desire to give them up… even for just
30 days.
Kids
Work on kindness and doing things for others. I want to get
the kids involved with my goal to start doing random acts of kindness.
Continue to improve our manners. Our kids
usually do pretty well in the manners department, but both of them are shy
around people who they don’t interact with every day, so I want to work on
better communication skills and teach them to speak up when someone is talking
to them. Also, we are from (and live in)
the south, and down here we say “ma’am” and “sir” when speaking to adults. Jacob has this down pretty good, but
Olivia? Forget about it. I also want to continue reminding them that
simple phrases like “please” and “thank you” go a long way.
Make a chore chart and implement a new allowance
system. Jacob now has things that he’s responsible for around
the house, but I want to make an actual chart to document his progress because I
think it will better help him to see exactly what he needs to do. I also want to start implementing a weekly
allowance when he does the things that he’s supposed to do.
Teach them how to be responsible with money. Since
we are going to start providing allowance, I want to help the kids understand
that money is needed to buy all of our necessities and that money comes from
working hard. I also want them to learn
early on the importance of saving and also the importance of giving back, so I
want to implement a system for their cash – spend, save, give. Simple.
Do more fun things with them at home. We
are big on making memories in this family and we love going out and making
memories. We take the kids to try new
restaurants, we travel with them, and we love to go exploring, but when we’re
at home we really don’t do a whole lot besides play with toys and read
books. I would like to start doing some
fun crafts, little projects, and find other ways to make memories at home.
Have a summer chock-full of memories. This
will be my first summer as a stay at home mom so I will be with both kids non-stop
for almost three months. I don’t know
how long my stay at home mom situation will last, so I want to make this
count. I want to swim and go to the
library and go to the movies and play on every single playground in town. I want to go on play dates and I want to go
get ice cream and I want to be lazy and watch cartoons with them on the
couch. I want the summer to be
amazing. And for your info, while the
kids are out for the summer, I am going to decrease my blog posting to just
three times a week most weeks (likely Mon, Wed, and Fri) so I can have lots of
downtime with them.
Fun
Learn how to correctly apply eye shadow. I’ve
been applying eye shadow incorrectly my whole life, and yes, I know this. This year I’d like to get some professional
brushes and perfect my eye shadow routine.
Start dabbling in essential oils. This, of
course, all depends on money, but I would love to start oiling. Nothing extreme, just a bit here and there to
see how I like it.
Start a small herb garden. I've kept my grandmother's old plant alive for several months now, so I think I'm going to try my hand at something a little more challenging... growing my own herbs! I'm thinking rosemary, mint, and basil to start since I use to much of it!
Start a small herb garden. I've kept my grandmother's old plant alive for several months now, so I think I'm going to try my hand at something a little more challenging... growing my own herbs! I'm thinking rosemary, mint, and basil to start since I use to much of it!
HAVE FUN! Because my word of the year is JOY!
Blog
This is a snooze for all of
you non-bloggers, but I’m putting it out here to remember and hold myself
accountable.
1.
Cut back to four
posts/week most weeks and then during the summer cut back to three posts/week
2.
Post more about
home organization and my journey to simplify
3.
Revamp or
rebrand website
4.
Revamp media kit
5.
New email
signature
6.
Host a giveaway
for my three-year anniversary
7.
Update old posts
(watermark pictures, create Pinterest worthy images)
8.
Instagram –
change to a business account (still on the fence about this)
9.
Instagram –
increase following to 10k (this is probably not realistic considering the way
Instagram has been for everyone lately, but I really want the swipe-up feature)
10. Instagram – utilize Instagram Stories more (follow my
decluttering journey here!)
11. Pinterest – increase following to 2k
12. Pinterest – pin content more frequently
13. Facebook – increase following to 300
14. Facebook – start utilizing it more and posting about
stuff other than just blog posts.
15. Twitter – increase following to 1k (and actually
start using it… still don’t like it)
16. Utilize BlogHer and Social Fabric
17. Collaborate with several brands I love.
18. HAVE FUN WITH IT ALL!
Whew, you still with
me? It seems like a lot, but I think
most of it can be achieved… I always love a good challenge!
Here’s to meeting and
exceeding all of our goals this year!
And here’s to JOY!
If you want to see my goals from prior years check out the posts below!
Finally, before I go, I am excited to announce the start of a new Wednesday link-up! I have teamed up with several of the ladies from our old Tuesday Talk link-up to bring to you our new Welcome Wednesday link-up! We hope that you will join us each Wednesday and link up your posts from the week!
If you want to see my goals from prior years check out the posts below!
Finally, before I go, I am excited to announce the start of a new Wednesday link-up! I have teamed up with several of the ladies from our old Tuesday Talk link-up to bring to you our new Welcome Wednesday link-up! We hope that you will join us each Wednesday and link up your posts from the week!
Your Hosts!
*Linking up with Jessi's Design and Going the Distance for What's Hap-"Pinning" Wednesday.
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I love that your word this year is joy! I am excited to follow along this year - I know you will crush your goals! Know your 5 days a week posts will be missed, though!
ReplyDeleteYou are pure JOY Lindsay, this shall be a GREAT year! Missed the Tuesday linky so this is super!
ReplyDeleteI love all your goals! We have similar ones. But I Really LOVE "Fill someone's bucket" everyday!
ReplyDeletelots of great goals! I am in the process of decluttering all. the. things.. it feels so good!!
ReplyDeleteGreat goals for the new year!! Rick and I made a couple of couple friends over the past couple of years (that's a lot of the word couple haha) and it's been so awesome! Even better is that the kids are friends. I also want to slow down this year, I'm always multi-tasking, even when we watch TV and Rick is always like can you just be?!?!!
ReplyDeleteI was *just* saying how I'm good at many things but not really good at one thing in particular too! I wish I was because then maybe I could figure out what to do with my life haha. Like you I want to figure it out so badly and make it happen! There are countless possibilities, but how and what?!
ReplyDeleteYay for a new link-up and Wednesday are great! I love all your goals, I am glad I am not the only one in a total Instagram funk lately. I am losing followers faster than I am gaining. I would lie but it's totally frustrating. I just do not get it! xoxo ERIN
ReplyDeleteJoy is my word of the year too! Good luck on achieving your goals and having lots of joy!
ReplyDeleteYour goals this year are so great. I love all the focus on kindness to others.
ReplyDeleteThis is great and so attainable for you I just know it! Looking forward to checking out your link up and hope you stay with us too! Cheers to 2018!
ReplyDeleteI love all your goals so much! I hope your year is so full of joy! I'd love to grow my IG to 5K, but it's just so hard!!! My main goal this year in Pinterest. I'm really trying to up my game. I've already combined some of my boards, and am making covers.
ReplyDeleteThese are all such beautiful, attainable goals, and I have no doubt that 2018 will bring you nothing but joy! I love that you want to take the time to slow down and BE. That's so important to remember.
ReplyDeleteI love your word this year! And how cute that Jacob brought up the filling up people's buckets, what a smart little guy. I love that idea too.
ReplyDeleteI want the swipe up feature too...darn Instagram!
xo, Lily
Beauty With Lily
YES to adding a morning devotional and spending time just being. Two things I really need to incorporate into my routine this year, but it's SO hard being a working mom. Cutting down to 2-3 blog posts per week was a huge game changer and super refreshing. I don't know how I stayed sane trying to post 4-5 times a week. Sending you all the positivity and encouragement to find your niche of making money from home. If you find something awesome, share your secrets! <3
ReplyDeleteGreen Fashionista
Great great goals! I love the one about filling someone's bucket each day--we need more of that in our world and every little bit helps!
ReplyDeleteYay for a new link up. I am cutting down to 3 to 4 posts a week as well. It was hard to do 5 a week and I felt like my content was lacking. I love your goals and these are my favorite posts as well!
ReplyDeleteyou can do it!!!! I can't wait to read along on your journey to reach all these goals!!!!
ReplyDeleteYes to all of this! Excited to see what you decide on in terms of making money from home and yes to selling all the things - we're actually selling a few pieces of furniture and I'm so excited LOL! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston
ReplyDeleteJoy is such a great word for the year and it happens to be my middle name :) I love all of the goals you are working on and how you break them down into categories. What a fun new link up too! I will add this to my link list! Sierra~Beautifully Candid
ReplyDeleteYou have set some amazing goals and I know you're going to do great things this year! As for selling kid's clothes, I have used Poshmark, Mercari, and Kidizen. They are all free apps and out of the three I think I like Poshmark the best but I've had good experiences with all three!
ReplyDeleteThank you!! I will definitely look into that then!
DeleteYay for a new link up! So glad you gals decided to sort of keep the Tuesday one going on Wednesday. Also I just found myself nodding my head to everything you want to do, yep me too. I'll just go ahead and direct everyone towards this post for my goals this year, haha. I would love to see what you're doing to organize your home, posts on that would be great! I'm going to try and tackle my pantry on Friday...wish me luck. Also with the kids being shy. I was painfully shy until I met Mr. really. So from the get go when we went to restaurants we made them order from the time they could talk. We would make them at least try to say it and then we would repeat to waiter so he/she could understand. If they want ketchup or extra napkins or anything that they want while there, they have to be the one to flag down someone and ask for it. We've found that this helps hugely on their confidence. They want stickers from the grocery store, they have to ask the cashier. Manners is so important, we have beat it into our kids so now it's not as much work, but it's nice when a strangers compliment you on how polite your kids are. Woah, that was longer than intended.
ReplyDeleteWhoa! You have a ton of goals, but I know that you will crush them. They are also pretty awesome goals. I hope 2018 is an amazing year for your sweet family!
ReplyDeleteYay for a new link-up! So exciting!!
I love your word of the year and your goals for 2018! I have no doubt you will accomplish great things!
ReplyDeleteNow on to the blogging aspect, since you included them...I'm with you on all the updates. I just need to find time to do it! And Instagram...don't get me started. It is absolutely infuriating. I just don't get it. I have been bouncing between 6465 and 6480 for MONTHS. Nothing I do helps. And I tried both business and personal and it didn't make a single difference. I think the only way to grow is to "buy" your followers and that completely sucks.
Good luck with all of your goals!!! I know you will do great! I know I need to devote more time to IG but I feel like I just don't have the time to do everything I need to!
ReplyDeleteSarah at MeetTheShaneyfelts
So many amazing goals girl. I feel like you are in a great spot to really kick off the New Year. I see good things ahead for you in 2018!
ReplyDeleteYou've been knocking out the decluttering on insta-stories! I love your word and especially your goal to build relationships all the way around. We need years when we focus on ourselves but it fills our own bucket so much more when we are pouring into others. Wishing you an amazing 2018! Can't wait to follow along.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of the link-up and cannot wait to join. I also love your word for the year. I know you are going to do amazing things this year! I cannot wait to follow along!
ReplyDelete