My 2019 Goals & Aspirations

Now that the new year is in full swing, I’m finally sharing the goals I’ve got for 2019!

These have been bouncing around in my mind for a while now (probably ever since December), and it’s time to get them recorded! Last week, I heard that only 8% of people with New Year’s resolutions will carry them through till the next year. Yikes! I want to keep them, and I want this year to be focused on general wellness and ways I can be honoring God and taking good care of myself. While I understand that having very specific resolutions can be beneficial for goal setting, I’m choosing not to make my 2019 goals too numerical. And instead of calling them my resolutions, I think I’ll just refer to them as my “goals and aspirations” for this year. 🙂 Without further adieu, here they are!

My 2019 Goals & Aspirations

• Yoga every day. Starting in December, I’ve been practicing yoga, using YouTube videos, and I’ve found it to be extremely helpful. In this short amount of time, I feel I’ve already gained some great tools for better posture and healthier breathing habits, which in turn are helping to lessen my anxiety. I intend to stick with doing yoga, because I can really tell a difference in myself and my anxious tendencies on the nights I skip it. It’s been a mellow, peaceful way for me to ease into exercising more.
• Hydrating more. It may seem silly to put “drink water” on a New Year’s goals list, but it’s extremely important that I do it!! It’s crazy how much of a difference being hydrated makes. I’m pretty sure I was very dehydrated for much of 2018, and chugging water all day long has proven to be one of the best ideas for my health and particularly my emotions.
• Eating well. This is another one for the “common sense” category, but resolving to eat three good meals a day, plus decent snacks, is hugely important!
• Grow my blog in productive, manageable ways. I know that I could sit on my computer all day long, constantly tweaking and analyzing everything…but I know myself and I need to do it in a healthier way than how I did much of 2018: which was continually rushing to the computer to work a little more every time Sophie was napping. It was too stressful the way I did it last year, so this year I’m looking to do several things as part of my blogging goals:
  • Work on the blog during dedicated blocks of time (like a 2-3 hour chunk of time once a week, out of the house) instead of constantly chipping away at it but not feeling like I concluded anything. I’ve learned over the years that I work best when I have a larger block of time to just work on a post all the way from start to finish!
  • Reach out to companies that I want to work with, and that fit this blog and my personality. I’ve always done this, but I just want to put this here as a reminder to myself.
  • Don’t stress about what everyone else is supposedly doing. There are a lot of opinions out there about what bloggers need to be working on or focusing on. Are other bloggers starting to do video content? Doing more fashion-related posts? That’s okay. But it doesn’t mean that suddenly I must do all of those things. In 2018 I actually put a lot of unseen pressure on myself that I should probably start doing videos, start doing extra work on Pinterest, start actually using Twitter….the list goes on. I don’t have to do everything that is “recommended” that bloggers do, though. I want to remain true to myself, and honor God with this little corner of the internet by making sure it is authentically Hannah. 🙂 I may look into being mentored or something this year, and things may eventually change around here as I get different ideas over the years, but that’s something I’ll feel out as time goes on.
  • Create some kind of an online resource this year. This could be a printable, an e-book, or an online course. I’d love to eventually sell something, although offering lots of free printables has been rewarding in itself. These kinds of projects are a ton of work, but so rewarding if I’m working on something where my passions and skills intersect! 🙂
• Complete a new organizational task around the house every week. Even if it’s just a little project. Since the end of December, I’ve been working on big things like purging and donating clothes and other items, among other smaller things like organizing various drawers and cupboards around the house. I love how big of a difference all these little projects make, especially over time! I’ve lived in this house for about 5 and a half years now, and I still feel like there are systems that could’ve been set up better. So, it’s nice to work on those tasks a little bit at a time!
• Read more – and read every evening! Bjorn and I have always typically read every evening, but by last fall, I was doing other little putzy tasks in the evenings instead of relaxing with a good book. This year, I have a stack of great books I want to read, plus others on my reading list, so it’s high time to dig in! These past few weeks, I’ve gotten back into the habit of concluding my day with a book, and it’s an amazing escape and reset after a long day.
• Be extra present with my husband and daughter. This goal is a difficult one to quantify, but I intend to really live more in the moment with them this year. The majority of 2018 was still part of Sophie’s first year of life, and I felt like I was just really learning who I was as Sophie’s mom in that new role last year…and this year is a fresh beautiful start – one in which I need to remember not to look back or regret, and not to look forward in anxious ways – instead being happy and thankful for what I have before me now! I’m still going to be my ever-reflective self, with a great love for planning, haha, but I really want to work on loving the present. 🙂

There you have it! Those are my major goals/aspirations for 2019. I know that “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21) and I want to trust Him more every day, regardless of what joys or trials 2019 may bring. No matter what, I pray that I “number my days aright” according to God’s purposes for me this year. “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12) My prayer is that I remember to lean on my Savior this year, and always seek His wisdom as I pursue these goals.

Wishing you all a blessed start to 2019!! What is one of your goals this new year??