My 2016 blogging and life goals

My 2016 blogging and life goals

• Sunday, 3 January 2016

Happy 2016 Everyone!

I hope you all had a fab xmas and a well deserved rest?! I did and I think it's because I took a mini-break from blogging.  It was refreshing to take the time to relax and soak up the christmas atmosphere with my friends and family.  I think its always good to have a break now and again; I feel fresh, ready to go and excited to get back into regular posting throughout the week now!

As we all know, the beginning of a new year is a great time to put changes into motion. I set myself goals instead of making new years resolutions as I tend to work towards goals a bit more productively and because, on a daily basis in my work life we set career/project goals it feels more natural and achievable!

If you want to use tools to help embed your goals it might be worth thinking about writing some affirmative reminders to help you work towards reaching your goals. You can find out more about affirmative reminders here. I use affirmations on a daily basis but it does take practice!

I've got a few blogging goals and a few general life goals so thought it might be nice to share these with you on my blog.. maybe they will inspire you to set some goals too? Plus, if I've declared them to the world it means I'm more likely to work hard to achieve them!

Blogging goals

Goal one: Be more me

Talk about stuff that genuinely gets me excited! Although I love beauty stuff and will always post about my fave products I want to eventually expand the topics I cover here at Tea And Blush. 

I'd like to include more cookery posts, more posts on trips we take, more posts about local shops I love and generally just my thoughts on anything and everything, happy or sad! It's really important for me to remember as I change I want my blog to evolve too!  

Goal two: Continue with TheCityGirls

You might have noticed on social media over the past few months things changed in the set up of the blogging events; Lorna took a step back from planning due to other comitments and Siobhan joined me in planning the Manchester event. I've love being part of the events, it's helped me develop my confidence,given me an insight into the world of marketing and also meant I've got to meet some pretty lovely bloggers in different cities across the north! All of the events I've put together (Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester) have all been hugely successful and I want to continue working on more events into 2016 but I've decided I'd like to focus the events on more specific groups of bloggers/themes, for example, crafty bloggers, mummy bloggers,fashion bloggers,vintage bloggers,luxury bloggers, travel bloggers etc.. Having these specific groups means  I can tailor the day to be more suited to the attendees and it means they are more likely to blog about the day and the brands they discover.  

I need to mention here too is that Siobhan has decided to take a step back from The CityGirls .. *sad face* but I understand her reasons behind the decision- you can read more about, what I like to call, her journey to happiness here.  

I'll be talking more about TheCityGirls in another post later on this week ;)

Goal three: Work on my photography

I'm lucky enough to have some pretty fancy photography equipment but I still need to take the time and practice with it all. At the moment I get frustrated with myself if I can't get the shot I want and quickly give up and pack it all away. So, going forward I need to just remind myself that I'm probably not the only blogger out there taking 30+ pictures of the same bloody thing.. it takes time to develop a skill like photography!!  I'd love to start reading some of your posts on how you improved your blog photography so leave your links below!

Goal four: Comment on more blogs and get involved with Twitter chats

I spend a good amount of my spare time reading blogs, watching Youtube videos and scrolling through twitter but from the outside I know this doesn't show. I never get involved in Twitter chats, I very rarely comment on other bloggers posts and have only once commented on a video! I really need to start supporting other bloggers and showing my appreciation when I enjoy something they've taken time to produce. I occasionally get people commenting on my blog posts and it makes me smile so why haven't I been passing this little bit of happiness along?! Tut tut indeed!

Goal five: Find some 30+ bloggers

I turned 30 last month and would love to find some other bloggers who've reached this life milestone too! I'm in no way saying that I don't want to read blogs by people younger than me, i'm just curious to see  what 'the other side' holds for me now! If you can recommend any please leave links below. 

Life goals

Goal one: Continue to work hard 

After leaving university  I opted to take a temporary role in a large insurance company. Five years later... I'm still working for the same company! It was never something I set out to do but because of my work ethic and attitude it's turned into a career for me. I've travelled to India with work, I've presented to rooms of 80 people, I've led projects, I've conducted interviews... I could go on and on about the achievements - and not to sound arrogant, I've worked really hard so why not be pleased about it?

My next work adventure is about to begin next week too.. I've been taken on (within the same company) as a.. wait for it... a Global Internal Communications Consultant!  I'm pretty damn chuffed with myself if I'm honest.  Hopefully I'll be able to share some of my experiences with you all at some point once I'm settled into the role. 

Goal two: Start saving more

This goal is one I struggle with each year. But.. things are different this year.. we have a lot of plans coming up; including moving house and wanting to buy a car.  To make sure its manageable I'm setting myself a goal of saving small amounts in January and it increasing as we get close to summer then decreasing the amount slightly leading up to next xmas.  

Goal three: Perspective 

Sometimes I let situations absorb me and require someone to put a bit of perspective on things for me.. however, I'd like to be able to do this without having to rely on someone else saying "Just think about the bigger picture Holly" or "In the grand scheme of things it isn't that bad".  I've got better at this recently but still something in aware I need to work on! 

Goal four: Exercise more

I've been a member of a gym for 1 year. Its right across the road from my work. Guess how many times I've been? I could probably count on two hands. Its ridiculous that I spend a hefty amount per month on this luxury and never use it so my 2016 goal is to try and at least make it there twice a week. Even if its just for a swim or to go on the cross trainer for 20 mins. I'm not setting myself huge unobtainable fitness goals as in reality i'm not a fitness type (that I know of). 

Goal five: Declutter and organise 

Although we've decided this weekend that at some point in the next 12 months we'd like to move house we still need to get our current house sorted out. It's by no means messy but I sometimes think of it like a game of Jenga..  I just have so much stuff EVERYWHERE. From old Elle magazines, half used notebooks,clothes I haven't worn in 2 years, dvd's that haven't been watched for about 5 years.. the list goes on and on! 

Now that I've identified that I want to declutter all I can now see all over the house is clutter WAHH! I think all this came about when I saw my friend Leanne post a picture of a book she's recently been given, Marie Kondo's Life-Changing Magic of Tidying. I headed over to Amazon to read  reviews and  stumbled across some before and after photos people posted and now NEED this book in my life! Of course I could de-clutter without another book but from what I've read of the excerpt online I think it will help me look at 'stuff' in a new way.  Would you like me to cover my de-clutter journey on my blog? 

I hope you've enjoyed having a peek into the direction I want my 2016 to go.. I know already that this year is going to be an amazing one!

Tell me about your 2016 goals!

XOXOX