We’re a week into the new year, and I’m finally sharing my 2019 goals and intentions with you. I like to keep my goals and intentions in mind all year, constantly shifting and reassessing as needed, but, regardless, the new year is a good time to really dive in and think about where you want to concentrate in the upcoming 12 months.
GOAL SETTING AND INTENTIONS IN 2019
Since I spent some time reflecting on goals and intentions in the slow weeks before January 1, I looked at the areas where I was concentrating most of my short term and long term to-do’s and decided to split my new year goals into those categories. Professional and Career. Healthy Living and Wellness. Home and Everyday. Relationships. Travel and Adventures. Within each of those areas, I thought about the goals I had last year, how well I achieved those, and how I wanted to live every day in the upcoming year.
OUTFIT NOTES
A classic purse that’s big enough to hold something besides my phone, a credit card, and a lip balm has been on my list for a while and I’m loving this royal blue bag from Vera Bradley (yes, they do chic leather bags now!!). It’s a color that I can use year-round, and it’s roomy enough to carry everything I need for a day out on the town, yet small enough to carry at night.
I couldn’t resist picking up this blazer with its 1980’s vibes – I love that it’s heavy enough to serve as a jacket on 50 degree days but lightweight enough that I don’t feel suffocated leaving it on indoors. Paired with velvet leggings (seriously, you need these in your closet!) and cowboy boots, it’s the perfect work to weekend look.
Also, these sunglasses were a steal from Anthropologie. I’ve needed a pair that wasn’t quite as big as some of my others, and these, despite being billed as oversized (it’s all relative, right?!), fit the bill.
PROFESSIONAL AND CAREER
This past year, I put energy into further building out my portfolio site, www.heatherbienportfolio.com, in an effort to brand myself as a writer and copywriter. I increased the number of freelance jobs I took on in 2019 from 2018, and I’m hoping to continue to grow that number. At this point in my life, I have the time and energy in the evenings to work, so I figure I might as well capitalize on it.
In my day job, I’ve taken on clients that expand my portfolio, and while I think it’s important to carve out a niche, I also welcome the opportunity to dive into new challenges. It never hurts to diversify a bit!
When it comes to the blog, I’m hoping to continue to hone in on my travel vertical since it’s what my readers seem to love the most – and it’s what I love writing! While I like to think of easy weekend getaways as my main focus, I’m also including guides whenever I go abroad. Home is another vertical that I perhaps don’t write about enough, especially considering the response I get every time I do cover it. As I’m sure y’all know by now, I worked in interior design for several years, so it’s an area near and dear to my heart – I just need to think of creative ways to keep covering it in our tiny apartment!
You’ve probably guessed that I have LOVED writing about our wedding and I have no less than 20 posts headed your way covering every single little detail. While this area has an expiration date given that I’m only getting married once, I do want to continue to incorporate wedding topics into this blog.
Of course, like most bloggers, I want to take on more partnerships in the coming year, so, if you’re a brand, give me a shout!
HEALTHY LIVING AND WELLNESS
For the last few months of 2018, I was on a healthy living kick because of our upcoming wedding. I don’t want to let that fall by the wayside in 2019, so I’m continuing to try to make it to workout classes, barre and yoga, 5-6 times a week. I’ve been a little lax on getting my extra steps in every day, but that’s something that I’m going to pick back up after writing this post (ha!). I also started doing barre3 online workouts while traveling in the weeks prior to the wedding, and I plan to continue those when I travel this year.
In terms of eating, I tried intermittent fasting ahead of our wedding (I have mixed feelings on whether I think all the promotion from bloggers about this style of eating is perhaps not ideal or healthy) and while it definitely works to drop weight and debloat quickly, I don’t think it’s something I’ll keep up. I enjoy breakfast and I feel I have more energy when I’m eating a healthy breakfast. I do, however, just want to continue to make healthy meals made out of whole foods and to cook lunch and dinner at home most days. I don’t need to get complicated here – it’s all about eating good food, eating in moderation, and keeping it healthy.
I’m continuing to try to meditate daily and typically I lay on my acupressure mat while I do so. I absolutely love the mini-meditations that Joanne Andreae puts out, and otherwise, I’ll listen to Headspace.
HOME AND EVERYDAY
Okay, so while I haven’t gotten into Tidying Up because a friend warned me it was more stressful than inspiring, I am all about simplifying and getting rid of stuff (I have to be given we live in 600 square feet!). Whenever I have a free 10-15 minutes, I’ll clean out a drawer, organize a shelf. You have no idea how much you can get rid of until you start asking yourself, “When was the last time I used this?” or, “Do I have more than one item that serves this purpose?”
Speaking of cleaning out, I’m continuing to sell things on Poshmark, so head on over there if you want to pick up some new items!
As far as my daily routine goes, I’m trying to get up earlier to give myself time in the morning to work on the blog, make some coffee, do any chores, and have a relaxing start to the day. It makes such a difference in my mindset when my morning is calm and productive rather than stressful and harried.
RELATIONSHIPS
Well, now that I’m married, I suppose it’s time to shift from planning a wedding to doling out unsolicited relationship advice, right? JK, I’ve been doing that the whole time. But, I do plan on focusing on keeping date nights a priority and making our evenings about quality time, even if we’re just cooking dinner at home.
I have great girl friends in DC, but I do want to meet even more people that are interested in the same creative pursuits that I am and to spend more time with those that I already know casually. I mentioned this in my post about the benefits of a side hustle, but it’s so great meeting so many inspiring women – now I want to spend more time really getting to know them.
When it comes to friends, I also want to make more of an effort to catch up on a regular basis. It’s so easy to let months go between brunch dates when schedules are busy!
TRAVEL AND ADVENTURES
I’m not sure I necessarily need to set goals in this area, but I do want to keep up the momentum! So far, we have quite a few cities and 2 countries booked for the first half of the year, and I’ll see where the rest of the months take us! There are a few places I want to revisit and a few others on my list of places to get to ASAP.
HOLDING MYSELF ACCOUNTABLE
How do I plan on holding myself accountable in sticking to my goals in 2019? While I’m all about SMART goals, I didn’t necessarily set super trackable resolutions for myself here. Rather, I thought about shifts in my lifestyle that would bring me more balance and overall fulfillment.
So, while I can’t check things off on a list like we know I like to do, I can check in every month or so to see how I’m feeling about where I am and how well I’m sticking to the intentions and goals that I’ve set for the year.
