19 Aims for 2019

Last year I wrote a list of 18 aims for 2018 and instead of being things I could really tick off, they were actually things like character traits and lifestyle choices that I wanted to work on. Now that I’ve had a year of working towards those aims, and making little changes instead of resolutions, I thought I’d put together a list of 19 updated aims for 2019. So here goes:

This year I’m planning to read more. I read 19 books in 2018 and I’d like to read more than that this year – maybe two a month as a little goal. I love reading and it’s one of the few times I actually switch off completely from work and social media.

I’m planning to run every month this year which may seem like an odd goal – as running every day, every week or running a certain distance would be better goals to most people. But, I go through peaks and troughs with exercise and I can easily go two or three months without running before starting again and running most days. 2019 is going to be about consistency and I want to make sure I run throughout the year.

I’m also aiming to have more baths as they are something I really enjoy but always tell myself I don’t have time for them – opting for a quick shower instead. This year I’ll be making time for a bath – and maybe even read a couple of chapters of a book when I’m in the bath too!

I would like to bake more this year. I always aim to do a bake of the week with the children and we do that fairly religiously during term time. But, I would like to bake bread and push myself out of my comfort zone with baking – maybe trying cinnamon buns and more technical cakes instead of just fairy cakes and cookies.

This year I’ll make sure I focus on quality over quantity – and stop buying cheap clothes. I love a bargain but I’ve realised recently I buy a lot of cheap clothes that I wear once or twice and I would rather buy clothes made to last that I wear time and time again.

Going along with that, I would like to waste less generally. We are great at recycling and composting but we do tend to throw away food each week when the meal plan hasn’t been completed fully or where we’ve impulse bought food. I’d like to try and use up everything in the fridge each week, be resourceful and discard less on an ongoing basis.

This year I’m going to have working hours. I’ll be working when the children are at school Monday to Friday and I’ll be working Monday to Thursday evenings – 7:30pm until I go to bed. But outside of that work will be minimal. I need to get better at switching off and I need to regain control of more of my life rather than having work run my life. it’s so easy in this job to never switch off and I really need to take a step back and regain some balance.

With that in mind, I need to switch off more. I’m looking forward to reading more books, going for regular runs and watching movies without distractions.

I’ll also make sure I watch more quality TV. We often end up watching gap fill TV that we have no real interest in. Instead I want to watch new series of TV shows, watch documentaries and try and get real value from TV rather than just having anything on because it’s there.

This year I’m aiming to look after my nails. I usually let them grow, they break and then I cut them all before the cycle continues. This year I’d like to actually spend time looking after them – not necessarily painting them religiously but just filing them regularly would be progress.

I’ve also realised I need to find ways to walk more. Since the children started this school year we have had to drive to school and I really miss walking – and I am so much more sluggish because of it. I need to find ways to incorporate more walking into my weekly routine.

I’ve realised that whenever I walk anywhere I use my phone at the same time so it would be nice to walk without my phone and that will be a focus of the year – to start spending as much time as possible removed from social media. This is harder than it sounds in my line of work!

This year I need to really embrace childcare options. The children’s school have really great after school clubs and the children would love to attend them more often but I always feel like I should be spending that time with them after school. Balance is key but it would be great for them to use the childcare services available more often – especially as after school clubs at their school are free after January.

Although we meal plan each week I need to aim to cook from scratch more often as it’s something I really miss. Over the last year or so we’ve fallen into a routine of using jars of sauce far too often and I would love to start cooking properly again.

This year I want to have more time at home. We go on so many adventures but over the Christmas break I’ve realised how nice it is to just spend time at home, relaxing, doing jobs around the house and just enjoying being at home. We need to do it more often.

I always like to have something to work on and this year I want to make photography a focus for me. I have pretty much perfected my gift guide photography set up and the photos I take in those situations are great. I also take pretty decent photos on days out but I need to work on my lifestyle photography, taking photos for collaborations and being more creative.

This year I want to be selfless more often. It’s something I do anyway – I agree work purely so I have products to donate to good causes, I volunteer my time and I help people as much as I can but I want to consciously do as much as possible this year.

Going hand in hand with that is that I want to say yes more often. I’d like to embrace new experiences, try new things, go to new places and think of reasons why we should say yes rather than reasons to say no, whatever the topic.

Lastly, I want to look after the pennies. I grew up in a household with no money and the first ten years of mine and Dave’s relationship were tainted with debts. Now, we are comfortable financially and, after a couple of years of enjoying that I want to take a step back and be sensible. As the saying goes – look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.

So there you have it, nineteen aims for the year. I wonder how I’ll do – I’ll report back and let you know. Do you have any aims for the year?