Goals for 2019

It's the 9th January and the new year is already in full swing. Every year I like to reflect and set out a few goals that I would like to achieve throughout the year. But I fail miserably, every year without fail I never actually manage to tick anything off. That makes my years sound incredibly uneventful and that I don't actually do much, which is not the case at all. I find that I start well, then life just takes different turns and directions and I never actually achieve the things I originally set out to do. However this year is going to be different, I can already feel it and I'm ready to start making some big changes. Over the last few weeks, I've looked back at previous blog posts that are similar to this one and there is one common thing running between all of these posts and that is I don't set my targets or goals big enough, which may be a factor of not actually achieving the things I've set out. I've always been in the mindset that if I keep my dreams realistic then I take away any pressure and if I don't make them happen then no big deal. Well, this year it is a big deal as I'm a little bit fed up of starting a new year, reflecting on all that I've done in the past and feeling a little bit disappointed. Not anymore! The last few days I've been doing a lot of thinking about what it is exactly I want to achieve and I wan't to share my goals with you all. Some of you may read this and think I'm setting myself unrealistic goals or that I've got my head in the clouds and thats ok. But some of you may read this and feel the exact same as I do year on year out and like me are ready to actually do something about it and are ready to make a change.

Become an Influencer in my own right; Ah the word influencer, it's one I don't really like, but as a blogger and a part of the online community who shares themselves online that's exactly what we are. Over the last year or so I've really lost my self and my online presence has become a bit of a shadow online. Yes, I've always been there, but my self esteem has been knocked by those who take fabulous photos for the gram, by those who have amazing feeds where photos look perfectly placed and those who have the time to blog every night and can type up the most fabulous posts in a few hours. For any of those girls and guys who are killing it, I take my blogger hat off to you all and salute you. Before anyone takes this the wrong way, I love seeing others do well, especially when my other blogger friends hit big milestones. But as you all know comparison is the devil and a lot of the time it's left me feeling like I'm not good enough. Sometimes I think who cares about me posting a tweet about how tired I am because Archie has kept me up all night? And so I don't post anything. Well this mindset has to change and it starts right now. When I first started blogging, I didn't over analyse everything and tweeted when I felt like tweeting and shared a photo when something exciting happened. Everything I done in social media was a lot more in the moment and over the last few years its changed where everything has to be planned to make things look perfect, when the reality is, its not! No longer will I beat myself up because a photo I posted on Instagram looks sloppy or messy in my feed and no longer will I mind if no one wants to read about my sleepless nights. This year I really want to get my online presence back to what it used to be, stay in my own lane, do things my way and become an influencer in my own right. It's time to get real and a bit more back to me and I hope that with this new found attitude, brings new friends and new people to interact with. But most importantly allows my blog and myself to grow online.

Grow my blog & start a successful YouTube channel; Growing my blog is a thing that I list every year. As a creator it's only natural that I want to improve my content. Last year I was a terrible blogger and didn't make or put in the time to do what I love. As I've mentioned, I lost my way a lot and as its now a new year, its time to start a fresh and put my all into my hobby. My dream would to turn my blog into my full time job so I can continue to stay at home with Archie. He will be starting nursery two full days a week when he turns three in March and I'm hoping this will give me the time that I need to dive head first into my blog and really make ago of things. Until then I will keep on trying my best to do as much as I can to improve and become the dedicated blogger that I envision. I also want to start my own YouTube channel, it's something that I've been thinking about for a long time and with the extra time on my hands that I'll have when Archie starts nursery, I plan on making a real go of things over on there. I aim aiming high and want my channel to be successful and by this I don't mean having thousands of followers in a short space of time. I just want to make videos that I really love and let you all dive into my life a little bit more. I have no idea if this route is for me or if I'll even like it, but I have a really good feeling on this one and I'm prepared to give it my all. Even if I just have a handful of people who watch, that will be more than enough for me.

Improve my photography; When it comes to taking photos, I'll hold my hands up and say that I'm not the best and I'll never have that natural eye for it and that's ok. There are so many talented photographers in this online space and I spent the last year comparing my 'I tried my very best' photos to those who are just so talented when it comes to taking photos and editing. That being said, I don't think my photography is that bad and I've come along way in the last few years. What I really want to do this year is really teach myself and learn all the ins and outs of my new camera, find my personal style and work on this. Some shots may not be perfect, but I'll I can do is improve and if I'm happy with how well my photos look at the end of the year compared to the ones I'm taking now, I'll give myself a huge pat on the back. I'm going to try new techniques and try shooting in different locations to really push and test myself and hopefully you guys will love the results.

Learn to Drive; This is a major thing for me this year, I'm now 31 and still don't know how to drive, which I think is shocking and slightly embarrassing. I've had enough of walking everywhere and I want the luxury of being able to take Archie anywhere and do anything with him. Right now I am so limited to where I can take him and I hate relying on public transport. Before I know it Archie will be starting school and I don't want to be stood there with an umbrella in the pouring rain waiting for him to finish when I can be sat in a car and be ready to whisk him back home. I had around 20 lessons when I was 19 and never got passed third gear, just to give you all an idea of how bad I am at driving. I put it down to me being very nervous and not having the best instructor and the whole experience completely put me off. At the beginning of February, I'm going to renew my provisional, get lessons booked in and start studying for my theory. I've decided I'm going to learn in automatic just because I think it will be easier as I was unless with the gears when I started learning before, so hopefully it means I can pass soon and get on the road before the end of the year, that really will be a dream come true and a huge lifetime achievement.

Have another baby; Say WHAT! I know I can't believe Im writing this and putting it out there for the world to see now. But at some point this year James and I would like to try for another baby. Archie will be three in March and I really don't want too much of an age gap between him and his future brother or sister. I want Archie to be able to play with a brother or sister whilst he's still interested in toys and all that other fun stuff you do when you're younger. It's not something we will be trying for right away and the first six months of the year are going to be very busy for us as a family as we already have a lot booked in, things that wouldn't be ideal if I was pregnant. Once summer is over that will be the time we start trying again. I've put this as a goal as if its something that's easily achieved and whilst it might be, I'm not going to put too much pressure on us to make it happen. If it does then my dreams will really all come true and I'll end the year on the biggest high.

So there we have it, a lot to keep me busy and focused over the next twelve months. I have a really good feeling about this year and I'm ready to make my dreams really happen. I hope you come along for the journey and hopefully we can all make our biggest dreams a reality. I'd love to know what goals you've set yourself this year and if you've done a blog post on it please leave the link in the comments section and I'l head over for a read.