2016 New Year Resolutions & Goals

Day two of 2016 and it’s time to really tackle those New Years resolutions and goals. I’m covering both because a resolution is technically something you resolve to change for the better or an act of self improvement such as stopping biting nails or giving up alcohol. And yes, I do have a few of those. But I have more goals for this year, things I want to achieve and I want to make a point of sharing those too, plus the goals are things that seem to feel less of a chore!

Starting with my resolutions;

Loose Weight & Eat More Healthy
I’m reaching that point where I’m really unhappy about my weight. I’m pretty short and I don’t carry weight well because I have a small frame. I know I’m capable of loosing weight if I set my mind to it, so this is me setting my mind to it.. on Monday after I’ve done a grocery shop. Last year I reached the point where I felt so unhappy with my bad luck with men I thought “screw it, no one finds me attractive anyway” and started eating my weight in bad food per week. Not only that, I got really lazy in the kitchen as my mum was feeding LM most days, coming home and cooking from scratch for myself just didn’t appeal! I ended up living on noodles then eating chocolate in the evening. I’m not trying any particular diet, I’m just calorie counting because that’s what works best for me. My aim is a stone and a half by October which I think is doable and it’ll finally take me into my pre-baby weight again. I’m also planning to up my walking again and once LM starts school in September I’m hoping to take up running. I’m hoping by eating healthy and upping my water intake will also help my skin and my hair which have both gone to pot lately too, which ties into my second resolution.

Take Better Care of Myself
Remember when I started this blog and I said I never wore trousers, and rarely wore leggings? Yeah, well that’s changed and I basically live in leggings and a sweater with my hair scraped up in a top knot. Styling it seems like too much effort and I’m too lazy to dress nicely. I now look in the mirror on a daily basis and hate what I see. My skin is a mess because I haven’t been bothered with a real skincare routine and dry shampoo has become my best friend because washing my hair takes too long. I’m resolving to make time for myself. To keep my nails painted, and always take my make up off. Whiten my teeth every now and then and use face and hair masks once a week. I need to sleep more at night instead of binge watching Pokemon and Star Wars Rebels. I’m going to make more effort with how I dress. I’m hoping if I get to the point of loving how I look this year, maybe I’ll finally find someone who also loves how I look. It’s a vicious circle really.. I feel disillusioned because guys make me feel unlovable so I stop trying with myself and make myself unlovable. This needs to stop. I don’t need to just take better care of myself looks wise, but I also need to be kinder to myself. I need to stop torturing myself for the way men treat me.. I need to stop second guessing peoples motives. I need to surround myself with people who generally care about me, instead of trying to please everyone. I need to learn to relax. I need to stop punishing myself for past mistakes. One of my favourite quotes is “You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one” and this is something I’m really going to focus on in 2016.

Keep on Top of my Housework
Since becoming self employed my house has really took a back seat to the point that when I actually make time to do it I feel so overwhelmed I kinda end up sat on my bed doing nothing. It’s a vicious circle. All my washing piles up (especially at the moment when it’s too horrible to dry it), my dishes, my carpets need hoovered.. on a daily basis I pretty much clean my bathroom and make my bed.. that’s it. I need this to stop. I need to manage my time better and make my house a priority. It’s going to be hard between my blog, any freelance jobs I pick up, time with Little Miss and of course free time but I need to stop spending so much time lying in the bath.. again binge watching stuff in the evening and put it to better use. After all, housework burns calories, right?

Buy Less Frivolous Stuff and Keep Track of my Money
2016 is shaping up to be an exciting and expensive year. With trips abroad, conventions and of course Disney. Last year I really wasted a lot of money on stuff I didn’t need. I’m one of these people who does find happiness in shopping and I’m not proud of this. I do not need more stuff. What I need is to channel my spare money into having fantastic experiences and making memories. I want to honour my Grandpa by having adventures with Little Miss as one of the last bit of advice he gave me before passing away last year was “You cannot take your money to the grave” and he’s right.. but you also can’t take the abundance of stuff you buy with it either. I want Little Miss to look back on her childhood and be like “wow mummy worked hard and took me on fantastic trips where I experienced magical things and made friends.” Yes, she likes new toys and outfits but I know because of the kind of child she is, she could go without all the sort of stuff if it meant we could keep going to Disney. We’re just all programmed in this day and age that kids need loads of toys and fancy clothes, but they don’t. LM is at her happiness when we have our suitcases packed and we’re off somewhere be it for a weekend or for a week.

Now onto my goals, which I’m going to do bucket list style;

• Take Little Miss to see a musical (Mary Poppins is touring, I’m aiming for that)
• Go to the cinema (with or without Little Miss) at least once a month. Our local cinema is £7.25 so there is no excuse.
• Arrange a blogger meet, or at least help arrange one. I REALLY want to do a Disney bloggers one.
• Cosplay as much as possible.
• Visit Disneyland Paris at Christmas time. I have some friends who start working there in May, so I really want to make their Christmas special as they won’t be going home for it.
• Teach Little Miss to write, read and simple numbers. She’s smart enough to start learning now.
• Get another tattoo.

I think that’s a nice little list. Seven goals seems reasonable and none of them are unattainable if I put my mind to it. I thought about things like “take up a new hobby”, “read x amounts of books” but I just know those sort of things never stick with me. I forget about them after a week so I’ve aimed for ones that can be one off, or at least once a month. It makes it easier for me to remember to do them (although I am printing them out and sticking them in the front of my diary as a reminded). I really hope I can make 2016 the best year possible for myself and for Little Miss.