Can you believe June is almost over? I feel like it was just yesterday that I was sitting by my window, peering out at the grey, rainy sky through a string of fairy lights wishing for a ray of sunshine. Blink twice and here I am, typing up blog posts on my balcony wearing a short jumpsuit and sipping on icy mint water. It’s been six months since most of us set our new year’s resolutions. Half of the year is gone but we have the other half remaining still, so I thought this would be a perfect time to look back on the goals we set for ourselves and see how we’re doing. In case you’ve fallen off track a bit, don’t worry. There’s still plenty of time to pick things back up and work on those resolutions you set for yourself. There’s a reason why you made them, so don’t let that energy go to waste!
I’m going to go through the goals and resolutions I set for myself for 2019 in this post today, and I strongly encourage you to do the same. Let’s do a little mid-project check-in :)
Get Ahead On Work By Two Weeks
My first goal was to make sure I always have two whole weeks of content lined up and ready to go live. Have I managed to do so? Unfortunately, no. This has proven to be unexpectedly hard for me to do. I’m not entirely sure what keeps going wrong here because it should be perfectly doable, but I chalk it up to a combination of bad luck and too much pressure. The point of working ahead was actually to relieve pressure, so that I wouldn’t be chasing deadlines all the time and could let my creative juices flow a bit more freely. Getting from nothing to two weeks ahead was a bigger hurdle than I expected, though, and one that has stressed me out more than I could foresee.
However, for the first time this year, I’m very close to actually meeting this goal. Things are a bit quieter over here now and by the end of this week, I should be ahead by two full weeks. I have to keep going after that to prepare content for my holiday, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, I can say that even though it took much longer than expected, I’m working on it and I’m going to fulfill this resolution. Let’s hope I’m able to keep it up after summer is over.
Start A B-Roll Database
This is a very simple work-related goal. All I need to do is save some of my reusable video footage to an archive, where it’s categorised by style and content. As this is such a simple task to do, I’m happy to report I started the data base back in January and it’s slowly been growing all year. Organically, as the footage comes.
Visit The Gym At Least Once A Week
Oh boy, I’m hitting this one out of the park! I set this goal before I got a gym membership, fully expecting to hate my experience there. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I fell in love with the gym the first time I went there and I’ve very happily been visiting on an average of twice a week. I look forward to my visits, have them scheduled in my calendar, and even on extra busy weeks I’ll always make sure to go at least once. I miss my workout when I don’t go. Who would’ve thought the girl who hates any and all exercise would turn into someone who doesn’t want to miss a workout at the gym? It’s a small miracle, but it’s happened. Regular gym visits have done loads for my mental health, my stamina and back pain, and my overall strength in general. I’m gaining weight for the first time in years and loving it. At this point I can’t imagine ever not going to the gym, so yes, this one is a definite win.
Leave The House Every Day
Another pretty simple goal that just requires a bit of discipline. I want to leave the house every single day, even if it’s just to walk to a store or take out the garbage. The idea behind this is to get some fresh air and stay connected to the outside world. I work where I live, so it’s easy to become isolated and stay inside for days on end, which is unhealthy for both my body and mind.
There have been some days when the weather was so bad I really had no desire to go outside at all, and I was unwell for a few days as well, but besides these exceptions I have left the house every day. I’m not extremely strict about this one, it just helps me be mindful of one of my pitfalls and I appreciate it for that.
Eat Fruit Every Day
Goals that require you to do something every day are always a bit tricky, because they’re nearly impossible to meet. I just think of them as daily reminders that I need to pay attention to something I tend to forget. Have I eaten a piece of fruit every single day? Probably not. I have however eaten much more fruit than before I set this goal, and I remember I should have at least one piece each day. I try really hard to meet this one and I feel like it’s a good one to keep up as a habit.
The thing that makes this the easiest for me to achieve is adding fruit as a standard component to all of my breakfasts. I’ll top my oatmeal or yogurt with some fresh fruit, or have a piece with some crackers. It’s a set time of day when I know to incorporate this goal, which really helps.
Use Social Media More Mindfully
Aside from getting two weeks ahead on work, this is the one I struggle with the most. I’ve definitely taken some (pretty drastic) measures to spend my time on social media more intentionally, but I feel like it still takes up way too much of my time. I stopped using Twitter and my Loepsie Facebook page, but for the most part, the time I used to spend on there has just shifted to Instagram and YouTube.
The YouTube app has a “time watched” function now, which reveals that I watch YouTube videos for an average of 50 minutes a day. That’s just the time spent watching actual videos, so add to that all the time spent browsing the website, and refreshing my comments and analytics. It’s a lot.
I realised I still spend too much time mindlessly scrolling on my phone a few days back, and am trying to get myself back on track again. I’m re-instating the rule of no social media between 9 and 5 unless for uploading, which is a great rule that I’d somehow fallen off of. I’m also trying to no longer scroll through social media in bed, before going to sleep and right after waking up as that’s a really bad habit of mine.
End Every Task By Tidying Up
Another resolution that I’m trying to turn into a long-term habit. I have a tendency to leave clutter all around me all day, until I find the time to clean everything up in one fell swoop. There are plenty of days when I don’t find the time at all though, and it annoys not only me but Robbert as well. Having a cluttered home affects me quite a bit, it adds extra pressure by sitting there demanding attention and it can often prevent me from doing whatever I need to do efficiently. At the start of the year, I vowed to tidy up after every task when it’s done, and not only when all my tasks are done. This is hard for me to do as it goes against my nature, but I’m actually surprised by how well I’m doing with this one. I’m still not perfect at all, but I’ve become miles better. My cleanups feel much less agitated and overwhelming, and the house looks tidier at any given point. There’s room for improvement here still but I’m happy with the progress I’m making.
Minimize Further
I’m not quite sure whether to give this one a pass or a fail. After the massive decluttering challenge I did at the start of the year, I’ve actually been pretty satisfied with the amount of stuff we own. I was expecting my desire to minimise to continue coming up, but it barely has at all. I have been very mindful of the stuff I bring into the house, though. I’ve been shopping much less and much more consciously than I used to, and very few new things have entered the house since that big declutter. So I can’t say I’ve really kept on minimizing, but I also no longer have the desire, so I guess it’s all good.
So, how are you doing? Are you still on track when it comes to your goals and resolutions? If not, now’s the time to reflect on why you’re not meeting your goal and to readjust it if need be. Don’t be afraid to modify your resolutions if they turned out to be impossible to meet. Remember why you set your resolutions in the first place, and make the most of the five months still to come! :)
Love this! Thank you for the updates!