DEAR 2019.

Dear 2019,

You’re going to be a good one, I know it! Let’s see what we can get up to this year. I have some ideas.

SET + KICK SOME BUSINESS GOALS

Oh 2019, do I have some plans for you. Let’s kick some major goals shall we! Last year I very much struggled with time management between my full time job and well, my other full time job of blogging and Instagramming. I feel like I was both working all the time, but also not working as productively as I could. I was working more ‘reactively’ rather than proactively, and I wasn’t really planning things out as much as I wanted to (I’m a serial planner - I write lists for lists - so this made me feel so gross!). In turn, this also then meant I finished the year with very low motivation and felt void of creativity.

This is definitely something I really want to focus on this year. Increased productively, increased workload, increased butt-kicking, but a lot more balance to keep that inspiration flowing. I know I can, so we are halfway there, right?!

FOCUS ON MY MENTAL HEALTH

This is another big focus for me, especially since I hit major mental burnout in the last few months of 2018. I’ve always struggled with anxiety and self-doubt, and in many ways I feel like its getting worse, rather than better. Not good! Being super stressed and tired definitely doesn’t help (hehe), so I really need to work with you, 2019, on getting better at looking after myself! I also think opening up about it a little bit more will help not only with me taking positive steps to get better, but also reducing the associated stigma and giving people some understanding, so I might get chatty about that at some point on here. We shall see!

RATION OUT ALL THE F*CKS I GIVE

Apologies for the swear word, 2019, but I’m currently reading Mark Manson’s ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck’ and quite frankly - it’s hitting some chords! I’m definitely that person who gives out all the f*cks - I care about things I shouldn’t, I spend a lot of time caring what people think of me , and to put it bluntly, I also give people a lot.

In 2019, I’m definitely looking to take on board some of the points made in this book and really work out what I can / should dedicate my emotional and mental time to. I think this will also help with other things on this list, too!

TRAVEL

2019, I absolutely love travelling, so let’s do more of it, okay?! Rohan and I have found it hard recently to squeeze in as much travel as we would like to as we both work full time jobs, but upon evaluation, I think we just need to prioritise it a bit more if it’s something we really want to do. We have the best fun and have created some amazing memories when we’ve been travelling - so here’s to dedicating some proper time to it!

SHOP SMARTER

2019, you’re going to be the year I shop smarter - less little wasteful purchases and more thought out, informed purchases that might cost a little bit more, but are better quality and better for the environment. This will probably also result in more long-term purchases, so less purchasing overall.

EAT WELL + EXERCISE MORE

Clichè much?! But real talk, Rohan and I ate pretty well for most of 2018 - we emphasised putting healthy foods into our bodies and boy did we notice a difference. I pretty much eat vegetarian these days, with the occasional chicken dish, but 2019 is looking more like a vegetarian diet for me because I know my body feels better when I don’t put meat into it. Let’s also see if we can completely eliminate dairy too - I’m just a goddamn sucker for a cheese board so that’s the only place I falter in this department! I definitely want to make an effort to exercise more in 2019, too. I thoroughly enjoyed pilates classes last year, so there will be more of that! I’ve also started walking more which has been good for both the body and the mind. Maybe even throw a gym membership in there to get shreddin’ for the weddin’ - maybe!

PLAN OUR WEDDING!

You would think being together for 10 years when we got engaged would have made us plan a wedding quick-smart but nope! It took us a year after getting engaged to find the perfect venue which was something I stressed hard about. I can already tell being an OCD, stress-head, creative, perfectionist is going to work wonders for wedding planning. Not! So 2019, lets immerse ourselves into the wedding planning process and enjoy it - not stress about it - because I can tell you right now, marrying Rohan is going to be the best day of my life so lets make the planning process the best, too!

Looking forward to the adventure, 2019!

Ashleigh x