My Goals for 2019

Cheers to 2019! I hope the new year is off to a good start for all of you. I, for one, have been slow to embrace the transition. I only recently (as in yesterday) took down my Christmas tree and holiday decorations. I guess now it’s time to set a few intentions for the year…and perhaps remember to start writing 2019.

While there are so many things I would like to do and accomplish this year, one thing I am going to strive for is to be kinder to myself (and be better about recognizing my limitations and time constraints). I felt a bit guilty last year for neglecting the blog at times due to other commitments, but in 2019 I’m going to give myself a break when I need it.

So, here are a few goals I am setting for myself. Note, these are not resolutions, but merely things I would like to work on. They may be changed, modified, or discarded entirely at any point in the year and new goals may take their place. 

Blogging: I hope to be a bit more consistent with my posting schedule in 2019. Last year was a very busy year for me both personally and professionally, and there were many times that coming up with three quality posts in a week was just not feasible. This year, my goal is to be better about planning content in advance, so when those hectic weeks arise (which we all know they will), I will have a post up and ready to go. Which leads me to my next goal…

Procrastination: My tendency to procrastinate originated after college. One would think that it would have reared its ugly head during my four years of juggling classes, papers, and exams, but nope—I learned the lovely art of procrastination post-college. I’m hoping to work on better time-management this year, and learning to tackle things when they need to be taken care of rather than having them endlessly linger on my growing to-do list.

Practice a foreign language: I’m usually pressed for time (aren’t we all?), which has been my excuse for not exercising this part of my brain and practicing either my French or German language skills. I took French in middle and high school, and dabbled in it in college, too. And, sadly, I have nothing to show for it. Well, almost nothing—I can order a croissant off a menu. My German is a bit better, so that it the language I am going to focus on. I recently downloaded Duolingo and am making an effort to complete a daily practice—even if it is only for 5 or 10 minutes. Duolingo makes learning a new language fun and virtually effortless.

Cut out carbs: I’m not going to lie, this one is going to be hard. I started counting my carb intake back in 2018—and for a while, I was doing pretty well. Then, I traveled abroad, celebrated a birthday, indulged during the holidays, and seemingly got kicked out of the carb counting caravan. While it is almost impossible to cut out carbs completely, I plan on being more mindful about eating things like, bread, pasta (oh, how I love my Fettuccine Alfredo), and bagels. My plan for 2019 is to only have carbs at one meal…we’ll see how well that goes.

Travel: I enjoyed my trips in October 2018 so much. It felt great to get away and experience new places. I would love to travel more this year to places both near and far. I can already tell you that Iceland is on my list of places to explore!