Hello everyone and Happy New Year, I hope you all had a lovely night welcoming in 2016 whatever you did. With the start of a New Year, I like to take some time to reflect on all of the things I am grateful for from 2015. While we did lose somebody very special last year, and though there have been some ups and downs, 2015 brought some great things: owning my own first car, another year of happiness and health among family and friends, starting my first full time job in marketing, all of the amazing memories made with my boyfriend including celebrating my 21st birthday in London just to name a few. Around this time of year we see all of the old cliches coming out of the woodwork, including the old favourite “New Year, New Me”. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that with a new year you suddenly become a completely different person, but I don’t see the harm in people taking advantage of this time to better themselves or to work on things they want to change. There is something completely refreshing and calming about the fact that we can use 2016 as a clean slate to pursue our hopes and goals – which is what this post is all about. I’ve decided to stop calling them resolutions; that sounds very final and scary. Goals sounds much more achievable and exciting.
Drink at least two litres of water a day
I recently bought myself a one litre Bobble water bottle that filters the water as you drink, which makes it perfect to keep track on how much water you are actually drinking and ensures that it stays nice and fresh! I’m the first person to hold my hands up and admit that I drink nowhere near enough water, and this shows through the fact that I’m always tired, my skin is dull and dehydrated and I seem to have next to no energy. I hope to make this one of the biggest changes to 2016.
Create a budget and stick to it
The fact that I actually get a little scared to check my bank balance should explain this one easily… I think it’s time for me to act like a bit more of a responsible adult and stop spending my money like it’s never ending. It’s just, contactless payment makes me feel like I’m not spending real money! Am I right?
Make healthier choices
Over the past year, I’m a little ashamed to say that I have put on a considerable-ish amount of weight and while I make a similar goal every year, I know that this has to be the year that I actually do it. I’m hoping to cut out excess salt from my diet, decrease the amount of sugar I consume, eliminate fizzy drinks from my diet and try and eat a more balanced range of food. I’ve recently got my hands on Lean in 15 which is a cookbook of 15 minute healthy meals and workouts by Joe Wicks, who created the 90 DAYSSS meal plan and exercise guide. The results of this programme look amazing, but at £150 to join, I’m taking it one step at a time and working from his book first.
Be grateful
I love the idea of taking time to appreciate the things around you and what’s going on in your life right now, even the little things you might easily miss! I’m hoping to keep a ‘gratitude journal’ in which I’ll write down one thing I’m grateful for every day. It might be the fact that I have the ability and means to own and drive my own car, or even the fact that if I get thirsty I can take 20 steps and have a fresh glass of water from my own home, which sadly is nowhere near possible for a lot of people. At the end of the year I think it will be great to be able to read through the journal and remember all of the things you are thankful for.
Dedicate more time to writing and creating
In a nutshell, I want to work a lot harder on amyjanealice. I’m so proud of my little space on the internet – I know it might not have that many followes compared to some blogs, and I know that posts have been few and far between over the year, but this is something I really want to change. I recently purchased The Blogger Journal from Cocochic and I plan to use it to it’s full potential to help me plan, promote and improve my blog posts. Keep an eye out for a full review coming soon!
Practice yoga
Did you know that yoga not only improves posture and flexibility, protects your spine, drops your blood pressure, helps you sleep and boosts your immune system, but it’s also proven to make you happier! I’ve been meaning to get into yoga for a while (meaning I bought a yoga mat around a year ago and it has remained in my wardrobe ever since) but after doing some reading on it and understanding the benefits, I can’t wait to get started!
Read more
Reading has always been my thing. Even when I was really young, my grandad would take me to the local library where I would spend what felt like hours wandering around, pulling books off shelves and adding them to my pile which I would devour after school and during holidays. I truly believe that the huge amount of reading I’ve done over the years has greatly attributed to my love for writing. I’ve been really disappointed in the fact that I’ve let my reading habits slip lately; I’ve got a huge bookcase overflowing with books I haven’t read yet, I really need to make a start! I’m going to dedicate at least 15 minutes a night to catch up on my reading, which will help with getting a better night’s sleep too! Find out why here.
Learn a language
I’ve always admired people who can speak more than one language, and would love to be able to do it myself. I’ve had a passion for Spanish since secondary school (high school) where it was a compulsory subject, and ever since I’ve found myself picking up more and more but never enough to have a full length conversation comfortably. I’ve got plenty of embarrasing tales of my attemps on holidays, but that’s how you learn right? I’m going to be using some mobile apps like Duolingo to help me along!
Curate an ‘essentials only’ capsule wardrobe
I’ve got that many clothes that I’ve probably completely forgotten about most, and that’s something I’m definitely going to change this year. As I get fitter and healthier, I’m going to be buying new clotes (hopefully!) and I want to make sure that these are classic and versatile pieces that can be worn with lots of different outfits. This helps to minimise the amount I have stuffed into my wardrobe, and also makes it easier to piece together outfits if you’re in a rush. I’ve had a huge purge of my wardrobe this week to mimise it as part of my journey towards minimalism – let me know if this is something you’d be interested in reading about!
So these are just some of the goals I want to achieve this year, and fingers crossed I do! There are plenty more but I didn’t want to bore you all on only the first day of this New Year, so I just thought I’d share a select few. What are your goals for 2016?
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DiagonSally says
I love your goals, all so achievable. I think one of my goals will be to drink more water as well, it's so easy to forget. I also want to read more and learnt to read Chinese! Looking forward to hearing how you're going with them. Happy New Year!
Sally ~ DiagonSally
Amy Rule says
Thanks so much for reading my post and taking the time to comment 🙂 I completely agree – I'll fill up a glass and place it on my desk, get caught up in my work and then realise it's been hours and I haven't even taken a sip! My colleagues drink a lot so rounds of drinks have encouraged me to drink more but still not enough! Thanks again x
Jess C says
They are such good goals, I wish you all the best trying to achieve them in 2016! I'm also planning to do more yoga, you should check out Yoga with Adriene's Yoga Camp (the first video is meant to come out today).
http://www.wheresmylipstick.com
Amy Rule says
Thank you for reading and commenting Jess! 🙂 ahhh yes I'm taking part in Yoga Camp! I've never done anything like it before so I'm throwing myself in at the deep end! I wish you the best for yours too 🙂 x
Amanda says
Happy new year! I love the resolutions! Especially the gratitude diary, it's such a good idea! I'm also trying to learn portuguese this year! I've also got some embarrassing holiday stories! Haha! I wish you all the best! Xx