Ok, how is it February already? I'm sure you guys have read a million of these posts, but personally I think they're pretty useful for accountability so here goes: my 2017 resolutions and blogging goals reviewed, and what I want to try and do this year. I'm trying to keep it achievable for 2018, so I have some pretty basic goals. Fingers crossed I'll actually achieve most of them, too!
My 2017 New Years' resolutions:
Travel more// yep! I managed to tick off two major bucket list spots: Paris and Madrid! And I managed to explore my beloved Leeds a bit more too, score!
Get good grades this year in uni// I did good on this one, so I'm really happy~
Don't kill any plants!// Although I haven't killed any plants from neglect, I sadly had my first brush with mealy bugs, and boy they are a force to be reckoned with.
Read more// Did this :D I love a good book. I really do. Trying to read before bed instead of just randomly scrolling.
Practise and learn new skills// I did do lots of baking and photography, but guitar has suffered a bit this year.
Keep up self care// things like maintaining a regular sleep schedule and drinking enough water make all the difference.
Keep up my blog// hmmmm...... I did really well with this for most of the year, but at the end of 2017 I got really snowed under and barely posted on here at all. Not gonna let that happen this year.
Stop putting things off and being afraid// Hmmmmmmm...... Still very much room for improvement on this one.
New Years' resolutions 2018//
Be more confident// Lack of confidence reallllly holds me back, and now I'm job hunting, I really need to stop self sabotaging and start putting myself out there. And I also need to remember I'm always worthy of other people's friendship and respect.Sleep at midnight every night// (unless I'm out having fun) I say this typing at 2am, so I obviously have a lot of room for improvement here too. I want to be a morning person that leaps out of bed, but I'll settle for a fixed routine first I think. Sleep is so important for mental health- I've said it a lot on the blog, but sleep is honestly so undervalued. And recently I haven't been getting a lot of it- at least not much good quality sleep.
Survive final year of uni// The struggle is honestly real and I can't moan about it enough. But I'll save that for another post. I'm actually thinking of re-visiting my uni advice posts I wrote in first year (now that I'm in final year and the light has gone from behind my eyes) and seeing if there's anything I left out or if I disagree with the things I wrote.
Grow my fringe long again like Juria Nakagawa// This one's easy ish, as my fringe is the only bit of my hair that seems to reliably grow. For a long time I stuck with a really long, Japanese-inspired full fringe, but recently I've been cutting it super short, á la cute girls on tumblr. I've really liked it (and I've long said my eyebrows are my best feature so it's nice showing them off) but I wanna try and have it long and cute and larme-inspired again.
Be more intentional with how I spend my time// I think another social media cull might be in order soon....
Travel// This one is always going to feature on my resolutions I think. I also think 2018 is going to the year I go back to Japan- whether for work or just for a graduation celebration 2 week long ramen binge- I reallly miss Japan. Regular readers will know that, because I don't shut up about it (I'm so sorry). But yeah, Japan. And also Europe! I wanna go to Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Ireland and Wales- they're all close so I feel good about actually getting this one done.
Explore Leeds more// I am obsessed with Leeds- it's such a nice city to live in- full of yummy food, coffee shops and loads of independent businesses too. I think this might be the last year I live here (at least for the forseeable future) so I wanna make the most of my time. I have a couple of Leeds-themed posts coming soon too, so stay tuned for them :)
Go places by myself more// I get lonely and anxious really easy, and something I need to get better at is just taking myself places I want to go, by myself, and not waiting for other people. Because if you wait for people to come with you all the time, sometimes you end up not going out at all. So far, I've been to a couple of coffee shops by myself, and I've also got a couple more gigs planned that I'm going to alone, which is kind of a big deal for me.
Blogging goals 2017
My blog in 2017 really came a long way. I managed to produce content I wanted to read: most importantly, detailed hair dye reviews including how long the dye took to fade, did it stain my hair and before and after pictures. I also managed to get up some OOTDs, and I really like some of the photos I took too- my flatlays have definitely improved I think.1 Keep blogging more regularly// Before my big unplanned blog hiatus I was blogging once a week or more, and I definitely wanna keep it up. I've got back into blogging and writing again recently, so fingers crossed!
2 Take more OOTDs// I did take some OOTD pictures I really liked last year! I just need to get better at pestering friends and my boyfriend to take my picture.
3 Be more social// I still need to work on this. I have connected with a few super lovely people through social media, so I want to keep it up.
4 Practise photography more and learn how to edit photos// I've got better for sure, but there's definitely a long way to go on this. This year is the year I learn to shoot on film (hopefully)
5 Update old blog posts- increase the size of images and add links to the bottom of posts// I plan to have a big 'blog spring clean' soon- I have updated some of my most read older posts, but I could definitely do more to make old posts more appealing, and add some more internal links.
6 Stop comparing myself to other bloggers// I think I've managed this pretty well- a social media cull and reminding myself that it's only a hobby for me did wonders for my self esteem, and I'm definitely better at being inspired rather than envious when it comes to my fave bloggers.
Blogging goals 2018//
1 At least one blog post every week <3
2 Post an OOTD every month// I was doing quite well with this, so I want to keep it up- I love fashion, and part of me misses the super low budget mirror selfies and pictures of me in my dorm in Osaka U, but I really want to put out some proper polished OOTDs this year. I have some really talented photographer friends, so there's no excuse really.
3 Make some Japanese content// I've been toying with this for a while, but I have a couple of youtube videos and blog posts that I'd really like to make in Japanese- so many of the youtubers I watch and follow nowadays are Japanese (I can watch makeup videos with the plausible excuse that it's listening practise) and one day I'd like to try my hand at some Japanese language content. Use my degree and all that.
4 Make at least one more youtube video// If only so that I can learn better editing skills. I really want to do a room tour/plant tour, and maybe another hair video seeing as how my how I dye my hair grey video was so unexpectedly successful.
5 Collaborate more// Like I said earlier, I have a lot of talented friends and I'm sure if we worked together it would be really fun! I'd also like to try and work with a couple of cool small businesses- not in a tonnes-of-cash-high stakes kind of way, just that the few times I have worked with others (I haven't done any #spon but my adult checklist post was a little collaboration with personal capital and I was really happy with it!) have turned out pretty cool. I definitely will do some more with my photographer pal Demi <3
6 Take more photographs with my "big camera"// Something about a DSLR instead of my phone really pushes my photography- I think I tend to consider compostion and lighting more instead of a more "spray and pray" approach.
What are your new years resolutions for this year? Have you already broken them or are you sticking with them?
-Amy xoxo
I made a youtube video!! Makki grey// Gigs I've got planned in 2018// The Ordinary Mini haul: High adherence silicone primer and Ascorbyl glucoside solution 12%
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