I know you might be over the new year resolutions posts by now but I wanted my first blog post in 2020 to be about my goals for the year. It’s 2020 and I turned 30 which is a milestone and instead of dreading turning 30, I’m going to embrace it and be grateful that I’ve been alive for three decades. In this post, I also want to talk about how I want to move forward with this blog as I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time.
2020 Goals:
I don’t typically do a new years resolutions but I have this letter board I got from Kmart a while ago and I’ve decided to put some of my general goals as every day reminders. This board is beside my bedroom door and I see it when I’m on my bed and on my way out. I thought I’d share them with you as it’s also a way for me to be accountable.
Save and Spend Less
I used to be a terrible saver. I loved shopping and I’ve spent years especially when I started earning my own money just shopping up a storm, collecting things (hence why I decided to name my blog A Style Collector). However, over the years, I’ve realised I should have been a better saver so this has been one of my top goals. I’ve had some setbacks too due to my breakup as I decided to live by myself paying full rent and bills on a two-bedroom place in the North Shore for a few months afterwards, spending it on Mouse’s dental bill that was not covered by pet insurance, a last-minute trip back to the Philippines and having to buy another car. Last year, I tried hard to get my savings back up and I’ve managed to do so. I could’ve done a lot better though so I will continue to have this goal in mind.
Tied with saving is spending less. Last year, I’ve cut back on buying a lot of clothes and even opshopping. I’ve decluttered so much of my wardrobe that for once in MANY years, I actually have empty space in my closet/drawers. With the growing talks of sustainability as well, spending less of clothing and being a more conscious shopper is a good idea. I know I can’t fully commit to having a capsule wardrobe or fully ban myself from shopping but if I am conscious about what I buy and really think about how much wear/use I’ll get out of it, it should help me to spend less and save my money.
Work Out and Eat Well
I think I started properly working out / going to the gym towards end of 2018 and I had a really good period of going to Les Mils bodyattack and bodycombat classes. In 2019, I joined a different gym closer to my house so I can walk there and at one point I did have a good routine. I got into boxing and reformer pilates too. However, towards the end of last year, I wasn’t consistent because I was also stressed from work and worked late some nights.
This year, I really want to prioritise my health so I want to get back to having a work out routine. I usually work out after work but the classes I like at my gym is at 7:30pm which messes with dinner and after work plans so this morning I’ve decided to try working out BEFORE work doing a 6:30am class and honestly, I actually liked it. It was a PUNISH class too which was HIIT. I showered and got ready at my gym and went straight to work and I got there at my usual time. I’ve booked to do more morning classes so hopefully I keep it up.
Another important goal is to ‘eat well’. I didn’t want to write eat healthier but essentially that is what I meant but with less pressure. I don’t eat too badly as I don’t do fast food BUT I do like to go out for brunches and snack throughout the day at work. I need to eat better and hopefully make move towards eating less meat.
Read More
When I was growing up, reading was my favourite hobby. At one point I couldn’t even go to sleep without reading but over the years with uni and work, I read less and less due to feeling like I had no time. In 2019, I wanted to get back into reading again and I managed to go through around 11 books.
I’ve read some really good ones last year. My notable ones are ‘Everything I know about Love’ by Dolly Alderton, ‘Educated’ by Tara Westover’ and ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
Over New Years I went away to Waihi beach and I took my Kindle with me and I started reading ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ by Taylor Jenkins Reid and I also loved that. I currently have a pile of books I need to go through so I hope I surpass the number of books I read in 2019.
Enjoy Life
The rest of the goals on my board such as Have Fun, Worry Less and Relax should fall under this too. Last year was quite a stressful year for me. Nothing major really happened compared to the breakup aftermath of 2017 or the series of unfortunate events in 2018 but it was a big year with lots of worrying and stressing.
Work was the biggest stressor of mine in 2019. Whilst it was stressful, it did push me to think of how I want to progress in my career so I ended up applying for a new role and by next week, I will be in a new job/role. I’m looking forward to a new challenge and learning something a bit different. I have been told this is a less stressful job which is the change I need so I’m able to relax and worry less.
Although it’s not up on my letterboard my main goal in life is to be happy. Over the past few years, I’ve learnt so much and I’ve grown a lot. I’ve come to realise the things that matter the most and they’re mostly the simple things in life money can’t buy. I’m grateful for my family, friends, my beautiful cats and the stage I am at in my life. I want to continue to work towards my happiness and hopefully spread joy and positivity to the people around me too.
I’ll stop here before I get too soppy but those are my goals for 2020. They’re not too specific but I like having these general yet achievable goals for myself.
Lastly, I wanted to talk about how my blog will be in 2020. Going forward, I don’t think I’ll post as much here on my blog. I don’t want to put that much pressure on myself to keep posting and taking blog photos because I’ll end up not enjoying it. Honestly last year, I didn’t really enjoy blogging and it showed because I only posted 13 times!
Over the years, the number of posts on my blog has declined as Instagram also became popular. I am so much more active on there sharing my life on Instagram stories. That’s something I will continue to do so if you want to be more updated, follow over on Instagram: astylecollector.
I thought about deleting / closing down my blog but I will keep this for now and see how I go. I might post here and there but there won’t be a weekly or monthly schedule.
I’ve also been thinking about what I want to post here. I used to enjoy talking about fashion and beauty but I haven’t been passionate about those in a long time. I’ve lost my love for taking outfit photos and there is a saturation of beauty bloggers / influencers / content creators out there. I feel a bit lost as to what I want to share on my platform. What I’m sure of is I want it to be authentic and positive.
Maybe I’ll figure it out or maybe I won’t but I will forever be thankful I started this blog. A Style Collector has opened so many opportunities for me and made me grow so much. I’ve made great friends through blogging and I’ve become a more confident person through this too. This will always have a special place in my heart.
This isn’t necessarily a goodbye, just see you later. 😉
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