My Goals for 2018

With the arrival of the New Year I've become more and more reflective of my lifestyle and changes I want to make, and there's no better time to make these changes than the now! I have a lot of goals for 2018 with it being my most important year in education to date, and I'd like to keep a good balance between college life and social life, because I really didn't do that in 2017. 

1. Go to the gym more

This is a huge cliche and a very typical New Year's resolution, but keeping active is very important to me. I went through a breakup in 2017 and to keep me distracted I almost became obsessed with going to the gym, then I went back to college and seemed to lose all of the time I had for exercise. It's not that I want to lose weight, because I'm fairly happy with my figure, but I find that I become much happier and feel better when I exercise regularly. I also love how my body feels when it's exercised and at its best. Even if it's only two sessions a week, I want to keep to a regular routine to make sure I'm getting the exercise my body needs.

2. Drink Less Alcohol

I drink a lot of alcohol in my opinion, I tend to go out for drinks with friends after work and they all add up. I don't drink as much as other people I know and I'm in no way an 'alcoholic', but alcohol is expensive and I don't drink fizzy drinks because they're bad for me so I have no idea why I drink booze. I'm not aiming to cut alcohol out of my life completely, but I'd certainly like to drink less of it.

3. Focus on Exams

Last year, I worked at my job way too much during the exam season and while I didn't do dreadfully, I know I could have done better with my results. In 2018, I want to focus more on my studies and exams because I know all the hard work I put in now will benefit me in the future. I know there will be days where I will feel demotivated, but I have to keep telling myself that it's now or never.

4. Save Money

This is a fairly generic goal but I think it will be fairly easy to stick to. I recently read an article in Cosmopolitan magazine which really inspired me to save my money. My first step is to not buy any more makeup unless I've run out; I'm constantly looking at new makeup products and convincing myself I'm desperate for them when in reality I'm not. I have a few other ways of saving money - every time I get paid, I'm going to put half of my wages into a savings account (which I did in 2017 anyway) and every time I get any cash (either from my other job which is cash-in-hand or from my tips) I'm going to put it in a jar and let the money accumulate. It's not like I'm desperate for money and need to save, I just sometimes find myself buying things I don't need so I need to be more strict.

5. Drink More Water

A fairly simple goal to stick to, I just don't drink enough water at the moment so want to keep more hydrated. 

6. Look After Myself More

I mean this in every aspect of life. I want to take better care of my skin, my body and my mental health to make sure I'm in the best state I can be in. There's no time like the present to eat better food, look after your skin and give yourself a mental health day when it's needed.

7. Focus on What makes me Happy

2017 was a fairly negative year for me, and while I can look back on it now and see how strong I was, I know I didn't put myself first a lot of the time. This year I want to do what makes me happy; focus on my blog, see my important friends and focus on myself. As I get older I realise that you are the most important person in your life and there are only a select few that actually deserve to be put before you. 

8. Start a Bullet Journal

This one's a late entry...I got an adorable notebook for Christmas and I really had no clue what to do with it because I have more notebooks than you can shake a stick at. Then I thought, I've always wanted to do a bullet journal so why not? It gives me something to blog about, too. 

9. Look After My Nails

After a rough year, I started nibbling at my nails again. They're by no means dreadful, but they're very weak now and I'm dying to get them back to their strong, beautiful selves. And once I've done that, I'm going to treat myself to a manicure!

10. Have Fun

Another cliche, but I want this year to be full of memories. I'm going to New York in the summer and I'm planning a solo trip to Portugal before my exams, and I just want to really have the best time and let loose. You're only 18 once!