Happy new year one and all! And a belated welcome to 2016!
We've all seen by now that television and social media are flooded once again with diet talk, Oprah and "New Year New Me" rubbish, right?
Well here's the thing. We will never be anyone else but ourselves, so trying to be a different person by making drastic changes is more than likely setting yourself up for failure. As such you will never see me making a resolution that means making unrealistic adjustments to myself *especially* if it involves any of those fad diets we see promoted all over everywhere around New Year.
Instead, the list-lover in me jumped at 16 in 16 when it was originally suggested by the awesome Soph from Busy Little Fee. She came up with the idea of setting sixteen achievable goals to work on in 2016 which is a much more realistic and fun thing to do than one giant looming resolution.
For my own sanity I have categorised this list. My brain doesn't like messy lists. (Unlike messy rooms which my brain is quite content with, much to my husbands dismay.)
The Online Bits
1. Work on the blog.
I hope to freshen up A Curvy Cupcake this year with a new layout, updated information and a page on #thisisplus complete with press, background info and an FAQ.
2. Up my Insta game.
I am terrible at Instagram. Truly rubbish. I aim to post more relevent pictures and reach 1000 followers this year. Hopefully I'll smash it and hit 1500 but we'll see eh?
3. Embrace Youtube.
My four year old wants to make videos like his favourite Youtubers so I'm going to figure out how all this editing nonsense works and try to have some fun with it.
Mini Adventures
4. Go to a gig.
It's been nearly 6 years since my last gig and it was a pretty big disappointment. I'm getting the itch to relive my yoof and with The Cure playing Wembley in December I'm thinking this year could be the one.
5. Revisit the Harry Potter Studios.
I went in 2014 for the Christmas at Hogwarts thing and it was incredible. Back then there was no Hogwarts Express which means I simply must go back.
6. Get out more.
This is vague but it does what it says on the tin. I aim to get out of the house more. On my own and with my children. I want to take my eldest to Kidzania and myself to more plus size events.
 |
| Image credit: The super talented Murder of Goths |
7. Get all these women in the same room.
This is one of those goals that is out of my control but I'm putting it here because I want it to happen. This group are my gang and I'd give the world to have one of our evening whatsapp conversations actually in person.
Money
8. Pay off my Simply Be account.
This one is self explanatory and needs to be on the list. I have around £150 left to pay which I can only afford in small instalments. Hopefully by around October it'll be gone.
9. Save TopCashback.
I have a TCB* account that I rarely use and when I do, I cash in as soon as I hit a tenner. My aim this year is to use the site for every online purchase that qualifies and save that cashback until at least July. (*This is a referral link. If you join through here and earn £10 cashback I'll receive a £5 bonus.)
10. Work the sales like a pro.
I've always taken pride in the fact that I can shop a good bargain and I hope to continue this in 2016. Basically I want to avoid paying full price as much as possible for Christmas and birthdays.
Life
11. Say Yes More....
My anxiety issues have caused me to stop making plans for fear of not wanting to follow through on them. This year I will think before I make up excuses and endeavour to say yes to more opportunities. What's the worst that could happen?
12. .... And don't be afraid to say No
Having said that, I also need to know my limits. I will strive to say Yes more but at the same time if something is too much for me or the worst that could happen is certain death I will not beat myself up for saying No.
13. Schedule!!
I am not the best at things like spontaneous housework and writing. I need a visual reminder. I have bought a planner of sorts where I can schedule my day or week, allocating time to specific chores, activities with my home educated small person, blog posts and most importantly that precious half hour of Me Time in between the chaos.
14. Sleep.
Having three boys under 5 years old who like to wake up at 5:30am would be a lot easier to cope with if I didn't stay up until 1am every night. Time to wrap up my evenings a little earlier I think!
15. Wear my specs during screen time.
I have put off wearing my glasses because in my head I told myself short sightedness is for old people. Obviously that's nonsense (and I'm now a bit old) so it's time to avoid the headaches and put my specs on.
16. Love more.
This is everything. From communicating better with my loved ones to being more patient with the kids, from commenting on more blogs to reconnecting with my own self. I'm quite a negative creature so I need to make a huge effort with people this year.
So that's my 16 in 16 list! Is there anything on there you'd like to aim for too? Or anything you think I'm missing?
Leave me a comment and let me know if you have any goals and later in the year we can check back and see how we're getting on!
