goodbye 2018 and hello 2019. (looking back on this year + making new resolutions)

So it’s time to see if 2018 was a failure and to test the limits of my ambitious nature by setting goals for 2019. 

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while now so I’m glad I get to! I made some goals at the end of 2017 about what I want to accomplish in 2018…and i’m going to see how well I did. And then i’m going to be telling you about what’s going to be happening in 2019, in terms of the blog and other things. EEK.

looking back on 2018 goals

BLOGGING

• Reach 2000 followers! ❌ Nope, I slacked so hard with blogging this year.
• Post at least 2 times a week.❌ Lol.
• Launch a project.❌ HAHAHAHHA
• Continue with my photography ✓ Never said I improved.
• Get back to blog hopping. ✓ Eh, I’ll give this to myself because I’ve just started getting back into the community!

WRITING

• Write more poetry. ✓ Yes, I did a lot of poem writing this year and I wrote some of my best poems which I’m so pleased about.
• Share my writing.✓ Yes! I shared the first chapters of my novel and got feedback on it. I also sent poetry to friends and did a public speaking contest where I read out a poem!!
• Edit my novel. ❌ Kind of! I did edit the first 2 chapters heavily and then gave up. Oops.
• Win NaNoWriMo. ❌ Don’t talk to me about this.
• Branch out with my genres.❌ Not really? I stayed writing magical stuff and nothing else.
• Start writing frequently.✓ I think so! I slacked at some points in the year, but I definitely made time for writing this year.
• Collaborate with writers.❌❌ Nope, lol, too scared.

BOOKS

• Read 150 books. ❌ I read like, 70. Gimme a break. I didn’t expect 2018 to be so…bad.
• Read all my unread books on my bookshelf.❌ I’M LAUGHING SO MUCH OMG.
• Read 12 books a month on average❌ Nooope.
• Read ARCs in the month I receive them.❌ Oops.
• Bullet Journal. ❌No, and I don’t mind.

(I COMPLETED NOTHING FOR THIS SECTION. Wow are you proud of me??)

LIFE

• Do new things. ❌Ughhhh no?? I really wish I had tried.
• Stay healthy. Yeah and…no. ✓❌
• Become more confident✓ You know what, yeah. I participated in the school play and a public speaking challenge AND I felt more confident with myself this year!
• Write in my diary at least once a week. ❌*Cries*
• Spend more time in the real world!✓ Yes yes definitely! I cut down on blogging and social media for sure!
• Be more proud of my hobbies + me. Idk??

2019 goals

so as you can see, i failed most of my 2018 goals 1) because i’m rubbish and 2) i forgot about most of these?! i do want to make some goals for 2019, but a lot fewer resolutions since I don’t want to put more pressure on myself.

blogging

if I do get back into blogging, one post per week. 

• i don’t know about posting. coming back to blogging after spending time away is very strange and i remember why i love it but also remember why i took a hiatus. it’s so stressful for me to post, blog hop, comment back, take pictures and just, in general, be a part of this community. and when i’m back at school, i don’t know if blogging is going to be worth it with the added stress.

  if i did continue with my blogging ventures during school, it would be one post a week and nothing more. i know it would be too much stress and pressure for me to do more than that, and i want to be producing content i love.

make content you love & don’t rush posts.

• creating content that i love is hard, because if i write things on school days, i’m usually very tired and sad, and that comes through in my writing, making my blog a very bleak place – which is not what i want it to be! So i’m not sure.

create a new design for my blog:

• in 2019, you can expect this blog to a get a fresh, new look. i don’t know if it will look as elegant as my current design, as I’m personally going to be putting it together this time (this current design is done by someone else) around, but i hope for it to be pretty and colourful and maybe floral.

writing

put more effort and time into my writing. spend time crafting it.

• i really, really want to do some quality writing in 2019. and by that i mean to write a novel perhaps or create something instead of just random, pointless poems. i want to craft something – maybe a poetry collection or a novel (nothing that anyone will read of course). i like my poetry but i do want to start editing and really putting thought into it and to do the same with narratives.

continue sharing my writing. 

books

don’t set a 2019 Goodreads challenge

• i find the pressure of having to read a certain amount of books…stupid. i understand why people set goals since I’ve been doing it for the past two years but i want reading to be enjoyable again, and not a goal or something i have to achieve. i want to read quality books, and not focus on quantity.

make time for reading every day

• i also want to make time for reading. at least half an hour every day dedicated to books. i am a bookworm, guys, and sometimes i fall so out of touch with reading not because i’m in a slump, but because i’m so busy.

only read books you want to read. 

• i want to read books…i actually want to read. not just some random contemporary on my shelf that people have been hyping up. i find reading books i’m not that excited about puts me in a slump. and i don’t want to be not-reading.

only request ARCs you want

life

if i can balance school, exams, extra revision, reading, writing and blogging, I’ll be very proud of myself. one of my goals for 2019 is time effing management. i am so good at procrastinating. it really needs to stop, because i get so angry at myself for not putting in all the effort i can. it’s an endless cycle of wishing i hadn’t wasted my time on youtube or scrolling through Twitter. i want to focus and i hope i can by doing the following things:

• don’t spend too much time on technology
• interact with the real world
• no screens after 9pm
• create plans for yourself and timetable
• maybe do yoga
• workout
• write in my diary monthly.

I hope you all have an awesome 2019! What are your resolutions for the new year? Are you going to be doing anything exciting? And how do you think 2018 went – success or failure?