As horrible as 2020 was for most people – myself included, it also offered me a lot of clarity, perspective and resolve for the things I’m grateful for and what I want and don’t want in my life.
It’s been a stepping stone year for sure — some of which I can’t even tell you about for a little while longer — a year I spent redesigning my website (coming soon), finding our family home, hiring on a graphic designer to my team and hunkering down in the good habits I’ve cultivated to bring the best to all facets of my life. Let’s just say, it’s been the year where I’ve quietly made moves forward and I’m so incredibly excited to bring everything into fruition in 2021.
Every year, I like to write out my resolutions & goals as a way to get clear but also to hold myself accountable. Here’s what I want to accomplish in the year ahead:
+ health & fitness: 2020 has been a total flop when it came to fitness for me personally. Once Covid hit, I never went back to my boxing studio or my gym but I did download the MWH app and started following her weekly schedule at home. The last couple of months, I’ve definitely fallen off course but knowing how amazing it helps me feel, both mentally & physically, it’s something I want to dedicate myself to, starting now.
+ launch my new website: I’ve been working closely with Chloé Digital to help me design and create a brand new website and home base for my brand & my blog. It’s taken a looong time (we started working on it this past spring) but it’s been worth all the extra hours to make sure everything is just right. My main goal, aside from being more aesthetically pleasing was to make sure that the sites functionality is top notch and allows for easy navigation and shopping capabilities.
+ grow my team: as I mentioned this year I added a graphic designer to my team. This has been a long time coming. I’ve been wanting to elevate my brand identify for a while but couldn’t dedicate the time or know-how to do it myself. There are some things in business you need to hand off to others so you can remain focused on your long-term plans. This year I also have plans to bring on a videographer to help me execute on building out my YouTube channel and video assets.
+ settle into our family home: as you might know we have been living in our apt for 8 years (!!). We’ve loved our time there, we purchased it right after we got engaged, it’s also where I started my own business, my husband settled into a new job and we brought home our dog. As much as it’ll be sad to leave, the truth of the matter is that we have outgrown it and need more space. Not to mention our personal style and aesthetic has changed drastically and I’m itching to be able to design and create a new space for us to enjoy and grow into the next phase of our lives. This year we plan to move into a house where we can start our family.
+ cook more for my family: with a bigger space means the ability to cook and host more for family. Something we’ve done essential zero of due to lack of space! If you’re familiar with our current kitchen you know it’s tiny. It’s been a great starter kitchen but it’s also been driving me nuts: it’s super small with very limited counter space and storage and has no windows or natural light. Which you can imagine makes it very difficult to share much with you. I refuse to post poorly lit anything so I’ve refrained from sharing at all. I’m excited to cook and share more from our kitchen this coming year. Also hoping that once Covid gets more under control we can start hosting & entertaining!
+ brand building & direction: if I did anything right in 2020 it was brining consistency to the blog and now that I’ve seen my readership grow there, it’s time to take things to the next level. I don’t plan on solely promoting other people’s brands forever (while I do enjoy it and will always promote others to some degree) this year I want to gain clarity on how I want to build on my own brand and what that looks like. I don’t rush or push these things, I know they will come to me. I’ve always trusted the timing of my life even when it feels like it’s taking freaking forever. It always ends up working out even better than I could have imagined. This is no different.
This past year I launched a new series on the blog called #theworkdayseries where I give a BTS look at a work day at some of my favorite brands, complete with a tour of their HQ & an interview to find out what it’s really like to work there and what their company culture is all about. I had launched the series with Saje Wellness but was forced to hit pause when Covid hit. This is something I fully plan to resume this year – covid or not. The purpose of this series came about from constantly being asked what I would be doing if not for blogging – my answer remaining that I would be working in Marketing for a brand I admire. Personally, I feel like there are no resources for young women to figure out where they’d want to invest their time & energy for work and so this series was a way for me to get a BTS look into big brands like Saje wellness, Brunette the Label, Wander Beauty & Charlotte Tilbury to name a few on my list.
+ take time for relationship building: this year opened everyone’s eyes to how precious life can be. A good reminder that it’s not a give-in to have everything go according to plan. For me personally, it opened my eyes to how I’m spending my time and how I will choose carefully how it’s being used moving forward. I’ve slowly been taking more time to invest in relationships I care deeply about, people who mean the world to me. Whether that’s been spending more time with my Nana, taking more time to see my brother more or just sending more texts letting people know that I care. This year I want to continue to work on this area of my life and be super intentional about letting others in. At the end of the day, we are left with our memories and I want to create more positive ones to carry forward.
What are some areas you plan to work on in 2021? Share them with me below xx
I love these resolutions! One of my resolutions is also to focus on relationships and spending as much time with loved ones as possible (once it’s safe!) xx happy New Years!!!
Happy new year, Amanda!!