My Goals for Two Thousand and Nineteen

Happy New Year! I hope your day has been great, that you\’re not tired and you\’re ready to take on whatever life throws at you! I thought about talking about resolutions, but I dislike the connotations attached to that word, so instead, we\’re going to talk about goals for the new year. From what I\’ve always believed, a goal is something specific and something you can achieve, something you can reach. For example, I could say I want to lose weight, or I could say I want to lose 10 pounds. If I used the first phrase, then at the end of the year, if I only end up loosing 3 pounds then I may have accomplished something, but I may not be as content or proud of myself. In addition, the formal definition of \”resolution\” is to stop doing something, though not all of our resolutions go that route. However, generally speaking we should try to add better \”things\” to our life than just focusing or removing the bad, we need replacement – that\’s how we break bad habits. In addition, the positive (meaning addition) behavior can be more inspiring than the a negative (removing) behavior.

Sorry, that was a lot, but I wanted to share my goals, while also sharing the subcontext (or negative behavior that I\’m removing). I\’ll share the broad statement, my goal within that statement, and the subcontext behind. You don\’t have to set \”goals\” or be so specific, but I\’ve found that it helps in reaching success.

First and foremost, I want to expand my palette as far as what I eat and different meals. I\’ve made a Pinterest board of a bunch of recipes and my goal is to make all of the recipes before the end of this year. I don\’t eat out much, but I do tend to eat the same things frequently, and while I still love those meals, I really want to expand my horizons.

Next, I want to start saving more money. In a year and a half, the plan is that I\’ll be spending a semester abroad in Florence. While most of room/board and tuition is covered by my scholarships and my school financial plan savings account thing (I don\’t know what it\’s called), I will still need spending money for weekend travels and meals and other things. I currently have $[x] in my bank account right now. By the end of the year I would like to have at least $[x] dollars in my bank account. While I hope to earn more than the final number, I\’m also keeping in mind that I do like to shop and would like some spending money made available to me. This will require me to really be careful about my purchases.

Speaking of shopping, I don\’t want to buy any new clothing or makeup, unless absolutely necessary until June. However, if I can go longer and make this a habit, I\’m down with that, too. So let\’s discuss what absolutely necessary means. Hypothetically speaking, if my snow boots break (which they shouldn\’t because they\’re new) and it\’s the middle of January and it\’s something I need to stay warm and healthy, I will order a new pair, unless I can find a quality pair at a thrift shop. If all my bras or under break or wear-out or whatever, which is again, highly unlikely, then I will get a new bra or a few new pairs of underwear. If I run out of all my foundations, I will buy another one. If it\’s a clothing item I can\’t find anywhere second-hand then I will go to a store. I\’m only doing this for 6 months because I am losing weight and if in the summer I can\’t find a pair of shorts that works, I will have to cave. Louisiana summers are no joke. I\’m actually really excited for this goal/challenge because it will really force me to get creative with the clothing I have and to really get more into thrifting. This will also really help me value and make-use of what I already have.

My next goal regards this blog. When I initially started this blog, I wanted to be focused on fashion and beauty but also with a mix of me in it, hence why my first post is a cookie recipe. Even from the beginning though, it was more focused on beauty and lifestyle more than fashion, and I\’d really like to bring it back closer to what I originally wanted to post about: my style and fashion! Of course I\’ll still include various shots of other things, but I would like to have a 3:1 ratio of fashion to other images, which I\’ve already started working towards, kinda. In addition, and this isn\’t really goal, but rather a necessity, I really need to figure out my colors and presets for my images, I think I may go back to what I had earlier this year because I really liked that before I decided to change EVERYTHING.

I\’ve shared the past few books that I\’ve been reading because it\’s really been something that I\’ve gotten into the past couple months, but I really want to get even more into it. In middle school I read all. the. time. It was great, but in high school I dropped the habit. A couple years ago, Goodreads allowed you to challenge yourself to read a certain number of books, and I have never hit my goal. This year, I was the closest I\’ve ever been (9/10). If I had started reading more earlier in the year, I maybe would\’ve gotten it. This year I increased my goal to 15 books, knowing that I\’ll have the whole year to work towards it. In addition, reading will help me spend less time online and really explore more of an unplugged life.

Finally, I want to decrease my impact on the Earth. This one\’s hard because I can\’t really put a number on it given that I know very little about the science behind everything. For Christmas I asked for a received stainless steel straws, reusable face pads, and bamboo toothbrushes. I\’m looking into Diva Cups (or something similar), but I\’m still a little on edge… But some of my other goals will help me decrease my plastic consumption (not literal consumption life food) and trash output. For example, by increasing my cooking abilities, I won\’t have to eat out or order in. This will thus decrease my usage of throw-away take-out containers and the receiving of plastic cutlery. The shopping break/buy nothing new goal will decrease the amount of fabric being thrown to waste.

So there you have it, my 6 goals (or 5 goals and 1 resolution) for 2019. I would love to hear your resolutions or goals (or whatever you want to call them)! Good luck and Happy New Year!!

Much Love, Jacquelyn

Outfit Details:

Dress: Forever 21

Fishnet Tights: unknown (from Forever 21)

Boots: Timberland // Macy\’s

Turtleneck: ASOS Necklace: Thrifted