New Year Resolutions | Styled By Lauren

Happy New Year and Hello 2017! What better way to start 2017 than the clichéd New Years Resolutions! Whilst some people will roll their eyes, I personally love setting goals for myself. It can be so motivating having something in mind to achieve and of course it’s incredibly rewarding to have a successful end result! So I thought I would share some of my personal goals for the year ahead as well as looking back at my goals from 2016 to see how I got on!

2016 Reflection

It seems like quite the trend to simply hate on 2016. Whilst a lot of tragedy took place over the year across the world, personally 2016 was a decent and mostly successful year for myself. I made four goals for myself in 2016 which you can recap on here. The first one related to improving my blog. Now if you look at last years post and compare the photo from last year to now, I think you can tell that there has been some large improvements! My photography has improved massively, as well as changing up what I blog about which has definitely improved the quality of my posts. Connecting with others on social media has been rather slow however and this is still something to work on! I am going to do a separate post on blogging goals for 2017 so keep your eye out!

I also spoke about adopting a healthier lifestyle. I have been really happy with my success on this goal. Snacking has always been a big issue of mine and I’ve really curbed my sugar appetite! I’ve learnt a lot about healthy eating and even trying out new recipes and cookbooks this year. On the fitness side of things, I still continue doing yoga and I also took up a bit of running over the Summer. I could definitely have improved my fitness from the year but I am still happy with my progress and I am also over a stone lighter than I was in Summer 2016!

Also, one of my goals was to invest properly in my wardrobe and have a good clear out essentially starting fresh! I really wish I took a picture of my wardrobe then and now as it has changed so much! This time last year it was full of unworn and unwanted clothes and now I have so much space as well as a wardrobe filled with some really great pieces. Whilst there is still a bit more cutting down that can be done, I am really happy about how it is looking now. Speaking of wardrobe revamping, Farfetch have created a swishy Capsule Wardrobe Generator which can help give you a little inspiration for giving your wardrobe a revamp for 2017. There is already so many beautiful pieces I am dreaming about…, check it out here!

Finally, my last goal for 2016 was to save regularly. When I look at my spending from the last month, I am starting to wince now at the thought of this goal! Nevertheless, I started the year off pretty well taking a note of everything I wanted to buy from the month and how much it would cost. I also saved a good bit too and put money towards things I had always wanted. I could’ve been stricter but I am still feeling positive about this goal!

2017 Goals

Now onto what I want to achieve this year…

Invest in body-care – A couple of years ago I really wanted to get into a regular skincare routine and since then I can’t go a day without. Now I really want to spend more time and efforts into maintaining good body-care. It is easy to focus on cleansing your face etc. but when it comes to body care and looking after the rest of us, it can easily be neglected. I want to keep up with regular moisturising ensuring my limbs are as cared for as my face!
Continue a healthier lifestyle – I already spoke about my progress from 2016 and I want to continue finding new recipes, eating better and also even trying to do a little exercise now and again!
Spend more wisely – I love buying clothes and makeup as I am sure you all know! Although I want to be more stricter about dropping money on more things every now and again. I already have so much makeup that I would love to use up rather than continuously buying more! I have a few ‘treat-yo-self’ or spendy purchases I would like to get this year so I am hoping I can cut out on regularly unnecessary spending and save regularly!
Have fun – I’m still young and whilst I have many things going on, I still have time to do whatever. Instead of wasting that time away, I want to properly cherish it and use it properly. See my friends, go out and do something new or even just watch a movie that I’ve been desperate to see for a long time! Why sit sulking when you can do something enjoyable!

What are your 2017 goals?

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Happy New Year everyone! I hope you are all having a lovely New Years day and enjoyed bringing in 2016! It is hard to believe that we are that stage were we have to start from the beginning and do it all again. How long til Christmas now… I’m kidding but anyway I thought to start the new year I would reflect on my own year of 2015 and look at my goals or resolutions to begin 2016. You may not remember as it’s been a while since I did my 2015 Resolutions post, well pretty much a year ago now but I thought I would look at those goals and whether I achieved them or not and then discuss my new goals!

2015 Reflection

Firstly, I wanted to achieve a more healthier lifestyle, the totally clichéd new years resolution. The year before I did get into fitness a bit with running being my main activity of choice although this failed this year as the Summer weather this year wasn’t too summery! So basically I did fail to get outside as much as I would’ve liked to but I did continue taking up Yoga classes during the year and also tried my hand at cardio workout sessions during summer. I didn’t really achieve this one as much as I would have liked to!

The next two goals were blogging related in the form of improving my overall blog and my photography skills. I have to say I definitely got more into the whole blogging thing this year and comparing my earlier posts to now there is such a big difference. My photography has definitely had a great upgrade, something you can tell from just comparing this post with last years. I also received so many nice comments regarding my photos so thank you, it really means a lot! In terms of my overall blog, I went through a bit of a blog redesign back a few months ago and it was the best thing I ever did. I am now so much happier with the way my blog looks! I also started to change the type of blog posts I did slightly and I am much happier with that than doing single reviews after reviews. I am definitely happy with how much I’ve achieved this goal!

The last two were more personal goals. The first being improving my skincare routine. Despite being a beauty blog, I’ve not really spoke a lot about skincare pretty much because I always felt a bit lost and never had much of a routine. That has definitely changed this year and skincare has became such an importance to me. I am still figuring out my exact routine but I have pretty much nearly nailed it and my skin has never looked better! I also hoped to embrace my wild hair more, this is something I still need to work on though as my hair is still causing me bother. I am sure I will get there, one day!

So basically, it was a bit of a mix but I am pretty happy with how my year went. Also, not mentioned in the goals post but I also passed my driving test this year which obviously was a major achievement for me! As well as that I also got a job so achieving both was a major accomplishment! So onto 2016…

2016 Goals

Continue to improve my blog – Following on from last year’s goal I want to continue to make progress blogging. I want to continue working on my photography, my blogging style and growing my blog. Like I said last year I also need to get more involved and connect with more people out there in the blogging world!
Get into a more healthier lifestyle – Again another one from last year although I really need to work on this one. I hope to get into a more regular fitness routine by incorporating more yoga into my day to day routine and also starting to get into cardio again and possibly even running come Summer time!
Clear out and Invest – My wardrobe is still something I am working on and I hope to basically have my dream wardrobe this year. I have really took to clearing out over the past year and I now want to really cut out all the unwanted clothes in my wardrobe. By having a clear wardrobe, I want to build my perfect wardrobe by picking up some classic investment pieces. Sounds like a dream but a dream I am working on!
Save regularly – I do like getting quite spendy especially when it comes to beauty products! Although over the last month I have started to properly save by putting money aside for a rainy day! I want to be a lot more stricter with my spending by giving myself a budget each month and regularly putting money away. This way I won’t feel too guilty when I do start spending!

What are your 2016 goals?

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