The 2019 Goals Update

Since it’s the last day of 2019 – heck, the last day of the decade, I thought it was probably time to look at my 2019 New Year Goals again and see how I have fared. I mean, let’s just say that I didn’t do brilliantly! For me, along with many others I expect, 2019 has been a tricky year. There have been some brilliant ups and there have also been some pretty devastating downs. 

I think the most defining moment of 2019 was when I eventually plucked up the courage to get help with my mental health. Admittedly, I should have done this far sooner, but you know how life is. I’ve tried to write about mental health a little more on my blog this year, as well as body confidence and accepting who you are. I kicked 2019 off with How To Be Confident and from there I published 3 Ways You Can Help An Overwhelmed Mum, my One For Sorrow Book Review – a children’s book focused on discussing/understanding mental health, and a few general chatty and anxiety chat posts. 

For 2019 I had two categories of goals and as I’m typing this, they’re all coming back to me. I’m starting to dread just how much I’ve not achieved. For all the things I haven’t quite managed to grasp this year, I know that I’ve somehow managed to achieve something else in its place. So here goes.

So firstly, my ‘real life’ goals – the simplified version:

1. Fix my body & lose the baby weight. I didn’t fix everything, but I started work towards losing baby weight. I started running and I lost a fair bit of weight. I kept a little series for a few months detailing my fitness journey but since the end of October, I’ve not really done much worth talking about. It’s definitely a goal that’s going to find its way onto my 2020 New Year Goals. 
2. Pay off debts. I think I’ve done well on this – I am no longer in any debt, except for a personal family loan which I should be able to pay off in February. I’m pretty pleased with this and Mikey and I have been working hard to save money each month to work towards our goals.
3. Make £2000 on matched betting. Yep – no, that didn’t happen. I won £120 on a match betting casino offer and that was pretty much the extent of my profit. Well, actually, there was no profit as Profit Accumulator then took £140 out of my bank account to pay for another annual pass. So in fact, instead of making £2000, I lost £20. Oops. 
4. Say yes more – anxiety related. Hmm, I mean, I really tried to do this but it didn’t always work out the way I wanted. This year I famously had a panic attack in a pub loo and ended up back on antidepressants after 6 years of managing my anxiety and depression myself. So it’s swings and roundabouts I suppose. I said yes when I could, I freaked out a lot and I left. It’s not exactly a victory but it’s not a defeat either.
5. Stop chasing people. Ah, 2018 was a hard year and in 2019 I was determined to concentrate on the people in my life who deserve my friendship and stop chasing those who treated me like rubbish. Besides one tiny blip, I think I’ve done pretty well with this and I’m much happier for it. 

I don’t think I did too badly on the personal side of things. I lost weight, I get help with my mental health and I stopped chasing people who didn’t deserve the amount of respect I gave them. Money wise could have been better, but at least I’m debt free. Now onto the blogging side of things.

2019’s Blogging Goals – How did I do? 

1. Keep track of stats. Nope – fail. Next!
2. Monetise the blog. Aw hell yeahs, people. I have definitely made more than I made last year. In fact, I’ve earned enough this year that I have been able to pay more towards housing costs etc and still get all of us a few treats. Fingers crossed for an even more successful 2020.
3. Get a new header/logo. I was going to do this and I was saving money, researching fonts and styles and then, all of a sudden, the Pipdig scandal broke. All the money I’d saved for design was spent on getting rid of my old Pipdig theme and finding a new theme that wasn’t riddled with suspicious coding. Maybe 2020 will be the year of the rebrand?
4. Create business cards. No, this didn’t happen either. I want a new logo etc before I commit to this so it’ll have to wait.
5. Network more. My plan was to go to BlogOn this year as it was hosted only up the road from me, but in the end, with my anxiety the way it was and fear of rejection/imposter syndrome hitting me hard, I completely wimped out. 

I mean, blog wise, nothing really went according to plan. I guess the most important thing is that it paid for itself and I made a profit – you can’t really ask more than that. I also worked on some really cool campaigns and invested in new photography equipment. I have a fairly good idea of blog related goals for 2020, I’m just trying to prioritise what I want doing and then I can go from there.

How did I do overall?

So maybe 2019 didn’t go as badly as I expected it to. It seems that, money wise, I’ve done relatively well – at least, better than in recent years. I almost feel like a proper functioning member of society, rather than a woman who’s sat in her bed wearing a dressing gown. Hey, I said almost! 

Anyway, it looks like even though my year has been hectic, it hasn’t been too bad. And for all the things I may not have done correctly, or messed up, there’s a whole list of things I’m really proud of myself for achieving. 

I’ve got a really good feeling about 2020; there’s something so refreshing about a new year. I can’t wait to summarise my goals for 2020, I’ve got a good idea of what I want to achieve and I’m really hoping that I can stick to them! 

Check back in January if you’re interested in being a little nosy and diving into my life! Did you set yourself any goals or resolutions for 2019? How have you done so far? Don’t forget you’ve still got a few more weeks left of the year – of the Decade even – so you’ve still got time! Let me know in the comments, I’d love to see how you’re doing.