2020 has hit like a tonne of bricks, new year, new decade and new aspirations. January can be  a hard month for many, so that’s why I think it’s important to have some positive goals or aspirations in mind for the year ahead. Try to avoid the word “resolution” as this can be somewhat intimidating and can feel unachievable at times. These are my 2020 aspirations and ones that I think are very achievable for many. 

Reflect

Instead of just leaving 2019 in the past, I want to reflect on all the good and bad from the year gone. Be proud of my own accomplishments, education, career success or even handling my own mental wellbeing. I learned a lot about myself, some things I’m not happy with, and some that make me proud to be who I am, and all should be remembered and taken into 2020 as lessons.

Read

Reading, for me, is so relaxing and inspiring. Whether you read fiction or non-fiction, it really opens up a lot for you and can make you think a lot about your own life. Marian Keyes is my fave author at the minute and I’m already speeding on to read a second book of hers. It’s great to take your eyes off a screen for a short time, especially before bed, and can take your mind off the real world. 

Yoga and Mindfulness

I tried Yoga a few times but have never really gotten stuck in and made a routine of it. I once did bikram yoga (hot yoga), and that was a disaster as I nearly passed out 10 minutes in, oops! So I’m going to start again with some regular beginners level yoga. I want to work on being more mindful and I’ve heard that yoga is great for this and can really help with stress and anxiety. 

Eat Less Meat

The term “flexitarian” was recently introduced to me, which I absolutely love. I tried to go fully vegetarian and just found it too hard as I love ALL food and can’t say no to any of it! So I am making a conscious effort to only eat vegetarian/pescatarian meals Monday to Friday and be less strict at the weekends and special occasions. Try not to label yourself but just be conscious of your decisions and it will become much easier to reduce your meat intake. 

Spend Time with Friends

Since leaving college it has become harder to see my friends on a regular basis. We were so used to living in each others pockets and spending every day with each other so now that we’ve all spread out for work and further education, it’s difficult! It’s fun to come up with new mate date ideas and when we do meet up it’s all the better as we have so much to catch up on. I’m going to try extra hard to visit friends living further away and make more of an effort to keep in touch. If there’s anything I’ve learned in 2019 (and even the beginning of 2020), it’s that good friends will get you through the toughest times.

Be a Conscious Consumer

I wrote about this in my secondhand September post and want to make even more of an effort to be a conscious consumer in 2020. I will admit, I’m a shopaholic, so it’s hard for me to resist the urge when strolling around Penneys or Zara, but I’m going to try limit my purchases to only the essentials. I need to learn the tricks of chazza and vintage shopping because I’m so jealous of the stuff my friends find and it’s a lot better for the environment than buying new clothes. I also want to donate the heaps of clothes I don’t wear to charity shops.   

Enjoy Myself!

I sometimes get so caught up with the small stuff that I forget to just enjoy life and make the most of every moment. Life is so fast paced at times that it’s hard to step back and relax. I’m sick of crying over missed opportunities, failed relationships and the opinions of others. Everything happens for a reason and being sad will only hold me back. Life is lovely and I need to remind myself of that every day. 

So much has changed for me in the past 12 months, and continues to change! I’m so excited to see where life takes me, and if I can achieve even some of these aspirations I will be very happy.