A Look Back At My 2015 Goals

This time last year I set myself some goals for 2015. Some were related to my blog, others to my writing and others were just general lifestyle aims. I'm actually just about to do the same thing for 2016, but before I start focusing on the new years goals I thought I'd share the progress I made with this round of goals!

BLOG

♥ Reach 300 Bloglovin' followers.

♥ Host a one year blog birthday giveaway.

♥ Have a header designed.

♥ Try my best to use all of my own photographs instead of using Pinterest.

♥ Host a guest post.

♥ Create features and maintain them.

♥ Go 100% Cruelty Free.

 

LIFE

♥ Paint my bedroom.

♥ Get my nose pierced.

♥ Get a tattoo when I'm one year free from self harm.

♥ Visit my nan more.

♥ Love my appearance, and stop talking about getting a nose job.

♥ Make more effort with my friends.

♥ Stay positive.

♥ Don't give up.

♥ Save, save, save!

♥ Explore the world - even if it's still in Bristol.

♥ Go to five events. (5/5)

♥ Make use of my Happy Jar.

♥ Spend more time with my brother.

♥ Try out yoga.

 

As you can see, I completely chopped the 'writing' goals out of this post and that was because I didn't achieve any of them. I did attempt NaNoWriMo but I lasted about three days. I hadn't thought about finishing my novel before then and I haven't thought about it since, so I feel like I'm going to stop pressuring myself to write in 2016 and to just see what happens. It's something that I enjoyed a lot when I was younger as I used it to escape my problems, but at this point I'm actually enjoying my life and don't need to escape from it. I'm seeing this as a good thing! 

 

I also totally smashed my blogging goals this year! I'm so surprised that I managed to achieve all of them. Reaching 300 Bloglovin' followers was something I genuinely thought was impossible, but I achieved it a few months ago and in a weird twist of fate I'm now a mere four followers away from 400! Using all of my own photos was something that was really important to me this year, and I can count on one hand the number of photos I've nabbed from Pinterest to use in my posts. I'm not counting my wish lists, gift guides and food inspiration posts in this, though! I feel like my photography in general has really stepped up through-out the year, too, and I'm hoping that I continue to improve next year.

 

The goals I'm proudest of completing are my lifestyle goals. On an emotional level, I feel I've achieved so much this year and as a result my responses to anxious thoughts are getting stronger and stronger. My attitude towards my body and appearance is also something that has changed a lot this year - I'm not as hard on myself as I used to be, and I've found certain things (like buying pretty bras that fit me properly) have really helped my confidence. I also got my nose pierced (YAY), although the tattoo hasn't happened. I still can't decide what I want done and until I'm 10000% sure I am not allowing someone to drag a needle across my skin. I've put more effort into maintaining friendships this year, which is unbelievably exhausting but rewarding and my relationship with my brother has grown hugely. I feel we really began to bond after a terrible, awful situation arose in February and he allowed me to help him through it. He's a bit of a dick sometimes, granted, but it's forgivable. Finally, I managed to attend five events! By events, I mean things that require a ticket to attend. I started off by seeing the Swan Lake ballet at the Hippodrome in January, then Luke and I went to watch Bristol Rugby play. In February my mum and I took the long trip to Cardiff and saw All Time Low perform live. Finally, fast-forward to the summer when I went to the Twilight opening of Bristol Zoo (which was the first time I'd visited since becoming cruelty-free and will probably be my last visit) and to the performance of Hetty Feather that I took my sister to watch at the Bristol Old Vic.

 

It's been a pretty productive year! I will definitely be taking some of these goals into 2016, especially the 'exploring the world' goal. I'm dying to visit Bath, Burnham, Weston, Portishead and Wales again next year. I also want to visit every single library in Bristol (wild). If you'd like to see what other wild, reckless things I have planned for 2016 then keep an eye out for my 2016 Goals post which will be going up sometime in the New Year!

 

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