2018 New Years Resolutions:

I LOVE New Year’s resolutions and I always make a lot. I try to achieve as many as possible but I have a few that seem to be coming up for the third time. The third time is the charm though right? I know I’m a little bit late getting these up on the blog but I think within the first week is still totally acceptable.

I try to make my goals tangible goals like “Drink 100oz of water per day” rather than “Drink more water”. Because, what is “more”? I try to make goals and resolutions specific. It brings more of a sense of accomplishment and actually helps me achieve more.

Resolutions 2018:

1. Practice Gratitude daily. (Write what I am grateful for each day in a gratitude journal.) I am a mega complainer and not only does that signal to the universe that I’m not grateful but it is also just a negative way to live. Complaining about small things has to stop. Every time I have the urge to complain, I’ll note one thing I am grateful for instead. I wrote a post about gratitude here and I have fallen out of the habit lately so I am really going to aim to focus on being grateful!
2. Workout Thrice Weekly. I have been working out twice a week for over a year now. I’m supposed to be doing cardio on my own but I don’t. So, for the first month, I’m scheduling three sessions a week with my trainer until I get into the habit of it.
3. Call my Family once a week. Sadly, I can go weeks, even months without calling my dad or grandparents. Let alone my cousins and friends. When I think about that, it makes me so sad. I want to call my Dad and my grandparents on both sides weekly. I’m going to schedule a time, every Tuesday evening, to go to the gym, get on the Stairmaster, and call someone. I know they won’t be around forever and I want them to know how much they mean to me while I have the chance.
4. Get Licensed as a Cosmetologist. Y’all know I am in hair school and I’m going five days a week. I have missed a lot of school for our travels. So, this month I’m at school from 9am to 10pm with a break from 3pm-6pm. It’s a LOT. But, I have this goal and I want to achieve it. My goal is to be finished in June and I’d like to take the state board test in August. I have a busy fall season so I want to get it out of the way before then.
5. Travel to 11 new places. Travel is a big part of my life and goals each year. I believe we learn the most through travel so it’s so important for me to continue to explore. High on my list are The Bahamas, the lavender fields in the south of France, Tuscany, and Positano. You can see all my travel and travel goals here.
6. Write everything down. I have tried bullet journaling and I’m still trying to get the hang of it. I’d like to not be so scatterbrained. Writing all my youtube/blog ideas down is a good start. Also, keeping a calendar, being conscious of my to-do list, and crossing things off when I complete them will help too. I am also going to try time blocking for task completion. Let me know in the comments if you have any good suggestions!
7. Get Organized. I know when to delegate. This one will be me hiring a professional organizer to help me with my closet and office. Sometimes you need to ask for help so that’s just what I’ll do. I am actually really organized when everything has a place but doing the work to get it all set and organized and find a place for everything just seems like mission impossible to me. I know if I can get it all organized once, I can keep it like that, so that’s the plan!
8. Post WEEKLY videos on my Youtube Channel. I found an editor who will edit my videos and that was really the only thing prohibiting me from getting out videos on a regular basis. Again, delegate, delegate, delegate. Handing off tasks and relinquishing control is tough for a lot of creatives but if you want to grow, at some point you must realize you can’t do it all alone. Video is such a great platform and I like being able to talk to the camera and feel more personal with you, so please let me know what types of videos you want to see!
9. Get to Level 2 in French lessons. On September 1st, my friend Elizabeth is getting married in Tuscany Italy. On September 9th, my mom is getting married in California. So,  we’ll be heading to Europe to spend some time before the wedding. When we go, we’re planning to hit Paris, then Nice and make our way through Italy to Tuscany. By then, I’d like to at least be at level 2 in my French lessons. I am studying for FREE on Duolingo App.
10. Stop Sucking Delray. You all know how passionate I am about plastics and lately, especially plastic straws. I’d like to launch a “Stop Sucking Delray” campaign and get local bars and restaurants to display table tents (I’d provide) with literature about plastic impact etc. My main goal is to get these establishments to offer straws only on request. They’ll save money on straws and together we’ll make a huge difference while educating people to hopefully opt to go straw free even after leaving the restaurant/bar.
11. Don’t consume or buy anything with Palm Oil. Last year I learned about how palm oil was destroying the natural habitat of orangutans and causing mass genocide. Nutella is one of the largest consumers of Palm oil, sadly. I am checking all ingredients and tweeting to brands that use it to try to get them to change their ingredients. When I was in Bali, I learned that they actually call the trees “American Oil Palm Trees” because we are so known for harvesting them for their oil. It’s pretty sad and another example of pollution for profit.

2017 Achievements:

1. Reduced my consumption of Single-use plastics. This was a big one for me. I think I only bought a single use water bottle like a handful of times in 2017. When I was traveling, I brought my reusable water bottle everywhere. All nice hotels and resorts will have filtered water available. Usually, you can find a pitcher available at the breakfast buffet or in the lobby and fill up for the day. This year I am planning to also use reusable containers for bulk groceries like nuts, coffee, oatmeal etc. We are also ditching plastic wrap and opting for beeswax reusable food wraps that are even biodegradable. Here is a great video that will help you go use less plastic waste.
2. Reached over 100k on Instagram. Did this with the help of Loop giveaways. This year I am going to focus on growing with the help of youtube to boost my engagement. I will also be launching regular giveaways so find out how to enter Kier Couture Giveaways! (Right now the prize is $500 in beauty products.)
3. Launched Kier Couture Store. I did launch Kier Couture Store and made a handful of sales. I want to continue to grow my product line and shift to Etsy so I can offer affiliate commissions to other bloggers.
4. Finished High School. This was a big one for me because I honestly always wrote it off like it wasn’t important but I wanted to go to Cosmetology school and I needed to finish so I did! Read about that here.
5. Enrolled in Cosmetology School. I have always wanted to do hair. My plan was to just go to hair school right out of high school, but I went to LA instead to be “famous.” Now that I have some stability and the means to go, I enrolled. I am pretty proud of myself for seeing it through and like I mentioned above, I want to get licensed this year.
6. Faced my biggest fear. I am honestly terrified of swings. This year I faced that fear and went on the Bali Swing for good photos. It was horrible haha. I almost got diahrea- like for real and chickened out. I was extremely nervous but I wanted to get that shot and I knew my fear was illogical. It worked out and we got amazing pics!
7. Traveled to five new countries. I don’t know if this is an “achievement” but I did cross off a few more locations from the list. I was lucky to visit Cuba with Michelle in March, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia in September and October and Finally Belize for Christmas.
8. Best Shape of my life. This was the year I finally slimmed down and hit some fitness milestones. I’ve been thin before, but I’ve never really been “fit”. This year I did more box jumps, burpees, and man-makers than I ever thought possible. Before 2017 I didn’t even know what a man-maker was. I actually got some abs too! See the “gimmicks” I used to help supplement my routine here.

Summary:

All in all, I think 2017 was a fantastic year of growth for me and a huge stepping stone in the right direction for long-term goals. If you didn’t have the best or most productive year, that’s okay. 2018 is 365 new opportunities to make your life better.

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