Wowza! December already, huh? I think most of us are wondering where the heck 2015 went. Has this not been the quickest year known to man? In order to appreciate every last ounce of 2015, I’m using the month of December to start reflecting on what I’ve accomplished throughout the year, as well as start thinking about how I can make 2016 even better.
Lots of wonderful things have happened throughout 2015, including moving in with my bae and growing this little blog o’ mine (and getting to meet some awesome peeps in the process). But I would describe 2015 as calm. Nothing particularly exciting has happened, and I’m ready to start making some big changes in 2016.
I want to figure out the direction I’m taking my blog, travel as much as I can because I did zero traveling this year, and start preparing for the transition down a new career path. How was your 2015? What are you planning for 2016?
A question for you!
I’ve been posting these monthly goals for an entire year now, and I receive tons of awesome feedback from them – BUT I’m wondering if you want me to keep posting them next year as well. I don’t want to post them if you don’t think it’s worth it! Another option would be sending them out to email subscribers at the beginning of each month. Let me know what you think by answering this little poll.
Thanks for your help. You da best! Now before we get into my goals for December, let’s do a little recap of my November goals!
NOVEMBER GOALS RECAP
1. Get up when my alarm goes off.
There were days where I really really really wanted to stay in bed because it was freakin’ cold in the morning and bed is just so warm, but there were other days when I gave myself a stern talking to and got up right away. Despite not being 100% successful (not like I was expecting that to happen), I did have a mini-epiphany about mornings and how to make them suck less, and I will share that with you soon!
2. Squeeze in at least 10 minutes of exercise each day.
Again, I can’t say I was perfect with this but I exercised more days this month than I usually do! Knowing I only had to exercise for 10 minutes made me so much more likely to do it. Some days I went to the gym for 30 minutes, others I just went for a walk on my lunch break, and occasionally I just turned on Spotify and danced around my bedroom for a few songs (you know you do it too).
3. Host a scope!
Yeah…no. I basically talked myself out of this one because I’m silly, but I realized earlier on in the month that I was trying to do too many things at once and I didn’t think it was worth the unnecessary worry. I’ll do this eventually, I swear. But if you were really excited to see my face for some reason, one of my goals for December will satisfy that need for you ;)
MY TOP THREE GOALS FOR DECEMBER
1. Participate in Snapmas! (@theblissfulmind)
I came across this idea from Lily Pebbles and thought it was totally genius, especially because I’m a Snapchat addict. Basically I’ll be doing a little behind the scenes, follow-me-around type of thing every day of December via Snapchat. Not that I get up to anything particularly exciting, but sometimes it’s fun to see what people get up to in their day-to-day lives!
I’m thinking I can share tips about staying calm, productive, and healthy during the day, and just anything I think you might find helpful and/or interesting. So even though I didn’t host a Periscope, I can do mini videos on Snapchat. Just search for ‘theblissfulmind’ to add me!
2. Take a 30-day writing challenge.
I recently came across Kathy’s blog, and I was hooked from the moment I found this writing challenge (she also has an amazing goal planning workbook!). I know writing is the best way for me to de-stress and get things off my chest, but sometimes it’s really hard to just get started. Having daily prompts seems like a perfect strategy to get me writing without hesitation, and the questions are all about exploring what’s important to you, which I’m guessing will be a great way to reflect before the new year starts.
3. Read 20 pages every day.
I’ve been majorly slacking on reading lately, despite having a dozen books checked out from the library. I think part of it has been the lack of a good fiction book – I have plenty of non-fiction books to read, but sometimes you need to take a break from learning and let yourself get sucked into a really good story. Please leave me any book recommendations you have in the comments! Reading and writing are two of my favorite things in the world, so I figured I should end the year on a good note by keeping them high on my priority list!
What are your goals for December?
21 Responses
Hi Catherine! I’m so happy to read that you’ve been enjoying the journaling challenge from my site! I love your site as well! So cool to have found one another! Best to you! Kathy
Thank you, Kathy! I’m excited to start the challenge tonight! xx
Love seeing others goals! I just posted our goals today as well. I definitely want to start reading more I have a ton of books just waiting to be read! I just finished Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. SO GOOD. I also want to do the writing challenge, i’ve been wanting to write a book for some odd reason just for fun! Maybe ill do both of those goals with ya :)
I’ve been hearing so much good stuff about Big Magic, so I think I need to add that to my list! Ooh cool, writing a book would be a fun thing to work on – go for it! xx
For some reason, I love reading this kind of posts! I’m always setting goals for myself so I guess that’s one of the reasons why I find them so interesting. Yay for you doing Snapmas, it’s also one of my favorite social media apps at the moment and I can’t believe it took me so long to download it. I’m already following you, btw :) And I want to do the writing challenge, as well – maybe I will give it a go this december! Good luck, Catherine and happy december! :) x
Thank you, Joana! I think the consensus is that I should keep posting my goals haha. Hope you have a lovely December as well xx
I love reading your goal posts, don’t stop them!~
Thanks, Anna! <3
Oh snap, I’m taking your first November goal and making it one of my December goals. I have a terrible terrible habit of staying in bed after my alarm goes off, and then I feel bad for staying in bed because I’ve wasted time I could have spent being more productive. But I wont start tomorrow, because it’s 1 AM right now. I’ll try and go to bed early tomorrow so that I can wake up and get out of bed when my alarm goes off on Wednesday morning. Love your goals, keep sharing.
It’s such a cycle: you need to go to bed early in order to wake up early…but both of those things are so hard haha. I think it’s all about finding something that motivates you to get up in the mornings (which is always easier said than done). Thanks for your support, Tega!
You’re welcome Catherine! It’s no hardship, I love your blog.
You’re most welcome Catherine.
Can’t wait to read what you have to say about making mornings more manageable – I have the hardest time getting up!
Coming soon, I promise! Just gotta make sure I try following my own advice first hehe
I love your goals. I’ll be ready and waiting whenever you follow through on your Periscope goal! I did my first scope just to see how it all works (seriously, I just pointed the camera at my 3-year-old and had NOTHING to say at all) but even though I had NO followers like 35 people tuned in. Oops! I plan on doing a writing challenge, too, but I think I’m going to do a letter writing campaign–It’s an idea I got from Alexandra Franzen, who also has some great prompts (write a love letter, a fan letter, etc.). I’m excited to dive in. I’m also working hard to grow my own blog (check it out at http://www.SpoiledYogi.com — my latest post might help you reach your next exercise goal!) I have tons of blogging goals, want to make some curtains for above my desk, meditate daily, AND make more meaningful connections and friends online. I hope you’ll be one of them because I’m a big fan of your work! xoxoxo
Haha I think I’m also afraid that no one will tune in, but that’s hilarious that so many did for you! I guess just because people see it based on location? Love the idea of a letter writing campaign (although I have to do that for my job and it definitely makes me not want to look at paper for a while lol). And thank you so much! I am going to have to set aside some time to read through your posts because I love everything about yoga! xx
I love reading your goals. Funny how our ‘goals’ actually matches sometimes :) I do believe we need to regather and reallign every month. Therefore every month of little goals checklist count. Please continue doing it dear :)
Real Life Nerd // http://www.vivienekok.com
Thank you, Viviene! I’m so glad to hear that these help people :) Definitely going to continue doing them
I love your goals as well! I’m in desperate need of some structure in my life at the moment, so it really inspires me :) Definitely plan some travel for next year – I’ll help you! x
PLEASE help me plan some traveling! I can’t decide where to go first haha. And also I need travel budgeting tips!
Seriously I’d love to! Travel planning is a massive passion of mine (I used to do it for a living)! Send me a message if you need help jennifer@simplyfiercely.com ?