Happy New Year! The years are flying by as I get older. 🙁 I hope 2017 treated you well! I like to reflect on “how I’m doing” frequently, but the beginning of a new year always feels like the best fresh start. It’s a good place to wrap things up and kick-off.
My word for 2017 was abundant because I wanted my abundance to overflow to others. I learned there is no limit to abundance and there is always an opportunity to do more. This quote from Jen Sincero is a good summary of what I learned about abundance this year.
“When we trust that we live in an abundant universe and allow ourselves to give freely, we raise our frequency, strengthen our faith, and feel awesome, thereby putting ourselves in flow and the position to receive abundant amounts in return. When we’re in fear, we hold on to what we’ve got because we don’t trust that there’s more. We pinch off the energy, we’re scared to share, and we focus on, and create more of, the very thing we’re hoping to avoid, which is lack. We live in a universe of give and receive, breathe and exhale, live and die, suck and awesome. Each side depends on the other, and each is relative to the other—every action has an equal and opposite reaction—so the more you give, the more you receive. And vice versa.”
My year involved a lot of eating, as my top nine Instagram photos above shows. I accomplished seven of my thirteen 2017 goals while I made a good dent on the ones I didn’t officially finish. With that, here’s a quick highlight reel of my year.
My 2017 in Review
- Hosted 12 parties, including Matcha Potluck Party, Cocktails and Appetizers, Pole Dancing Class, Aerial Class, 2nd Annual Crawfish Boil, Wine Tasting at Infinite Monkey Theorem, Galentine’s Party, Boyfriend’s Birthday Luau, Game Night, Miracle Fruit Party, 2nd Annual Shellfishapalooza, Cookie and Cake Decorating Party at Baked by Amy’s
- Ate at Apis, Juniper, Otoko, Pitchfork Pretty, and many, many other restaurants (2017 eating recap coming soon!)
- Stayed in 5 hotels, including Tin Valley Retro Rentals, Cocoview, and Hamanasi
- Took 14 flights
- Traveled to Nashville, Marfa, Big Bend National Park, Honduras, Disney World, and Belize
- Went to Sherwood Forest Faire, Float Fest, Busby Crawfish Boil, ACL Festival, BE Conference, Tiny Wardrobe Tour, and BlogathonATX
- Participated in the Women’s March
- Ate good food at (food events ->) Live Fire, CultureMap Tastemakers Awards, Austin Entertains, Pay It Forward, Texas Craft Brewers Festival, and Wine and Swine
- Ran the Austin Half-Marathon and 3M Half-Marathon to finish out the Austin Distance Challenge
- Partnered with Chocolaterie Tessa, Kellie’s Cookies, SoulCycle, PDQ, Captain Morgan, Enjoyful, and Tiny Pies
- Took a photography class
- Invested in a fancy, mirrorless camera
- Explored Austin by going to Hamilton Pool and Chicken Shit Bingo
- Visited 18 new-to-me breweries
- Volunteered by baking goods for Austin Bakes for Harvey, Austin Bakes for Natural Disasters, and Girls Empowerment Network
- Volunteered with Central Texas Food Bank and Urban Roots
- Tried bouldering, liked it!
- Celebrated my 30th birthday by going to Belize and enjoying lunch and dinner with friends
- Worked out 109 times, including lots and lots of spin classes
- Read 53 books
- Officially got my advanced open water scuba diving certification and got nitrox certified
- Logged 22 dives in Honduras and Belize
- Published 90 posts on Fearless Captivations
WHEW. Great stuff, right?! The stats are nice but there’s always the stuff you can’t quantify that mean so much more. Like becoming more comfortable in my own skin and getting clearer about how I want to support what I’m passionate about (local food, environment, giving back are some things). This includes growing my relationship and friendships. And finding clarity about what I want my life to look like and seeing examples of how we (the world) are all in this together.
Hello, 2018!
I’ve been thinking about what I want to accomplish in 2018 for a while. I think my last few years have encouraged me to cast my net wide and try many new things. This next year I want to go deeper into the things I enjoy. I think overall goals are about achieving happiness and living your best life every day.
I know I’ll be traveling, connecting with friends, and eating my heart out, so no need to make those easy goals. 😉 I don’t have one word picked out for the year but I know I want to make relationships, personal development, and giving back priorities. Overall I want to love harder, whether it’s being kinder to myself, doing my part in saving the environment, showing compassion to strangers, and being present with family and friends.
Here are a few of my goals for 2018:
- Journal daily gratitude
- Practice monthly with my camera
- Read 50 books
- Volunteer 24 hours
- Take a professional development or creative class every month
- Complete six craft projects
- Learn more about Chinese culture (not sure what this looks like yet)
- Finish the Spanish and Italian Duolingo programs
- Grow a garden
- Aim for zero food waste at home
- To make: black forest cake, bread pudding, kanom sai sai, Danish pastry
- Donate 5% of my income to charity
- Do yoga at least once a month
- Work out at least three times a week
- Make four new recipes monthly
- Meal plan weekly
- Collaborate with bloggers on two blog posts
- Do five in-depth food/culture blog posts (more info coming soon!)
I’m using a Passion Planner again this year to keep track of my progress. I love the format of the planner and the reflective pages after every month. How do you keep track of your goals?
I think it’s going to be a GREAT year, and I’m hoping for big things for you too!
What are some of your goals for 2018?
P.S. Curious about my past goals? Here are 2017, 2016, and 2015.
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