An Uncomplicated Life Blog: 2018 Word Of The Year and Goals

Thursday, January 4, 2018

2018 Word Of The Year and Goals

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Taking a minute to set up my 2018 for success!


Welcome to 2018! Who else is excited that the holidays are over and is ready to get back into their regular routine? *raises hand* In April of this year, I'll have been blogging for four years. That's crazy to me. Normally, two or so years into a job and I'm bored silly. Usually I spend my spare time looking for a different job. But four years have gone by in an instant as a blogger! Sure, there are the mundane tasks like promotion threads and bookkeeping. Every job on earth has those daily mundane tasks! But by and large, this job has been the best fit I've ever had. Cheers to 2018, a new word for a new year as the guiding principle and some goals. It's funny; I wrote almost this whole post and then deleted it all. I had a totally different direction I was going to take and then, after my gut had gnawed at me for a solid half hour, I thought nope! No Paige, don't do it. Don't sit here and lie about things. Be honest in this goal setting and word guidance. So that's exactly what I'm doing. Read on to reveal more about the lies I wanted to tell myself!


Word of the year: Sustainability
The first word I chose this year was NOT sustainability. It was initiative. Like I was going to harness some serious driving force and become the next Huff Post... While I love the word initiative and plan on taking initiative in 2018, it can't be my guiding word. While every other blogger is spitting at you, "I have so many amazing projects in the works!" and while a limited few might hold themselves to the deadlines on those projects, the reality is that you'll end up seeing this: "Well, life got in the way of me reaching the goals I had for this blog" or "Hey, I haven't blogged in 6 months, any followers still there?!"

The reality is what my husband, who's in sales, preaches EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. "Under-promise and over-deliver." (Honey, if you're reading this, you read that right. I'm actually saying you're RIGHT!) That, my friends, is how you build a successful business. I'm not going to say I'm going to build a shop that you can shop from, or launch an e course or redesign my site. Nope, I'm just planning on staying the course this year. A solid mix of lifestyle, gardening, parenting, recipes, DIY and sponsored content delivered to you on Mondays and Thursdays. That I know I can do. Launch a shop and discover world blogging peace, not so much. Maybe something will happen where I can up my posts to three days a week - who knows - but it won't be less than 2 days a week and it will be a well rounded concept of lifestyle content. Anything beyond that will strictly be a bonus for me and this site.

2018 Goals - Blog
- Photography: My professional photog sister recommended a wide angle lens for my Canon EOS Rebel T6 DLSR camera. I have the 50mm lens and the lens the camera came with (never use that one). I love the 50mm but it's always soooo zoomed in that it can really make taking photos challenging. This lens was a whopping $129 and I'll be able to get bigger shots. Which is cool because I want to improve my photography big time this year! If I can find a local class or a blog conference that has a special photography unit, consider me signed up. I look back at the photos I took in my first 6 months of having a DSLR and what I produce now, and it's night and day. I'm excited to see how my skills grow this year.

Some of the first DSLR photos I shot in manual mode (barely in focus and awkward angles):


- Make social media more personal: I started about halfway through 2017, but will continue on my "let's make social media fun and actually SOCIAL again" crusade. That means #realtalks on Instagram Stories, unedited candid photos on my Instagram (even though they are shot with my fancy camera - nothing is staged!), and good, relateable content shared to my Facebook page. I'm exhausted with bloggers who are always happy, always chipper about motherhood, always placing flower crowns on their and their children's heads for damn photos (seriously, 2017 was the year of the over-used f'ing flower crown, amirite?!)

Want in on that goodness? Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter and let's get social!

2018 Goals - Personal 
- Grow some of our own food: I started a veggie garden in October of 2017 and we ate arugula and mustard greens. My herb garden was actually attended to and provided us with all the basil, sage, rosemary, mint, thyme and parsley we needed all year long! As I write this, the root veggies are still in the soil, and I hope to harvest them in a few months and turn the garden over into "summer" veggies - varieties that can take our intense heat. The boys love helping me plant and water and I think it's important to teach them where food comes from, especially since we're urban dwellers - it's so easy to get disconnected from our food sources. It will be interesting to see what it's like to garden when it's 110 outside by mid-morning... I'll just take it as it comes!

Some photos I took this past summer/fall, after I got better with the DSLR:


- Read a book a month: This is actually "sustaining" (see what I did there) from 2017. I started to read for fun again, and it's made SUCH a difference in my happiness and creativity! The other day I wasn't feeling well so I decided to hang out on the couch and watch The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Holy crap, I watched two and a half episodes and lost about 20 IQ points! When I read before bed, I sleep better and wake up in a better mood. My brain is stimulated and I feel like a more well rounded person. I read 8 books in 2017 and don't think 12 should be a problem to complete this year.

I know, a whopping two goals for this blog and for me personally. But I really think people "over-goal" themselves, then feel like a failure when they don't meet those goals. Or they're so busy hustling to make things happen that they forget to enjoy themselves and take time each and every day to just simply BE and enjoy the moment. I don't want to over-schedule or over commit myself in 2018. I want to stay active on this space, enjoy the posts I write and the photographs I take, and enjoy my life overall. 

12 comments:

  1. I love you’re word of the year. Blogging is so much fun, but sometimes it can be draining. Sometimes you feel uninspired. So when you over promise, like you said, you let yourself and everyone down. There is nothing wrong with sustaining!

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  2. I should really read more.
    I like that you chose sustainability. And I totally get the under-promise, over perform thing. Maybe that's why I stopped making promises last year? Hahaha. Anyway - you're killing it and you KNOW I love your veggie garden. Reading about it makes me want to plan mine RIGHT now (even though that's several months premature). We don't plan to go anywhere this summer so I bet I can take better care of it.

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  3. I totally agree that reading before bed is way better for me than watching TV. I really try to pick reading of TV, but sometimes it is hard! ha! I love the idea of making social media personal again since I hate social media right now since I cant curate my feed. lol

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  4. Your word of the year is great! I love it and I also like your mindset with your goals. My word of the year is "Grow". Thanks for sharing!

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  5. Good luck on your gardening! My mom grows her own vegetables so I know that takes a lot of work!

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  6. I would love to start reading more. I also love your word of the year. Good luck with all your goals.

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  7. Two goals...is plenty! I think you are right sometimes we over promise to ourselves and then feel the let down when we fail to meet those goals. Simpicity is key. I also love your word. Mine happens to be brave. I'm a total introvert and a blogger. I'm showing my brave side by letting the world in to my world. Good luck!

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  8. I love your word of the year and the reasoning behind it. I've been using the word "sustainable" a lot lately when talking about my fitness goals...thanks for the inspo! xo, Brittany | www.theblistblog.com

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