Personal Development

19 Priorities for 2019 Pt. 2

December 31, 2018

If you are reading this the day it was posted then you know that today is the last day of 2018. What a perfect day to finalize the intentions and priorities we want to focus on in the new year. Before you start sipping champagne and counting down to the new year later tonight, check out part one of this post if you haven’t already, and join me as we conclude the list.

10. Practice your skills: always strive to be the best you can be

I don’t think anyone enjoys being stuck and not having a way to advance. The way to advance in your life, whether it be in a career, a goal you are reaching for, etc., you need to always strive to be the best you can be. In most situations that means improving the skills you already have, or maybe even learning some new ones. For me this year I want to focus on my writing, hand lettering, design, and social media skills. These are both for hobby and career reasons. I’m excited to keep learning and practicing these skills. What hobbies and skills will you be making a priority for 2019?

11. Think back and be grateful for everything you have learned

It’s easy to focus on the negative when you are in a particularly tough season in life. But have you taken a step back to examine what you are learning in this season? It is important to find something to be grateful in every season we experience. If you are experiencing success be grateful for that blessing and how hard you worked to achieve it. When you aren’t in the greatest place be grateful for the lessons you have learned and what this season has been able to do for you.

Right now I am in a low season right now in many areas of my life. What this has enabled me to do is spend more time bettering my health and assess what I want in my life. For that I am grateful because I know I’ll be prepared for what comes next.

12. Train for something

In college I did my first ever Color Run. While I never pictured myself doing a 5k, it was a lot of fun! I trained some before but looking back I wish I would have done more so I was more prepared. I believe training for something is a great thing to do during a weight loss journey. It gives you a goal to focus on that isn’t a number. Have you trained for a race or another type of event? What was your experience like? Let me know in the comments!

13. Give to a charity/volunteer more often

When I was in college I volunteered for a few nonprofits throughout those years. I enjoyed my experience and loved impacting other people. I think to myself now that if I could find the time to play an active role in those organizations back then on top of my busy schedule, why am I not involved in volunteer organization now that I have more time?

This is an area I want to focus on this year as well. Have you been wanting to donate your time and/or money to an organization but don’t know where to start? Here are some ways to get started:

● Start by doing a simple Google search to get some ideas. Your search can look anything like “volunteer opportunities in my town” or “top 100 charities to give to” Even typing something as simple as “nonprofit” will give you a wealth of information to get started with.

● Figure out what cause you are passionate about. Do you love kids? Consider sponsoring a child. Do you like being hands on, building stuff? Check out Habitat for Humanity. Are you passionate about the medical field? Research organizations that help provide medical research, families of sick children, etc. There really is something for everyone to connect with.

● Once you have a list of organizations you may be interested in do some research on each one. If you are donating your money, find out exactly how your money will be impacting the organization. If you are volunteering your time find out if there is a local chapter or business in your area in need of volunteers.

● Then all there is left to do is pick an organization, or, if you are able to, more than one organization. Contact someone to get more information about how to start getting involved.

14. Learn to love yourself for everything you are and not hate yourself for everything you are not

For me, this will be a huge priority for 2019. Self-acceptance is something that doesn’t come easy to me. I don’t know if you can relate or not but I spend so much time focusing on the traits and accomplishments that I lack. This leads me feeling exhausted, inadequate, and hopeless. No wonder I have low self-esteem.

From what I understand, a good first step to loving yourself is to say positive affirmations daily. Check out my experience with my 30-day affirmation challenge to see what I learned.

15. Make your health a priority

This can many things, for me it’s weight loss. Basically, I want you to think of some healthy habits that you have been wanting to have but haven’t made it a priority yet. Getting 8-9 hours of sleep, going to regular checkups, quitting a bad habit like smoking or drinking too much soda, eating more fruits and vegetables, and even journaling in the mornings are great places to start. Whatever you can do to improve your physical and/or mental health is what you should focus on now.

I believe our 20s are the best time to get these good health habits down because this is the time we are making transitions and starting our adult life. When you If you are not in your 20s I’m not saying you can’t start now at whatever your age is. Any time in your life is a good time to make your health a priority.

16. Find a job or a side hustle that gets you excited

You know that saying “if you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life,” well I 100% agree with that statement. I may not be at my dream job right now, but I’ve experienced that joy in my internships I had in the past. During this time I want to make sure I am staying proactive with the skills and industry that brings me joy, which is one of the reasons why I decided to create this blog.

I say all this to tell you that it’s important to find joy in what you do. Whether that is your job or a side hustle, one of those should bring you joy. If it doesn’t you need to go after something that does.

17. Stop the comparison game

Comparison truly is the thief of joy. I don’t know how often you compare yourself to others, but I know that everyone has done it at some point in their lives. I could probably win a trophy if comparison was a sport. It’s time to forfeit this game we all play though. I plan to devote a lot of time to this in 2019 and here is how I plan to do it.

● Take regular social media breaks: It seems like a lot of the talk around comparison stems from social media. Social media can be a great tool to connect to others; but when you have trouble connecting to people it can be hard to scroll through a feed where you see everyone else connecting with each other. I’ve taken a day or two to unplug a few times this year. It was refreshing and helpful, so I want to do it at least once every month next year.

● List what I like about myself/my life regularly: It’s so easy for me to point out what I like about other people, and their lives always seem more exciting than mine, but when it comes to me it is much harder. To reverse this I want to spend more time reflecting in the hopes that it will get easier.

18. Learn to do more adult things: like taxes, home repairs, etc.

This really needs no explanation. There are a lot of things you don’t learn a lot in school, like taxes, steps to having a great credit score, etc. I have started to learn more adulting things through resesrching it online. This year a goal of mine is to not only learn more in these areas but to put what I learn into practice. Then I feel like I can really call myself an adult.

19. Be happy: love who you are and where you are right now

This kind of goes back to numbers 14 and 17. I have found that it is really important to love yourself before anyone else. If you don’t you’ll be searching for that love and approval from someone else and that will never be enough. You may not be in the best place right now with yourself or your surrondings, but you get to choose how you want to to respond. For me I am choosing joy. If I go through this journey choosing joy my hope is that my life will turn around. My goal is that I’ll get to a place where I no longer have to choose joy, or choose to love myself, it will just be how it is. I learned a lot of this from the book You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero.

So there you have it, Here are my top Priorities for 2019. I’ve got a good feeling about this year and I can’t wait to see how it turns out. I’d love to know your goals and priorities for 2019. Tell me in the comments or connect with me on Instagram.

19 Priorities for 2019 Pt. 2

10. Practice your skills: always strive to be the best you can be