How I’m Planning for 2019 - by Kelsey Boyanzhu

Happy New Year, Bagel Babes!

I can’t believe it’s already 2019 like holy shit where did the time go?!

But here we are, it’s another new year, and everyone is yammering on about their new year resolutions. I’ve made a vow with myself that I’m not really doing resolutions this year. I do have some goals I’ve set for myself, but all in all I really more just want to leave my year open to opportunity. I’m keeping things broad!

BUT that doesn’t mean I’m not PLANNING. The only way to accomplish goals is to break them down into steps. I wanted to take you guys through my process for setting goals and how I keep myself on track and organized!

How I set (and track towards) my goals!

Set SMART goals.

If you've been in corporate America for even like two seconds, you've probably heard of "SMART" goals. I'll leave a handy link where you can learn more here, but the long story short is that "SMART" is an acronym to help you remember the important components of setting a good goal. "SMART" goals are:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time bound

As you're setting goals for 2019, make sure you're ripping them through this checklist to ensure they're "SMART." Is your goal specific enough? If not, add detail. Can you actually measure your progress against your goal? Can you actually accomplish your goal? Is your goal relevant? When do you want to complete your goal by? Can you break it down into smaller timeline chunks?

I love a good "SMART" goal.

Get yourself a planner you love.

I am obsessed with my Erin Condren planner (I've written about it here before) and it makes me excited to plan. Seriously. I love sitting down at the beginning of every week and outlining my to-do's. It rocks.

The only way to accomplish your "SMART" goal is to map out how you'll get it done it over time. Find yourself a planner you love and you'll feel so motivated to check things off your list.

Schedule everything - including your “me time.”

Sometimes it's easy to forget to take care of yourself when you're marching towards your goals. I've made it a habit to schedule everything - including my "me time." Yes, I literally mark in my planner when I'm planning to have a bubble bath, LUSH bath bomb and all.

Trust me - block yourself out some time to do whatever it is that makes you warm and fuzzy on the inside. If you feel burnt out, you'll never accomplish your goal.

Make time to celebrate the wins.

And when you DO finally accomplish your goal - CELEBRATE IT.

I sometimes find myself like OKAY YES just finished that task or that goal, boom on to the next.

But like...why not celebrate? It's so important to take little moments to celebrate and acknowledge each little (and big!) win!

My 2019 aspirations...

Like I said, I'm avoiding "resolutions," but do have things I'd like to accomplish. More broad goals, if you will. Here's what I'm thinking...

★ GET MARRIED ★

AS YOU MAY KNOW, your girl is engaged. NBD.

Lolz but really, I just want to get married this year. I'm having fun wedding planning, but I'm just so excited to be married to my best friend. I'm trying to remind myself to slow down and enjoy this time being engaged, but I won't lie - I just can't wait for our big day!

★ Focus more on my blog content ★

I'll keep it real with ya'll, this goal initially said "grow my Instagram." And then I sat and thought about it...and I hate Instagram. I really do. I rarely leave a feed scrolling session feeling better about myself. Usually I feel inadequate and overwhelmed.

I also hate that my Instagram isn't really mine. Like Instagram could decide to shut down tomorrow and all the IG bloggers would be screwed.

So I'm planning to do the screwing first (lolz). I'll still be on IG - but I actually want to care less about it in 2019. I want to focus more on my blog content right here where I can give you all the best long form tips, tricks, and hacks you could ever want.

★ Schedule and execute 1 photo shoot a week ★

I was so inconsistent with photoshoots and filming videos in 2018 - I want to change that! I'm making a pretty strict goal with myself to have a shoot a week to be able to have plenty of amazing content to share with you guys.

★ Meal prep + exercise ★

I have more specific health and wellness goals for myself that I'd like to keep private, but overall I really do want to get better about scheduling my meal prep and exercise. I should honestly take my own advice and schedule everything.

That actually sounds like a solid plan. Maybe it makes sense to pick specific "work out days" and mark those in my planner!

★ Grow my business ★

And last but not least - I want to grow this business. I've had people ask me when I felt like my blog became "a thing" or "successful." I'm not sure about those terms - but I can tell you it really began to make money in 2018. While I did make a little extra cash in 2017, 2018 saw solid growth that I'd really like to continue in 2018.

My goal is to diversify. From sponsored posts, affiliate income, ad revenue, etc, I'd like to think about all the ways I can continue to pump out valuable content and maybe even one day make a living doing it.