New Year, Who Dis?

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Happy 2017! I hope you all had a wonderful New Years and are enjoying the long weekend. I spent the holiday with my roommates and some close friends, and it was a relaxing start to the new year. I never managed to keep a New Year’s Resolution until 2013 when my sister challenged me to wear a different outfit, each day, for a year. That 365 day challenge helped kickstart the growth of Simply Audree Kate, and you can see it all here! The following years, I made a list of resolutions, and I managed to meet or exceed a majority of the goals. You can see my resolutions for 2015 and 2016 here.

Although I am extremely goal-oriented and thrive on the idea of working towards something, I looked back on my resolutions for 2016 and realized I needed to simplify my expectations for 2017. This past year I told myself that I would be selfish in 2016, and boy was it the best thing I did for myself, the blog, career, and life. I learned to say no, I invested in meaningful relationships and situations and said goodbye to the toxic ones, and I learned how to be on my own and appreciate “me time”. So yes, I did accomplish my 2016 resolutions, but when I reflected on the year, I realized that my list of 8 resolutions could be summed up and accomplished by the word, “selfish.” Now, I don’t mean selfish in a materialistic or frivolous manner, I took 2016 to focus on myself, my wants and wishes. It was my first time living away from family, I was out of school, single and I wanted to really meet adult Audree and soak that in.

This year, I have decided to choose one word for the year, versus a list of resolutions. The past few months, I have been seeing this trend become more and more popular online, and I think it’s a really great alternative for those non-resolution people, or a way to live your next year with full intention, versus aiming to check off a list of things you want to change about yourself. For 2017, my word will be focus.

This past year was a little chaotic for me, and I had little to no balance in my life. I was constantly trying to juggle everything, but just going through the motions. While I was at work, I would be thinking about what I needed to do for the blog, and while I was home blogging, I would be thinking about how I wasn’t at the gym, or an event, or having a social life. And if I was being social, I felt guilty for not working or answering an email. You see where I’m going with this? I couldn’t focus on one thing at a time. Something like a blog post, would take me forever to finish because I would get so distracted. I want to be focused this year, and put my full attention and heart into every aspect of my life – from work, to relationships, to my personal life. I want that peace of mind that I’m doing the best that I can do.

I know that there will never be the perfect work-life balance, and that things don’t always go as you plan, but my intention for 2017 is to be focused. I am really excited to change up my resolution for the new year, and I hope that next January, when I’m writing down my goals for 2018, I can confidently say that I was focused, lived with intent and had one heck of a year! Cheers to 2017, let’s do this! xo

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