So following on from my last post about looking back on the previous year, it’s time to start looking forward. I’ve always said I’m not really into New Year’s Resolutions. I just think trying to accomplish way too much in a very short space of time without any real plan of action beyond sheer willpower will just never work. However, setting long-term goals is always a good idea and working towards something more tangible and accomplishing those things feels pretty damn good.

Plus, I have this massive feeling of accountability writing it all down. I always enjoy looking at other people’s goals so thought you might like to hear mine. But before we get to that, we gotta talk accountability. Last year, I listed out my goals for the year so the first thing I want to do was see if I accomplished my goals of 2017 – ACK! Let’s have a quick look…

2017 Year Goals

2017 Personal Goals – How did I do?

My collaborative summer cocktails post with Amara and Newby Teas.

1. Improve my video content – Still in Progress – I wanted to create a video a month in January last year and improve the quality of my videos so it’s a bit of a fail on the numbers goal. However, I did create 3 videos (monthly videos proved just a bit too much for my schedule!) but not so sure if the quality was that much better than previous attempts! I am feeling a bit more confident now and just want to keep on improving so perhaps 2018 is the year I actually nail it! What I did manage, however, is to really get into Instagram Stories which I love. So I am creating video content (sort of!), just not as much on YouTube as I would have liked!
2. Team Up with Great Sponsors – Check! – I was so happy to team up with a few really fantastic brands including Amara and Newby Teas, Sweetpea & Willow, Bonadea, West Elm, Oak Furniture Land, Venus Flowers and so many others over the last year so I’m going to say that was pretty much a success. I’m still saying no to those things that aren’t the right fit and I want to be really proud of any sponsored content that I create. And well, I am. So I’m calling that a success.
3. Get Back Into Healthy Habits – Almost Nearly a Fail! – Well, I did pretty crap on the healthy habits front but in November, we did the Whole30 again and while Christmas is always more difficult, I’m feeling very renewed to feel good again. We are doing a short version of Whole30 over the next week (basically instead of a whole month, we are doing 9 days) to kick us back into the new year, with some much better habits going forward.
4. Collaborate More with Other Bloggers – Still in Progress – Well, I enjoyed hosting the UK Blog Hop again this Summer, teaming up with an incredible 26 other bloggers to share our summer style with you. I also did a guest post on one of my favourite blogs, Mad About the House and interviewed Karen of Making Spaces for my own blog on what really happens when you hire an Interior Designer. There are so many more I’d love to collaborate with so I’d love to do more like this in the coming year – it’s a work in progress!

2017 House Goals – How did I do?

A bit of vintage glam I added to my home this year.

I talked about what we accomplished in the house in my last post so I won’t repeat myself but I’m pleased to check off almost everything on that list!

1. Create a Sexy Man Cave – Check! 
2. Finish the Hallway – Check! 
3. Finish the Floors in the Bedroom – Check! 
4. Buy More Vintage – Not Great! – To be honest, I didn’t need a lot of things for my house last year but I did manage to bag this incredible vintage brass and glass shelving unit for my office from the lovely Nadia of Preciously Me. Once we move, I’ll be on the lookout for a few new things so I hope to improve on this one next year.

2018 – House Goals

Normally on these posts, I talk about the house and all the things we have yet to accomplish – I mean, it took us 7 and a half years to get our house to some kind of ‘finished’ state so every year, we had goals and rooms we wanted to concentrate on. While this year will definitely have A LOT of projects that need doing, it’s a little more difficult for me to plan out seeing as we haven’t yet moved into our new home (and consequently, our next project) yet!

What’s inspiring me in kitchen design right now: High Road House in Chiswick London, designed by Alexander Waterworth Interiors

However, I will reveal a few things that we are planning on in our next home – a small extension, moving and fully designing a kitchen from scratch, removing walls and rejigging an entire downstairs layout as well as laying new flooring throughout. HOLY CRAP. But I’m probably getting ahead of myself. The new (well, old – it was built in the late 1880’s we think!) house is actually in pretty good condition. The bedrooms just need redecorating and the living room is pretty liveable as is well so we’ll be concentrating on reworking the layout of the kitchen and dining room first – it’s a pretty big project and we hope to complete that part at least by the end of the year.

Of course, once we move in, I’ll do a full tour (and quite possibly a video!) so you can see exactly what we’re working with and it’ll be the start of a good few years’ worth of work! Eeek! I can’t wait. So I suppose my very first goal is just to MOVE. As I’ve said before, buying and selling in the UK is a bit of a fragile endeavour but so far, things have gone smoothly and we are hoping to be in around February sometime, all going well. And then this project can begin!

2018 – Personal Goals

Get Out From Behind the Camera More – I still feel incredibly self-conscious posing in front of a camera for the blog but one thing that’s always been important to me is that you see Swoon Worthy as not just a blog but as a real live person who isn’t too much different from you, just doing the best I can. So one of my goals is to get out from behind the camera a little more often – so, whether that’s for fashion, beauty or travel, get used to seeing this face! Ha!

Improve my video content – I’m gonna whack this one on again from last year because I feel like I still have so much to improve on when it comes to video. I genuinely still have no clue what I’m doing but it’s all a learning curve!

My North West Blogging Crew from L-R, Top to Bottom: Karen Barlow, Me, Karen from Well I Guess This is Growing Up, Kate from Fabric of My Life, Susie from Old Fashioned Susie and Antonia from #TidyLife. These girls have been so lovely and supportive over the years!

Get To Know Bloggers in the Midlands – With an upcoming move to a new area, I’m keen to get to know bloggers in the Midlands, perhaps join a few groups or attend events in Birmingham. So if you or anyone you know is a blogger in the Shropshire area or Birmingham regions, let me know! I have such a lovely little group of bloggers from the Northwest (that gorgeous group seen above) and I’d love to find more of the same locally to where I’ll be.

Take at least one full weekend a month off – Now this is a bit of a tough one. I’ve been trying for ages to successfully work just 5 days a week rather than 6 but well, I’ve not quite cracked it yet. I’m hoping to look at where my bottlenecks are, figure out what I can do to improve my efficiency and get at the very least 1 full weekend off a month that I can look forward to and not stress about!

Reach 100k visitors to my blog a month and hit 20k followers on Instagram – these are more just blog/social goals and while I’m fully aware that numbers aren’t everything in the grand scheme of things, they are just little milestones that I would be so happy to reach this year.

So that’s really everything I’ve got to look forward to and strive for in the coming year. What goals have you been making for 2018? Let me know in the comments!