Happy 2020 everyone, welcome to a new decade! 

So, it’s that time of year again where we’ve all stuffed ourselves full of chocolate and turkey and now tell ourselves we need to pull it together. Each year we make countless pacts with ourselves; lose the Christmas chub, do better, be better, make our millions, meet “the one” and ensure that this year will be the greatest yet! Well, like many of us out there I have high hopes for 2020, however, I’m not going to make any grand promises to myself. This year I’m determined to succeed in keeping my New Year’s Resolutions so I’m hoping I’ve made mine manageable ( I guess we’ll find out in 12 months how my grand plan went!). I usually create a year round up post but I figured I’d give this a try instead. I thought I’d share my resolutions with you because I always find (and science has proven) you are much more likely to achieve something if you’ve written it down and also I figured it would be a great first blog post to start 2020. So here are my New Year’s Resolutions, wish me luck folks!

Save More Money

I am a person who believes life is about living, I have always resolved to work hard to allow me the means to tick things off my ever-growing bucket list. This means I don’t mind splashing out on things I want, because as far as anyone has yet proved “you only live once!” However, I do have a bad habit of spending money on silly little things I don’t need and that is what I’m hoping to curb this year. I calculated the other day I spend over £50 per month on various subscriptions, half of which I certainly don’t use enough to warrant. This year I want to exercise some control with the small stuff so I have more money to spend on the things that really matter. 

I also want to start thinking about the future because scary as it may seem, I do want to become a homeowner in the not too distant future. I currently put away a set sum of my monthly salary but for what I’m earning I should be able to afford to squirrel away significantly more. This year I hope to say no to the high-street coffee treats and lazy takeaway dinners, put the maximum amount in my LISA to start seriously saving for a house deposit and work on improving my credit score for when that fateful day comes where I tie myself down and become a homeowner. I also plan to start a pension because the current retirement age for my generation is 68 and climbing. Call me crazy but I want to enjoy my golden years not be still suffering at the hands of full-time employment!

Travel More

I hopefully have a few things in the Pipeline this year and that’s the way I like it! Last year with finding my feet in practice and my bank account still in recovery from my 3-month jaunt in South America, I didn’t travel as much as I’d have liked, but this year I’m hoping to change that! 

If you read my ‘What I learned in 2018’ post from last year you will know how important travel was for getting me through some tough periods that year. For me, it’s the antidote to the daily grind and no matter how active the holiday is, I always somehow return feeling rejuvenated. This year I’m taking a very big step in my travelling journey and taking my first entirely solo trip to Iceland.

As a single woman, it can be difficult to fulfil your wanderlust. Travelling solo is a lot more daunting than going as a group or in a couple as you are solely responsible for… well, everything! There is no backup, no second opinion and no safety blanket when travelling alone. For this reason, I always try to find a willing travel partner in a friend or family member, but, the unfortunate reality is they often have their own partners and families they want to go away with. So I find you can end up sitting there twiddling your thumbs with a yearning to travel and no way to fulfil it unless you take the scary step to travel alone. Well, this year I’m doing just that, having exhausted all other options I was left with the decision to either not travel or have a go at flying solo, so I picked the latter! I chose Iceland because it’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit, it’s safe for female travellers and there’s so much to do I should hopefully not mourn the loss of a travel companion too much! Stay tuned to hear about my solo travel tales soon and get in touch because I’d love to hear about yours!

Take Care of Myself and Take Pride in my Appearance

Now, this isn’t as vain as you may initially think. Taking care of yourself long term leads to looking better AND feeling better in the long term. I’m not interested in fad diets but I do want to work on finding healthy meals I enjoy eating, and though I’m not interested in having a body like Jessica Enis (though it would be nice!), I do want to improve my fitness and stamina to be healthier. I think an outlet away from work and some physical activity will also do wonders for my mental as well as physical health.

Similar to this, I want to take care of my skin more; this is gross to admit but I often go to sleep with a full face of makeup on and hardly ever moisturize because I can’t be bothered. Considering I have a job involving a lot of outdoor work I rarely remember to protect my skin with SPF so all in all I’m set to look like an 80 year old by the time I’m 50 if I’m not careful! All of these things like brushing your teeth twice daily are habits which once formed just become part of the daily routine and are no longer a chore or an extra effort so this year this is what I’m hoping to achieve with a basic but essential skin routine.

I have also become a regular subscriber to Headspace which I find has been incredibly useful this past year to help quiet my busy mind before bed. I currently only use the sleep casts and feel I should try and expand my use to the meditation sections to try and increase mindfulness. I think people often forget about the mind when talking about being healthy but it is so important not to neglect it, especially if your day to day life can be quite stressful. 

Blog More

In 2019 I was, unfortunately, a very fair-weather blogger despite my love for it. It’s very easy to come in from work, switch off and slob in front of the TV rather than get out a pen and paper and use my brain to write something.

In 2018 my blog really took off, I had a healthy readership, had an amazing opportunity to work with some exciting brands and The Jet Set Vet was a real passion project for me. I want to regain that drive and excitement in 2020 and see where it can take me, so this year I’ve set myself a target of 3 posts per month and I’m hoping I can stick to it! So good news for those of you who like my ramblings because there should be a lot more coming your way!

Be More Eco-Friendly

Thanks to pioneers such as Sir David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg people are becoming more aware of this worldwide issue. Although large and drastic steps need to be taken by those running countries and big businesses, the small acts of individuals also count for a lot. 

This year I hope to break bad habits surrounding my plastic usage and try and reduce my own carbon footprint by taking manageable but permanent steps in the direction of green living. I have made a list of things I can do, items I can replace or habits I can change in my everyday life and hopefully, in 2020 I can have a more positive impact on the planet. I will create a post on this later to help others who may want Ideas on how they can contribute to a healthier planet, so stay tuned for that. 

Read More

I’ve banged on about this before but Audible has actually been a game-changer for me! I love it and would never go back. It has rekindled my spark for reading and also allowed me to delve into books I’d have struggled to get through on my own but through listening to them have really enjoyed and gained a lot from. Many of the classics and a lot of non-fiction books I’d never pick up normally, but through listening with audible, I’ve discovered a love for different genres I never knew I had. 

I have also begun reading before bed as I find it is a really good way to wind down and switch off, as like many of our generation I spend a lot of time online and on social media which I find leaves my mind whizzing through a thousand thoughts making sleep much harder to come by. I have a list of books I want to get through this year and I really want to try and read as much as possible, be it via audible or through actually picking up a book. 

Find Time For Gratitude

I think it can be oh so easy to focus on the negatives; what went wrong, what you don’t like, what you did badly and what you’re dissatisfied about. However, despite it being so easy I don’t think it does us any good. Now I am all for an empty sink mentality and if something is bothering you or you’ve had a bad day, by all means, get it off your chest and clear the air but it’s important not to dwell on the negatives and that’s what I’m hoping to achieve in 2020.

Last year I purchased the UrBestSelf ‘6 Minute Diary’ and although I fell out of the habit of doing it, I found it had a really positive effect on my mental attitude. The diary trains you to think positively and focus on the good things which happened that day and what you could be grateful for. It definitely created a positive shift in my way of thinking and I really want to get back into the habit of using the diary once more this year. 

Make An Effort With The Ones I love

Now I’m the sort of girl who likes her own company. I have a quota for daily human interaction and due to the nature of my job, it’s often full by the end of my working day. However, there are a few people who I’ll always drag myself out of self-inflicted solitude for. I think we should always resolve to make an effort for the ones we love, and I think we can all always do better, hence why it can be found on this list. It can be really easy when living away from people to make excuses for why you’re not making an effort. The reality is everyone is at the end of the phone these days and to keep up that communication can be so easy if you make the effort to do so. This year I want to resolve to be proactive with my relationships be that new or existing and I can’t wait to keep in touch more with those I care about.

So that’s it folks, my new year’s resolutions to mark the new decade! I’m excited to put the work in to make 2020 amazing and I hope everyone else is feeling as optimistic as I am that this will be a damn good year!